Test Pilot (1938)

A film which gives one a sense of what it must have been like in the early days of aviation as pilots were employed to test airplanes to their breaking point just prior to World War II. Directed by Victor Fleming (Gone With the Wind (1939)) and co-written by Howard Hawks the film received Oscar nominations for Best Picture Editing and Frank Wead’s (The Citadel (1938)) Original Story.

Clark Gable plays the pilot in this film Spencer Tracy is his friend and assistant. During a failed time & distance flight for his boss (Lionel Barrymore) he meets Myrna Loy when he lands in her father’s field. Even though she’s somewhat engaged to a local boy (played by Ted Pearson) he sweeps her off her feet and they hastily marry. She then learns of the hazards and the heartache of being a wife of such a daredevil especially after another in husband’s profession (played by Louis Jean Heydt) is killed. The title character turns to drinking. Tracy Loy and even Barrymore must then work together to help Gable’s character mature and perhaps utilize his skills in another more stable way.

Noted character actors Samuel Hinds playing a General who wants the most from the planes Marjorie Main playing a landlord the penniless trio (Gable Loy & Tracy) convinces to let them live in her apartment on account and Virginia Grey also appear.

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