User Reviews

While James Cagney was moving his way through every branch of the service (secret and armed forces) over at Warner Brothers, his lesser known brother William was attempting a rise to stardom at the lesser "Z" grade studios like Monogram. Highly resembling his brother (particularly in side close-ups), he has a certain magnetism but is unfortunately overshadowed by the star presence of the more famous one. Here, the other Cagney is a womanizing pilot whose calling card is a fragrant soap which all of his lady loves receive, including the wife of his commanding officer. When the fiancée (June Collyer) of his best friend (Edward J. Nugent) meets him, she flirts with him unknowingly and when Nugent finds some of that soap in her bathroom, fists are definitely prepared to fly. But it was an innocent prank which brought Cagney and Collyer together, and now that the sparks have flown between them, it's too late. A flight in a hot hair balloon for military scientific purposes becomes the location for a show-down between the two men.

A better than average programmer, this combines comedy with military style adventure and an exciting finale where the two friends/rival must come to terms with the truth about what happened. Not only does Cagney resemble his brother, leading lady Collyer highly resembles another Warner Brothers contract player, a young Mary Astor. Hattie McDaniel gets some good lines in as her maid, even giving Cagney one of her typical suspicious looks but eventually coming around when she realizes where true love lies.

LOST IN THE STRATOSPHERE, a lively comedy of jealousy, amorous rivalry and feminine duplicity, is known a bit because of one of the Cagney brothers, namely William, who's a handsome air—pilot in this light comedy. The title sounds great, with a surrealist twist—like for a Sci—Fi pioneering thriller or a slapstick comedy; it has only the vaguest relation to what the movie's about.

James, Jeanne, William were all in the movies—a hoard of Cagneys. William was a bit more handsome, I believe, than James; perhaps taller also. All these three Cagney brothers resembled much each other—the Cagney forehead, the Cagney chin.

W. Cagney is the cocksure army pilot Soapy Cooper in this '34 comedy; he beats the milkman by 5 minutes. His pal is Woody Wood, played by who else than Nugent. The two are some cocksure womanizing pranksters. Like his brother, W. Cagney was a sort of living cartoon; he looks like an anachronistic J. Cagney impersonator.

Hattie McDaniel plays the racial stereotype 'Ida Johnson'.

June Collyer, a hot babe, is Evelyn Worthington, a beautiful stranger met by 'Soapy'; this unfaithful broad promised herself to Wood but offers herself to Cooper.

The film starts with USAAF pilots running the air mail service after it had been nationalised. Back at base, the two male leads head off into town to a German-style beer hall to chase skirt. The rivalry between the two pilots for the girl got confusing. The air mail service having been privatised, they are assigned to high altitude balloons. At this point the film has some very interesting footage of the preparation and launch of such balloons, including the laying out of the balloon's panels and stitching it together. Following take-off there was aerial footage of the balloon rapidly ascending. In the air there is trouble with the gas valve and a dangerous situation develops. One of the pilot's knocks the other out and tips him out of the gondola to parachute back to earth, where he is immediately picked up and taken back to base. The other pilot drifts, lost in the stratosphere, and eventually to come down in Quebec, injuring himself in the process. The first pilot immediately grabs a small biplane and the girl and flies her up to Quebec to be beside the boy she really loves. There was no indication of who paid for the fuel. The acting from the male leads was to say the least, cringe-making; the girl wasn't bad, and the Colonel passable. This was a film where the story was built round recent events, so had to be done quickly, and it showed, but there were a few light moments.