''Mystery Plane'' (aka ''Sky Pilot'' and ''Sky Pirate'') is a 1939 American

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by

George Waggner George Waggner (September 7, 1894 – December 11, 1984) was an American actor, director, producer and writer. He is best known for producing and directing the 1941 film '' The Wolf Man''. For some unknown reason, Waggner sometimes configured his ...

and written by

Paul Schofield David Paul Scofield (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008) was an English actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award for his work. Scofield ...

and George Waggner. The film is based on the comic strip '' Tailspin Tommy'' by Hal Forrest and Glenn Chaffin. The film stars John Trent,

Marjorie Reynolds Marjorie Reynolds ( Goodspeed; August 12, 1917 – February 1, 1997) was an American film and television actress who appeared in more than 50 films, including the 1942 musical ''Holiday Inn'', in which she and Bing Crosby introduced the song " ...

Milburn Stone Hugh Milburn Stone (July 5, 1904 – June 12, 1980) was an American actor, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the Western (genre), Western series ''Gunsmoke''. Early life Stone was born in Burrton, Kansas, to Herbert Stone an ...

, Jason Robards Sr., George Lynn and

Lucien Littlefield Lucien Littlefield (August 16, 1895 – June 4, 1960) was an American actor who achieved a long career from silent films to the television era. He was noted for his versatility, playing a wide range of roles and already portraying old men befor ...

. ''Mystery Plane'', the first of four "Tailspin Tommy" films made by

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

, was released on March 8, 1939.Erickson, Hal
"Review: 'Mystery Plane' (1939)."
''AllMovie'', 2019. Retrieved: July 15, 2019.

Plot

In the fall of 1923, young Tommy Tomkins (Tommy Bupp) admires Captain Brandy Rand ( George Lynn), a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

ace. Brandy flies in and parachutes out of his aircraft, but lands in a lake. Tommy rescues him in a rowboat, then shows Brandy a scrapbook about the flyer's exploits, who encourages the young man to become a flyer himself. Many years later, Tommy ( John Trent) becomes a pilot and is managing an airport in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

. He designs a radio-controlled bombing device that Tommy and his partner Skeeter Milligan (

) are ready to demonstrate to the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

. The Army commander ( John Elliott) is very impressed when they score two direct hits. A gang of spies is also watching the test. The spies, who include a much-weathered Brandy, now a drunk running contraband, have been offered half a million dollars for the device from an enemy country. Another spy, Anita (

Polly Ann Young Polly Ann Young (October 25, 1908 – January 21, 1997) was an American actress. Biography Young was born in Denver, Colorado. Actresses Loretta Young and Sally Blane were her sisters. From 1917 to 1941, she was featured in over 40 movies ...

), asks to take flying lessons from Tommy as a means of watching him and his operation. When he is tricked by a fake message, Tommy is captured by the spies. As he is being interrogated, a drunk and chagrined Brandy comes into the room. The spies then take Skeeter and Tommy's girl friend, Betty Lou Barnes (

), hostage to force Tommy to give them the plans to the bombing device. Tommy, Skeeter and Betty Lou manage to escape in a biplane. A troop of Army soldiers arrive at the hideout and arrest Anita, while the other spies flee and pursue Tommy in Brandy's aircraft. Brandy, however, radios Tommy to change course and then crashes his aircraft into the ocean. When the spies are captured, a squadron of Army aircraft equipped with the new bombing device become part of a film shot at Shreveport. Tommy, Betty Lou and Skeeter all laugh at the prospect of "Tailspin Tommy" appearing on the silver screen.

Cast

* John Trent as Tailspin Tommy Tompkins *

as Betty Lou Barnes *

as Skeeter Milligan * Jason Robards Sr. as Paul Smith * George Lynn as Brandy Rand *

as Winslow *

as Anita * Tommy Bupp as Tommy *

Betsy Gay Betsy Gay (February 2, 1929 – June 13, 2025) was an American actress and country singer and Yodeling, yodeller. Gay was best known as a child star in the 1930s and 1940s appearing in the Hal Roach short film series ''Our Gang'' and made appe ...

as Betty Lou *

William P. Carleton William P. Carleton (October 3, 1872 – April 6, 1947) was a silent film actor who appeared in 40 films between 1919 and 1944. He is sometimes billed as William Carleton Jr.. Carleton was born in London and was briefly married to actress Toby C ...

as Navy Commander * John Elliott as Army Colonel * John S. Peters as Carl * Sayre Dearing as Fred * Bruce Mitchell as Detective Capt. Walker * Mickey Martin as Young Boy * Jerry Jerome as Joe

Production

"Tailspin Tommy" is listed above the title, ''Mystery Plane''. The opening credits include the following onscreen forward: he film is a"tribute to those adventurers who pioneered the American Air Force, the war birds of the World War. Recruited from every walk of life, they wrote a glorious page in aviation history. Being young, many of them were unable to adjust themselves to the peace time routine after their glorious freedom. It is one of those, Captain 'Brandy' Rand, whose life is the basis of our story." (Captain Brandy Rand is a fictional character.) In Hal Erickson's review for ''Allmovie.com'', he describes, "In a charming fadeout bit, the main characters—Tommy, Skeeter and girlfriend Betty Lou (Marjorie Reynolds)—come 'out' of the picture to invite their fans to watch the next 'Tailspin Tommy' entry."

Reception

Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo in ''Aviation in the Cinema'' (1985) characterized ''Mystery Plane'' as part of a period when spies and espionage films were popular. With the global aspects of foreign intrigue and a looming war, 1939 was marked by the release of ''

Flying G-Men ''Flying G-Men'' is a 15-episode 1939 adventure film Film serial, directed by James W. Horne and Ray Taylor. The serial was the sixth of the 57 serials released by Columbia. Four "Flying G-Men" battle with enemy saboteurs intent on destroying ...

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, ge ...

, ''

Spies of the Air Spies most commonly refers to people who engage in spying, espionage or clandestine operations. Spies or The Spies may also refer to: Arts and media Films * Spies (1928 film), ''Spies'' (1928 film), English title for ''Spione'', a 1928 German ...

'', ''

Q Planes ''Q Planes'' (known as ''Clouds Over Europe'' in the United States) is a 1939 British comedy film, comedy spy film starring Ralph Richardson, Laurence Olivier and Valerie Hobson. Olivier and Richardson were a decade into their fifty-year friends ...

'' and '' Trapped in the Sky''. ''Mystery Plane'', according to aviation film historian James H. Farmer in ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'', was "action-packed juvenile fun."Farmer 1984, p. 321.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation''. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books Inc., 1984. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. .

External links

* *
Full film
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{George Waggner 1939 films American aviation films American action films 1930s action films Monogram Pictures films Films directed by George Waggner American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films Films scored by Frank Sanucci Films based on comic strips English-language action films