''Desperate Cargo'' is a 1941 American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

William Beaudine William Washington Beaudine (January 15, 1892 – March 18, 1970) was an American film director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out a remarkable 179 feature-length films in a wide variety of genres. He is best know ...

and starring

Ralph Byrd Ralph Byrd (April 22, 1909 – August 18, 1952) was an American actor. He was most famous for playing the comic strip character Dick Tracy on screen, in serials, films and television. Early life and career The son of George and Edna May ...

, Carol Hughes, Julie Duncan and

Jack Mulhall John Joseph Francis Mulhall (October 7, 1887 – June 1, 1979) was an American film actor beginning in the silent film era who successfully transitioned to sound films, appearing in over 430 films in a career spanning 50 years. Early years Mu ...

. It was made by the low-budget

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Producers Releasing Corporation Producers Releasing Corporation (generally known as PRC) was the smallest and least prestigious of the 11 Hollywood film companies of the 1940s. It was considered a prime example of what was called " Poverty Row": a low-rent stretch of Gower St ...

. It is based on the 1937 '' Argosy'' magazine serial ''Loot Below'' by Eustace Lane Adams.

Plot

On the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

island of Puerto Nueva, a disparate group of individuals await a

Boeing 314 Clipper The Boeing 314 Clipper was an American long-range flying boat produced by Boeing from 1938 to 1941. One of the largest aircraft of its time, it had the range to cross the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. For its wing, Boeing re-used the design fro ...

, the Caribbean Clipper that will take them to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. Tony Bronson is the new

purser A purser is the person on a ship principally responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration (including the ship's cargo and passenger manifests) and supply. ...

for the flight who disrupts the robbery of New York journalist Jim Halsey at their hotel. Halsey is a passenger on the same flight, flying to the U.S. to begin an assignment for his newspaper that will ultimately have him stationed in the Orient. Having some money left, Halsey arranges a double date for Tony with two entertainers in a sister act, Ann Howard and Peggy Morton. The women have learned that their show in New York has been canceled and are stranded in Puerto Nueva without the fare to leave. Ann tries to manipulate Tony into arranging free passage for them on the Clipper. Tony falls in love with Ann and Jim proposes to Peggy. Among the other passengers are Madden, Ryan, Desser and Professor Carter, their ringleader and a former pilot who flew Clippers for the airline. Their plan is to hijack the aircraft in mid-air, rob the passengers and steal a shipment of $500,000 from the plane's safe. Carter will then land in a remote area of the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

, where the gang and their loot will be collected. When they take over the aircraft by killing the navigator and copilot, Carter locks the passengers in their quarters and the crew in the cargo compartment. After landing, although the gang has the money stolen from their captives, the safe is locked and only Tony can open it. Ryan is ordered to force the purser to open the safe, but in a struggle for Ryan's gun, Tony shoots him and escapes, jumping from the aircraft. Swimming over to the cargo hold, he frees pilot Hank MacFarland and the rest of the crew, then returns to the cockpit where Carter threatens to burn the Clipper. Tony overpowers him, and holding the rest of the gang at gunpoint, he allows MacFarland to regain control of the aircraft. Jim and Tony are finally reunited with their sweethearts as the Clipper heads to Miami, where the police are waiting to apprehend the gang.

Cast

as Tony Bronson * Julie Duncan as Ann Howard * Carol Hughes as Peggy Morton *

as Jim Halsey * I. Stanford Jolley as "Professor" Carter *

Kenneth Harlan Kenneth Daniel Harlan (July 26, 1895 – March 6, 1967) was a popular American actor during the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer roles. His career extended into the sound film era, but during that span he rarely c ...

as Capt. Hank MacFarland * Richard Clarke as Henchman Ryan * Johnstone White as Madden, a valet/henchman *

Paul Bryar Paul Bryar (born Gabriel Paul Barrere; February 21, 1910 – August 30, 1985) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly half a century, he appeared in numerous films and television series. Career Bryar appeared in nearly 220 fil ...

as Henchman Desser * Thornton Edwards as Manuelo * Don Forrest as Navigator Williams * Loretta Russell as Mrs. Pettingill, a passenger *

Rick Vallin Rick Vallin (born Eric Efron; September 24, 1919 – August 31, 1977) was an actor who appeared in more than 150 films between 1938 and 1966. Early years Born in Feodosia, in the Crimea, Russia, Vallin came to the United States at age three w ...

as Radioman Stevens * Harry Depp as Crouse, a small passenger

Production

Principal photography for the film, with a working title of ''Dangerous Cargo'', took place from mid to late May 1941. Although the film is set aboard a Boeing 314 Clipper, nearly all of the shots are interior views filmed on a soundstage.

Reception

In a modern-day review, writer Catherine Yronwode found many redeeming characteristics in the film, including the casting of a number of interesting actors, such as silent screen stars

as the airliner pilot and

as the second male lead. She wrote: "All in all, this was a great little movie of its type. Sure, it could have been better – a shorter set-up and more tension in the final scenes, a staccato musical score to heighten the drama, a cuter and more compliant lead actress – but it is certainly worth a viewing."Yronwode, Catherine
"Review: Desperate Cargo."
''IMDb'', 14 June 2007.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Brooks, Tim and Earle Marsh. ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present''. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003. .

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Desperate Cargo American aviation films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films 1941 romantic drama films 1941 crime drama films Films based on short fiction Films directed by William Beaudine Producers Releasing Corporation films American crime drama films Films set in the Caribbean American romantic drama films 1941 films 1940s American films English-language crime drama films English-language romantic drama films Romantic crime films