''The Fighting Pilot'' (aka ''Fighting Pilot'') is a 1935 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 Noel M. Smith and starring

Richard Talmadge Richard Talmadge (born Sylvester Alphonse Metz; 3 December 1892 – 25 January 1981) also known as Sylvester Metzetti, Ricardo Metzetti, or Sylvester Ricardo Metzetti, was a German-born American actor, stuntman and film director. Early li ...

Gertrude Messinger Gertrude Dolores Messinger (April 28, 1911 – November 8, 1995) was an American film actress known for her B-movie roles from the 1930s through the 1950s. She began as a child actor in silent films, but found her greatest fame in talkies of ...

and

Robert Frazer Robert Frazer (born Robert William Browne, June 29, 1891 – August 17, 1944) was an American actor who appeared in some 224 shorts and films from the 1910s until his death. He began in films with the Eclair company which released through Unive ...

. When an inventor develops a new type of aircraft, a crooked businessman attempts to steals the aircraft and its blueprints. The company test pilot, who is the boyfriend of the inventor's daughter, foil the criminals.

Plot

In Washington D.C., Mr. Jones (

Rafael Storm Rafael Storm (1889–1951) was an American film actor.Blottner p.34 Selected filmography * ''It Happened in New York'' (1935) * '' The Plot Thickens'' (1935) * ''Under the Pampas Moon'' (1935) * '' The Fighting Pilot'' (1935) * '' Lady Tubbs'' ( ...

) receives a telegram from Los Angeles asking him to secure rights to a newly designed aircraft from inventor F. S. Reynolds ( William Humphrey). Later that day, Cardigan (

), a gangster, lies to Jones that Reynolds is not really interested in his offer. Cardigan tries unsuccessfully to buy the aircraft and its plans from Reynolds. Test pilot Hal Foster (

) and his girl friend, Reynolds' daughter Jean (

), arrive and Hal throws Cardigan out. Afterwards, Hal test flies the new aircraft and as he and Reynolds discuss its problems, Cardigan's henchmen arrive and steal the aircraft and the plans. Hal follows their car on his motorcycle and Berty ( Eddie Davis), Hal's goofy friend, follows in a car. Hal catches up with the henchmen and they engage in a brawl. After Berty arrives, he and Hal go to Cardigan's Chinatown home, but Cardigan's Chinese butler refuses them admittance. As Cardigan phones Jones to let him know that the aircraft is secure at an abandoned desert airfield, Hal and Berty break into his headquarters and overhear the location of the aircraft. Hal is captured, but later Berty, disguised as a Chinese servant, releases Hal and they use one of Reynolds' aircraft to fly to the desert airstrip. A government agent, who is also a pilot, arrives at Reynolds' headquarters, searching for Cardigan, and Jean guides him to the secret airfield. Cardigan's henchmen see Hal's approaching aircraft and try to chase him down, but he jumps from his aircraft into theirs and upon subduing them, lands the aircraft. Jean and the agent arrive. The agent arrests Cardigan and his men, and Jean and Hal embrace.

Cast

as Hal Foster *

as Jean Reynolds *

as Cardigan * Eddie Davis as Berty * Victor Metzetti as Toughy * William Humphrey as Mr. Reynolds *

as Jones *

Jack Cheatham John Preston Cheatham (December 28, 1894 – March 30, 1971) was an American character actor of the 1930s and 1940s. During his career he appeared in almost 200 films, with 100 of them being features. Life and career Born John Preston Cheat ...

as Barnes

Production

''The Fighting Pilot'' was a low-budget affair that featured the stunts rather than plot or story. The star, Richard Talmadge, made a career of doing action films, and never rose far from the

B-movie 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 ...

format. The aircraft used in ''The Fighting Pilot'', were: *

Kinner Sportster The Kinner Sportster was a 1930s American light monoplane built by Kinner Airplane & Motor Corporation. Design and development The Kinner Airplane & Motor Corporation had been producing radial engines since 1919 decided to enter the light air ...

K c/n 150, NC14237 * Cycloplane C-1 c/n 3, NC12202 *

Stearman C3 The Stearman C3 was an American-built civil biplane aircraft of the 1920s, designed by Stearman Aircraft of Wichita, Kansas. It was also the first Stearman aircraft to receive a type certificate. Development The C3 was a rugged biplane wit ...

B c/n 235, NC8820 *

Travel Air 2000 The Travel Air 2000 is an open-cockpit biplane aircraft produced in the United States in the late 1920s by the Travel Air, Travel Air Manufacturing Company. During the period from 1924–1929, Travel Air produced more aircraft than any othe ...

c/n 322, NC3948 *

Alexander Eaglerock The Alexander Eaglerock is a biplane produced in the United States in the 1920s by Alexander Aircraft Company of Colorado Springs, Colorado.Payne, Stephen, ed. ''Canadian Wings'' (Douglas & McIntyre, Ltd., 2006), p.162. It is a fixed-gear three- ...

A1 c/n 752, NC6375 Santoir, Christian
"Review:'The Fighting Pilot'."
''Aeromovies'', July 21, 2011. Retrieved: September 3, 2019.

Reception

Reviewer Hal Erickson in ''Allmovie.com'', stressed the stunts in ''The Fighting Pilot'' was a highlight.Erickson, Hal
"Review: 'The Fighting Pilot'."
''Allmovie.com'', 2019. Retrieved: September 3, 2019.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Freese, Gene Scott. ''Hollywood Stunt Performers, 1910s-1970s: A Biographical Dictionary'', 2nd ed. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2014. . * Katchmer, George A. ''Eighty Silent Film Stars: Biographies and Filmographies of the Obscure to the Well Known''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1991. . * Pitts, Michael R. ''Poverty Row Studios, 1929–1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies, with a Filmography for Each''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2005. . * Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies''. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fighting Pilot, The 1935 films 1930s action films American aviation films American action films Films directed by Noel M. Smith Reliable Pictures films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films English-language action films