Flying Devils (1933) ** 1/2 (out of 4) RKO drama has a carnival of flying daredevils at odds. The star pilot (Bruce Cabot) doesn't want his younger brother (Eric Linden) joining the troop but the crooked boss (Ralph Bellamy) talks him into it. Then the younger brother ends up falling in love with the bosses sweet wife (Arline Judge), which leads to a climatic showdown. Once again, I wasn't expecting too much out of this 60-minute "B" film but it turned out to be pretty entertaining due in large part to the cast. Bellamy was just getting his acting chops down but he adds to the entertainment as does Cabot who's as stiff as ever but it makes for a unique performance. The air flight scenes are very well done, although it's clear they're stock footage from another film.

Bruce Cabot's brother comes to work for the same flying circus during the age of barnstormers. Cabot really wants better for his brother, but the younger brother soon falls in love with the boss' wife and doesn't want to find a better job. Where all this goes is rather predictable, though the way the confrontation occurs near the end of the film is pretty dandy and woke me up...a bit.There were also a few problems with some of the characters in the film. Ralph Bellamy plays the boss who loses his wife. During the 1930s, Bellamy was about the most typecast man in Hollywood (other than perhaps Johnny Weismuller). His signature, so to speak, was losing the girl in dozens of films! Because of that, as soon as I saw that he was married, I knew she would ultimately leave him--creating little, if any, suspense. Also, Cliff Edwards' character just made no sense and was a real detriment to the film. I think he was intended as "comic relief" but his character wasn't funny--just a very hard-core alcoholic. If watching people hurt themselves and being drunk during 90% of the film is supposed to be funny, then you know this can't be a very good film.This was a B-picture and so it was never intended to be much of a film--having been given second-tier actors, a rather lame script and only 62 minutes to tell the story. A few B-films actually manage to rise above their humble origins to become great films, while most are in the poor to mediocre range--and this is one very mediocre film. The biggest problem is that the film all seems to contrived as well as derivative. In the early to mid-1930s, there were quite a few airplane/barnstormer films and the problem for me is that this all looks terribly familiar. In fact, the same year this film was made, Richard Barthelmess made a movie with a lot of similar plot points (both films were about brothers who were barnstormers as well as rivals). If it had all somehow played out less melodramatically and had something different to offer, then I might suggest you see it. As is, it's at best a time-passer.

This is a competent, tidy, short action film and romance from the time when pilots were daredevils. Law student Eric Linden, "Bud," wants to join his older brother Bruce Cabot, "Ace," as a barnstorming stunt pilot with Speed Hardy's Flying Circus. Cabot thinks it is too dangerous a job for his brother, especially with a second-rate group like Speed's. (The group's symbol, which they wear on their jackets, symbolizes their luck; it's a black cat.) The other two pilots with Cabot are Speed Hardy (Ralph Bellamy), the boss, and Cliff Edwards, "Screwy," who is perpetually drunk. But the most dangerous thing that Bud does is not his parachute jumps, or even his two-person parachute jumps; it is falling in love with Arline Judge, Speed's wife, because Speed is seriously jealous.The plot, dialogue, and acting are just serviceable, but there are plenty of thrills from the ample footage of biplanes flying in formation, twirling and corkscrewing, crash landing, and just crashing.

David O Selznick brought in Merian C. Cooper as Executive Producer to get RKO back on its feet and in the Black. Cooper is best remembered for masterminding the production of KING KONG. He also had a heavy duty interest in airplanes being a flyer himself in World War One (WWI) and was a pioneer of commercial aviation in the U.S.A. So it was natural for RKO to feature a slate of air minded pictures once he was in charge.FLYING DEVILS combines all the features needed for such a 'B' level action-ere. Flying Circus with veterans of WWI having excitement in the air and conflicts on the ground. RKO standbys Bruce Cabot, Ralph Bellamy with Cliff Edwards are the 'vets'. Arline Judge the wife (Bellamy) and kid brother Eric Linden (Cabot). Faster then you can say CONTACT triangle forms with Bellemy, Judge and Linden with Cabot as referee and Edwards the comedy relief. In between true love plenty of air action with period planes.RKO made many air films under Cooper's aegis and continued to do so after he left. FLYING DEVILS is well worth a look as are other RKO efforts.