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Test Pilot

  • 19381938
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 59m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
2.4K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
14,692
5,614
Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Myrna Loy in Test Pilot (1938)
Watch Trailer
Play trailer3:50
1 Video
31 Photos
DramaRomance
Jim is a test pilot. His wife Ann and best friend Gunner try their best to keep him sober. But the life of a test pilot is anything but safe.Jim is a test pilot. His wife Ann and best friend Gunner try their best to keep him sober. But the life of a test pilot is anything but safe.Jim is a test pilot. His wife Ann and best friend Gunner try their best to keep him sober. But the life of a test pilot is anything but safe.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
2.4K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
14,692
5,614
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Victor Fleming
    • Writers
      • Vincent Lawrence(screen play)
      • Waldemar Young(screen play)
      • Frank Wead(original story)
    • Stars
      • Clark Gable
      • Myrna Loy
      • Spencer Tracy
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Victor Fleming
    • Writers
      • Vincent Lawrence(screen play)
      • Waldemar Young(screen play)
      • Frank Wead(original story)
    • Stars
      • Clark Gable
      • Myrna Loy
      • Spencer Tracy
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 41User reviews
    • 15Critic reviews
    • Nominated for 3 Oscars
      • 4 nominations total

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 3:50
    Trailer

    Photos31

    Photo of Carl 'Major' Roup with Clark Gable, filming "Test Pilot" in '38.
    Dick Winslow in Test Pilot (1938)
    Test Pilot (1938)
    Test Pilot (1938)
    Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Myrna Loy in Test Pilot (1938)
    Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Myrna Loy in Test Pilot (1938)
    Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Myrna Loy in Test Pilot (1938)
    Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Myrna Loy in Test Pilot (1938)
    Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Myrna Loy in Test Pilot (1938)
    Clark Gable and Myrna Loy in Test Pilot (1938)
    Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Myrna Loy in Test Pilot (1938)
    Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Myrna Loy in Test Pilot (1938)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Clark Gable
    Clark Gable
    • Jim Lane
    Myrna Loy
    Myrna Loy
    • Ann Thurston Barton
    Spencer Tracy
    Spencer Tracy
    • Gunner Morse
    Lionel Barrymore
    Lionel Barrymore
    • Howard B. Drake
    Samuel S. Hinds
    Samuel S. Hinds
    • General Ross
    Marjorie Main
    Marjorie Main
    • Landlady
    Ted Pearson
    Ted Pearson
    • Joe
    Gloria Holden
    Gloria Holden
    • Mrs. May Benson
    Louis Jean Heydt
    Louis Jean Heydt
    • Greg Benson
    Virginia Grey
    Virginia Grey
    • Sarah
    Priscilla Lawson
    Priscilla Lawson
    • Mabel
    Claudia Coleman
    Claudia Coleman
    • Mrs. Frank Barton
    Arthur Aylesworth
    Arthur Aylesworth
    • Mr. Frank Barton
    Ernie Alexander
    • Field Mechanic
    • (uncredited)
    Hooper Atchley
    Hooper Atchley
    • Pilot in Cafe
    • (uncredited)
    Ken Barton
    • Announcer
    • (uncredited)
    Lulu Mae Bohrman
    • Saleslady
    • (uncredited)
    Bobby Caldwell
    • Benson Child
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Victor Fleming
    • Writers
      • Vincent Lawrence(screen play)
      • Waldemar Young(screen play)
      • Frank Wead(original story)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Reportedly Myrna Loy's personal favorite movie of all her films.
    • Goofs
      When Jim Lane and Gunner get in the B-17 and begin to taxi, there are no numbers visible on either side of the nose. The next shot (starting the takeoff roll) shows a large deformed "S8" painted on the left side of the nose, but it is actually a reversed shot of no. "82", Two shots later the B-17 nose has changed to an obviously reversed "52", along with an obviously reversed BB52 on the tail fin. All of the shots in the air and during the crash depict a B-17 without numbers on the nose or tail. After Lane rejoins the Army Air Corp and he is lecturing the B-17 crew members, the fourth B-17 in line is "52" and the fifth B-17 is "82" with both nose and tail fin BB numbers.
    • Quotes

      Ann Thurston Barton: You're a funny looking gazebo

    • Connections
      Featured in The Romance of Celluloid (1937)
    • Soundtracks
      The Prisoner's Song (If I Had the Wings of an Angel)
      (1924) (uncredited)

      Music and Lyrics by Guy Massey

      Sung a cappella by Clark Gable, Myrna Loy and others

    User reviews41

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Marriage with a Daredevil
    A strange movie from 1938 that has a major white elephant sitting squarely in the middle of the plot that is impossible to ignore from a 2016 perspective.

    Clark Gable is the test pilot of the film's title, who falls hard for and marries farm girl Myrna Loy (Loy is about as convincing as a Wichita farm girl as I would be, but this is Myrna Loy we're talking about, so who cares?!!) Their courtship is treated as a screwball comedy, with Gable and Loy generating so much chemistry my television almost malfunctioned. But Loy struggles with the transition back to their everyday married life as she realizes the fear she feels every time Gable goes back to his job is something she has committed herself to for life.

    The white elephant in the room is the character of Gable's mechanic and buddy, played with a scowl by Spencer Tracy. I don't know how anyone could watch this movie and not at least entertain the notion that Tracy's love for Gable is more than platonic. He seems to have no interest in women, or indeed in any life that does not include Gable. It's almost as if he and Loy have a tacit understanding that they're in love with the same man and agree to help each other through the trials and tribulations that come with that.

    Gable is Gable. Loy has never been better. She wasn't challenged often and was even usually underused in my opinion, but this is her movie and she ably demonstrates her range. Tracy is utterly wasted. Indeed, if the homosexual subtext isn't intentional, then there is literally no reason for him to be in the movie other than to be someone to whom Loy can deliver her lines when she's not delivering them to Gable.

    A mood of death and impending destruction overshadows the whole film. Whether or not this was an intentional reaction to world events at the time, it seems appropriate given the gathering shadow of world conflict that was growing in Europe.

    "Test Pilot" received no Oscars but was nominated in three categories: Best Picture, Best Original Story (Frank Wead), and Best Film Editing (Tom Held).

    Grade: B+
    helpful•3
    1
    • evanston_dad
    • Nov 15, 2016

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 22, 1938 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Djavoli neba
    • Filming locations
      • Lake Norconian Club, Norco, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 59 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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