The 6th Annual Barrymore Blogathon – Night Flight (1933)

This is the final of three posts dedicated to The Sixth Annual Barrymore Blogathon being held over at In The Good Old Days of Hollywood. Tnx Crystal for letting me take part!

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“What’s it all for? Just so somebody in Paris can get a postcard on Tuesday instead of Thursday? ” – Wife of Brazilian Pilot

Number of Times Seen – 1 (16 Nov 2020)

Brief Synopsis – Daring pilots are sent on dangerous trips across the South American mountains in order to deliver both the main and medicine on time.

My Take on it – This is another film for this blogathon that I had never heard of before conducting my research on the Barrymore siblings.

This film actually features John most prominently, but Lionel also appears in an important role.

The story itself isn’t as powerful as one might hope and even having two Barrymore, Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Helen Hayes and Robert Montgomery doesn’t help make things more enjoyable to watch.

The story is told in a very choppy manner which hurts this a bit too much.

The pacing is far too slow and there are too many scenes that just don’t seem to fit well here.

They fail to develop any of the character on more than a superficial level, and they all seem like caricatures instead of something more poignant.

The film does have a great message yet due to the poor manner in which it is presented, it definitely gets lost in the shuffle which is quite a shame.

Bottom Line – Pretty mediocre tale that doesn’t work well enough despite an all star cast. The story itself is far too choppy and is paced poorly. None of the characters are developed well enough and they all seem like caricatures instead of something more meaningful. The film has a great message, yet it falls short because of the way that they present things which takes so much away from it being more impactful.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – It was originally planned to show Clark Gable’s character parachuting from his abandoned plane at an altitude of 25,000 feet. However, stuntman Jim Unger, who was doubling for Gable, passed out at 20,000 feet due to lack of oxygen and the shot was never captured. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)