''Power Dive'' is a 1941 American film directed by James P. Hogan. The film stars

Richard Arlen Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television. Early days Arlen served in Canada as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. He later taught as ...

Jean Parker Jean Parker (born Lois May Green; August 11, 1915 – November 30, 2005) was an American film and stage actress. A native of Montana, indigent during the Great Depression, she was adopted by a family in Pasadena, California, at age ten. She ini ...

and

Helen Mack Helen Mack (born Helen McDougall; November 13, 1913 – August 13, 1986) was an American actress. She started her career as a child actress in silent films, moving to Broadway plays and touring one of the vaudeville circuits. Her greater success ...

. ''Power Dive'' was the first film from the producing team of

Pine-Thomas Productions Pine-Thomas Productions was a prolific B-picture unit of Paramount Pictures from 1940–1957, producing 81 films. Co-producers William H. Pine (February 15, 1896 – April 29, 1955) and William C. Thomas (August 11, 1903 – April 2, 1984) were kno ...

, former press agents who had a producing unit at Paramount.

Plot

Ace

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

Bradley Farrell (Richard Arlen), flying for McMasters Aviation Corp., breaks his leg when an overweight prototype crashes. Brad's younger brother Douglas (

Don Castle Don Castle (September 29, 1917 – May 26, 1966) was an American film actor of the 1930s and 1940s. Biography Castle was born in Beaumont, Texas. He went to the University of Texas where he was roommates with Jack Wrather. He resembled Clark G ...

), a recent graduate in aeronautical engineering, thinks Doug's flying is too dangerous and is hired as a design engineer at McMasters. Carol Blake (Jean Parker) wants to interest Brad in her father's design for an aircraft made of plastic. Doug pretends to be Brad because he is attracted to her but Brad meets Carol and takes her out flying. She introduces him to her blind father, Professor Blake (Thomas W. Ross), resulting in Brad becoming immersed in the professor's new designs. Brad's friend, Johnny Coles (

Louis Jean Heydt Louis Jean Heydt (April 17, 1903 – January 29, 1960) was an American character actor in film, television, and theatre, most frequently seen in hapless, ineffectual, or fall-guy roles. Early life Heydt was born in 1903 (not 1905, as many so ...

), loses his life test flying his own, similar design, that breaks apart in the air, leaving behind his wife and child. Despite his friend's death, Brad convinces the company to build Blake's "geodetic" aircraft design, with his brother put in charge of the project. After Brad returns from setting a new cross-country speed record, he proposes to Carol, but she is in love with Doug. Doug doesn't know Carol's true feelings and with the test of the professor's aircraft imminent, he is at odds with Brad over the new aircraft's design. Brad has to fly the aircraft for US Army officials but is worried that the heavy test equipment will make the aircraft dangerous to fly. Doug will fly with him on the test and when a 9g power dive is scheduled, Doug passes out. The test equipment breaks free, jamming the rudder. Brad forces Doug to parachute to safety, and then cuts the rudder wires, grabbing them with his bare hands. He manages to land the aircraft safely although his hands are cut badly. With the aircraft accepted, Brad gives up test flying to become a vice-president of McMasters Aviation. Doug and Carol find happiness and marry.

Cast

as Brad Farrell *

as Carol Blake *

as Betty Coles *

as Doug Farrell *

Cliff Edwards Clifton Avon "Cliff" Edwards (June 14, 1895 – July 17, 1971), nicknamed "Ukulele Ike", was an American pop singer, musician and actor. He enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop sta ...

as Squid Watkins *

Roger Pryor Roger Atkinson Pryor (July 19, 1828 – March 14, 1919) was an American newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and judge. A journalist and U.S. Congressman from Virginia known as a Southern "fire eater" for his fiery oratory in favor of slaver ...

as Dan McMasters, company president * Thomas W. Ross as Professor Blake * Billy Lee as Brad Coles *

as Johnny Coles * Alan Baldwin as Young Reporter * Pat West as Burly Mechanic *

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 ...

as Jackson, fellow draftsman *

Tom Dugan Thomas or Tom Dugan may refer to: * Thomas Buchanan Dugan (1858–1940), United States Army brigadier general *Tom Dugan (actor, born 1889) (1889–1955), Irish-born American film and television actor *Tom Dugan (actor, born 1961) Tom Dugan (bo ...

as The Waiter *

Helen Lynd Helen Merrell Lynd (March 17, 1896 – January 30, 1982) was an American sociologist, social philosopher, educator, and author. She is best known for conducting the first Middletown studies of Muncie, Indiana, with her husband, Robert Stau ...

as Giggly Blonde *

James Seay James Seay (September 9, 1914 – October 10, 1992) was an American character actor who often played minor supporting roles as government officials. Early years Seay demonstrated an interest in acting at an early age, as he and his mothe ...

as Army Radio Operator

Production

''Power Dive'' was the first release by Picture Corp. of America, an independent production company formed in December 1940 headed by William Pine and William C. Thomas, former press agents and then associate producers at Paramount. Pine and Thomas both worked in publicity—Pine was head of publicity for Paramount and Thomas was his assistant. They teamed with another publicist, Maxwell Shane, who was a writer. They decided to make lower budgeted films that did not have the overhead of the studios. They talked with

, who had joined Paramount. Arlen became famous with ''Wings'' and suggested an aviation film. Arlen owned several planes and ran an aviation school; he offered himself and his aircraft for a movie. Pine and Thomas selected three titles, ''Power Dive'', ''Forced Landing'' and ''Flying Blind'', and wrote scripts around them. They went to Paramount and said they had a star and three scripts and asked for a distribution deal. Paramount agreed, enabling Pine and Thomas to get loans from the bank to finance the films. ''Power Drive'' was made in ten days at a cost of $86,000 and earned almost a million dollars. They saved money by shooting on location.WILLIAM THOMAS, 80; PRODUCER OF LOW-BUDGET '40S ACTION FILMS Burr Van Atta. Philadelphia Inquirer 6 Apr 1984: E.2. Thomas produced the first film while Pine was an associate—he worked for Cecil B. De Mille. All three films cost under $90,000 and returned six times its negative cost. Paramount was so pleased with these results that it offered to finance the duo's films from then on. Principal photography took place from January 23 to mid-February 1941 with some scenes shot on location at the Metropolitan Airport in

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Van Nuys City Hall, Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley ...

. Opening credits include the following statement: "Creative acknowledgement for technical assistance in use of Geodetic plane to the Plxweve Aircraft Corporation." A Phillips 1-B Aeroneer (NX16075) and a Player CT-6A (Plxweve/Greenleaf CT-6A) (NX 19994), made by Plxweve Aircraft Co., were featured in the film. Reviews noted that writer Edward Churchill had an aviation background and that star Richard Arlen was running a flyers' training school near Hollywood.

Reception

''Power Dive'' was primarily a

B film A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

. Aviation Film Historian James H. Farmer characterized the film as a "fast-paced, low-budget formula film ..."Farmer 1984, p. 324. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it "... good program entertainment, taking full advantage of present interest in aviation and national preparedness."Pendo 1985, p. 20.

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. . * Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies.'' Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links

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Review
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Power Dive 1941 films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films 1941 drama films American aviation films Paramount Pictures films Films directed by James Patrick Hogan American drama films 1940s American films English-language drama films