Review of China Clipper

This film is about Pat O'Brien's insanely driven goal of creating an international airline service in the very early days of commercial aviation. No matter how successful his new airline becomes, Pat pushes his men harder to be even bigger and better. Unfortunately, he has a heart of stone and is so doggedly fixed on his goals that he treat everyone around him like dirt--never thanking people and ignoring his insanely patient wife. At times, he truly seems disturbed, as he shows signs of Paranoid Personality Disorder--lashing out at even the simplest requests from loyal employees. In so many ways, the film seems like an airplane version of MOBY DICK, as Ahab-like O'Brien is barely human! Despite this and the way O'Brien barks out his lines (this was his style in many films, by the way), the airline works--even though again and again they seem on the verge of failure. The biggest and most daunting goal, though, is not his air conquest of South America but the creation of the first clipper service to China.

Despite sounding rather dull, I did enjoy the film a lot--and much of this is that I am a huge fan of early aviation films. You actually learned a lot AND enjoyed a typically breezy 1930s-era Warner Brothers programmer. By the way, if you like this, O'Brien played nearly the same earnest-style person in many other films of the 30s--though I have never seen him as mean and unlikable as he was here! By the way, one of the supporting actors is a younger Humphrey Bogart and a highlight is when he busts O'Brien in the mouth--boy was THAT a great scene!