Night Flight (1933)

Polio breaks out in Rio de Janeiro, the serum is in Santiago and there's only one way to get the medicine where it's desperately needed: flown in by daring pilots who risk the treacherous weather and forbidding peaks of the Andes.

Director:

Clarence Brown

Writers:

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (novel), Oliver H.P. Garrett (screenplay)

Stars:

John Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Clark Gable

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Barrymore	...	Riviere
Helen Hayes	...	Simone Fabian
Clark Gable	...	Jules Fabian
Lionel Barrymore	...	Insp. Robineau
Robert Montgomery	...	Auguste Pellerin
Myrna Loy	...	Wife of Brazilian Pilot
William Gargan	...	Brazilian Pilot
C. Henry Gordon	...	Daudet
Leslie Fenton	...	Jules' Radio Operator / Co-Pilot
Harry Beresford	...	Pierre Roblet
Frank Conroy	...	Radio Operator
Dorothy Burgess	...	Pellerin's Girlfriend
Irving Pichel	...	Dr. Decosta
Helen Jerome Eddy	...	Worried Mother
Buster Phelps	...	Sick Child

Storyline

Polio breaks out in Rio de Janeiro, the serum is in Santiago and there's only one way to get the medicine where it's desperately needed: flown in by daring pilots who risk the treacherous weather and forbidding peaks of the Andes.

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Plot Keywords:

rio de janeiro brazil | child's coffin | grieving mother | film starts with text | keep out sign | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 October 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nachtflug

Filming Locations:

Denver, Colorado, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Three scenes show radio operators sending Morse Code. One code key looked like a J-38 single key and two were a two paddle key made by the Vibroplex Company which is still in business. The Vibroplex is also known as a Bug because of the bug logo on the key.

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Quotes

Wife of Brazilian Pilot: What's it all for? Just so somebody in Paris can get a postcard on Tuesday instead of Thursday?

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Crazy Credits

During opening credits, the film title is done as "sky writing" by an airplane, and the plane is just finishing the last "T" on "flight".

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Super 8 (2011)

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Soundtracks

How Dry I Am
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by Robert Montgomery and Dorothy Burgess

User Reviews

Not exactly Grand Hotel of the clouds ...

... but interesting and worthwhile just the same. MGM gives this story of early forays into night flight in South America the star treatment, but unfortunately we don't get to see most of these stars do what they do best - interact with one another. John Barrymore, as head of the night flight operation, spends most of his time robotically barking out orders or reproaches. Lionel Barrymore, as the inspector who gets no respect, is very good here, gets quite a bit of screen time, and winds up having a prolonged and interesting scene with Robert Montgomery who plays a young pilot displaying that devil-may-care attitude he was so good at in his early 30's films at MGM.

Helen Hayes, whose most famous film role as Madelon Claudet is no doubt destined to be ignominiously dumped onto DVD-R via the Warner Archive, has lots of screen time here as the wife of a pilot (Jules - played by Clark Gable) who is waiting on her husband to return from his first night flight for a late night celebration supper. As his arrival is delayed more and more throughout the night, so grows her panic.

The oddest thing here is the misuse - or should I say lack of use - of Clark Gable. Throughout the film he is stuck in a plane, mute and motionless. Except for a few log entries that he makes and some of his facial expressions we are really denied a performance here or for that matter, an idea of what is going through his mind.

I'd say it's worthwhile just because it's such an odd departure from what MGM generally did in the 1930's plus it's been locked in the vaults for 75 years due to rights problems. It's interesting to see how Warner Home Video has taken almost a film school approach to what they put out on DVD in the last couple of years. Practically all of their documentaries on film history wind up on pressed DVD, but some pretty entertaining precodes, noirs, and even more modern films such as "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" wind up in the Warner Archive on DVD-R, a medium that doesn't usually have a life span greater than a couple of years.