This movie has very little to do with the actual China Clipper or even with aviation for that matter. It is basically an on-the-ground Hollywood fantasy that uses airplanes as a kind of backdrop for yet another lone-hero-overcoming-all-odds-to-succeed-while-sacrificing– true-friendship-and-love boilerplate script. Inspired designs for a new type of plane conceived in 2 minutes on the back of a diner napkin, arrogant ultimatums delivered by the financiers who don't understand that the future of aviation is at stake, brave pilots who are willing to risk their lives in the name of progress, and the women-folks, those gentle guardians of home and hearth who love their man – but not enough to sacrifice the sanctity of the family.
All this movie has going for it are some decent actors who have a pretty good go at it, but I can only imagine the sarcastic quips they exchanged in the evening after a few drinks. Pat O'Brien is his usual forthright self, Bogart is quite good as the hot-tempered sidekick pilot, and of special note is one of the few appearances of the personable and short-lived Ross Alexander. But the advertised stars of the show, the airplanes themselves, rarely make an appearance. The unfortunate character here is history itself, which gets very short shrift in this mangled, comic-book re-telling of what was a much larger, and quite interesting effort to establish air routes across the Pacific by Pan American.
Even if you manage to achieve the proper suspension of disbelief necessary to watch this film, what remains is simply not that entertaining.
All this movie has going for it are some decent actors who have a pretty good go at it, but I can only imagine the sarcastic quips they exchanged in the evening after a few drinks. Pat O'Brien is his usual forthright self, Bogart is quite good as the hot-tempered sidekick pilot, and of special note is one of the few appearances of the personable and short-lived Ross Alexander. But the advertised stars of the show, the airplanes themselves, rarely make an appearance. The unfortunate character here is history itself, which gets very short shrift in this mangled, comic-book re-telling of what was a much larger, and quite interesting effort to establish air routes across the Pacific by Pan American.
Even if you manage to achieve the proper suspension of disbelief necessary to watch this film, what remains is simply not that entertaining.