''Without Orders'' is a 1936 American

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

Lew Landers Lew Landers (born Louis Friedlander, January 2, 1901 – December 16, 1962) was an American independent film and television director. Biography Born as Louis Friedlander in New York City, Lew Landers began his movie career as an actor. In 1914, ...

and starring Sally Eilers, Robert Armstrong, Frances Sage,

Charley Grapewin Charles Ellsworth Grapewin (December 20, 1869 – February 2, 1956) was an American vaudeville and circus performer, writer, and stage and film actor. He worked in over 100 motion pictures during the silent and sound eras, most notably portrayin ...

and Vinton Haworth. It was produced by RKO Radio Pictures, who released the picture on October 23, 1936. The screenplay was written by Samuel Briskin and Cliff Reid, based on the short story of the same name by Peter B. Kyne, which had appeared in the February 8, 1936 edition of ''Collier's'' magazine.

Plot

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, playboy pilot Len Kendrick (Vinton Haworth) lands at the end of a cross-country record flight, met by his father J.P. Kendrick (Charley Grapewin) who owns Amalgamated Air Lines. Len is a media darling, adored by fans for his daring flights. He is in love with Amalgamated

stewardess A flight attendant is a member of the aircrew whose primary responsibility is ensure the safety of passengers in the cabin of an aircraft across all stages of flight. Their secondary duty is to see to the comfort of passengers. Flight attenda ...

Kay Armstrong (Sally Eilers) who is dating veteran pilot "Wad" Madison (Robert Armstrong). Len dates her sister Penny (Frances Sage) who learns that his hard-drinking and recklessness has caused the death of his co-pilot. Penny knows that he was drinking before the fateful flight and only escaped prosecution by bribing a bartender. She leaves Len who ends up at Amalgamated as a line pilot, being tutored by Wad. Len pursues Kay, and she falls for his charm but asks her sister for advice about marrying him. Realizing that marriage would be a mistake, Penny tells Len that she will expose him; he angrily reacts by knocking her down, fracturing her skull. On an outbound flight, Len attempts to rush Kay into accepting a proposal of marriage but she learns that her sister is seriously injured and in the hospital. Kay asks Wad to fly her back to Portland. On the same flight, Len locks his rival out of the cockpit, takes over the flight and after landing at the airline's home base, accuses Wad of cowardice and dereliction of duty, resulting in a fistfight between the two men. Wad is fired, but finds out from Penny that Len has a terrible secret to hide. On a flight to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, Len's aircraft not only has been battling a blizzard for hours, but also experiences engine trouble. Instead of landing, in a repeat of the earlier tragic incident, Len knocks out his co-pilot, and again takes to a parachute, leaving Key and the passengers behind. This time, his parachute fails to open. Wad radios instructions to Kay who takes over the controls and successfully makes an emergency landing. Kay and Wad are hailed as heroes and, after the veteran pilot gets back his old job, take up where they had left off.

Cast

* Sally Eilers as Kay Armstrong * Robert Armstrong as "Wad" Madison * Frances Sage as Penny Armstrong *

as J.P. Kendrick * Vinton Hayworth as Len Kendrick *

Ward Bond Wardell Edwin Bond (April 9, 1903 – November 5, 1960) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and starred in the NBC television series ''Wagon Train'' from 1957 to 1960. Among his best-remembered roles are Bert th ...

as Tim Casey * Frank M. Thomas as Arthur Trueman *

May Boley May Blossom Boley (May 29, 1881 – January 7, 1963) was an American actress known for her role as Whale Oil Rosie in ''Moby Dick'' (1930). Stage Besides being an actress, Boley was a dancer. An article in an 1898 issue of a newspaper commented ...

as Mrs. Maddy Overhose *

Arthur Loft Arthur Loft (born Hans Peter Loft;"Obituary: Arthur Loft"
''The Los ...

as Air Controller Calkins * Walter Miller as Commerce Airline Inspector

Production

''Without Orders'' was directed by

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 ...

specialist Lew Landers, who would eventually helm nine aviation films including ''

Flight from Glory ''Flight from Glory'' is an American B movie about a run-down air cargo company in the Andes. It was directed by Lew Landers, and starred Chester Morris, Whitney Bourne, Onslow Stevens and Van Heflin. When released on August 20, 1937, ''Flight fr ...

'' (1937), '' Sky Giant'' (1938), ''Air Hostess'' (1939) and ''Arctic Flight'' (1952). The stars of ''Without Orders'' also had appeared in many aviation-themed films, with Sally Eilers starring in three films and Robert Armstrong in eight films. ''Without Orders'' was primarily filmed from August 3 to late-August 1936, at the Grand Central Air Terminal at

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

which stood in for both the Portland and Salt Lake City airports. The aircraft that was featured as the Amalgamated Air Lines airliner was the first

Boeing 247 The Boeing Model 247 is an early American airliner, and one of the first such aircraft to incorporate advances such as all-metal ( anodized aluminum) semimonocoque construction, a fully cantilevered wing, and retractable landing gear.

D (NC2666), leased from Philips Petroleum Co. A Ryan ST-A was the aircraft seen as the record-breaking aircraft.Santoir, Christian
"Without Orders."
''aeromovies.fr'', October 21, 2008. Retrieved: November 7, 2014.

Reception

''Without Orders'' was reviewed by B.R. Crisler at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. He noted that the film "... deals with that previously celebrated conflict between stunt and transport piloting, nor exactly revolutionary in treatment, 'Without Orders' nonetheless, manages to be endurable and even fairly exciting aero-drama."Crisler, B.R
"Without Orders (1936); At the Rialto."
''The New York Times'', November 4, 1936. Aviation film historian James Farmer considered ''Without Orders'', "above average" although the plot was a hackneyed love triangle.Farmer 1984, p. 339.

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

*{{IMDb title, 0028512 1936 drama films 1936 films American aviation films American black-and-white films Films about aviation accidents or incidents Films set in airports Films set on airplanes Films produced by Cliff Reid RKO Pictures films American drama films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Lew Landers 1930s American films