Death comes to all villains in the movies, even if it's only hinted at. Ralph Bellamy is the owner of a small airline company whose mail planes seem to suddenly burst into flames in the same spot in the middle of nowhere. A strange light appears like a spotlight right before the sudden burst of flames, only one pilot managing (along with the cute pooch he has aboard) to escape alive. With the help of smarmy reporter Victor Kilian, Bellamy tracks information to a glamorous nightclub and thanks to nightclub singer Tala Birell, finds out the truth.
Great photography, editing, montage sequences and special effects helps this pre-World War II adventure (with a little bit of sci-fi) rise above its B film trappings, and great villainous performances by Douglas Dumbrille and Edward Van Sloan aid the tension. The brief presence of an overly cute little girl, played with cloying precociousness by Marianne Edwards (daughter of one of the victims) is only a slight distraction, and Wiley Post's cameo adds historical value. Post was killed in a plane crash just a few months later, along with Will Rogers, adding a poignant postscript to his sole appearance on screen.
Great photography, editing, montage sequences and special effects helps this pre-World War II adventure (with a little bit of sci-fi) rise above its B film trappings, and great villainous performances by Douglas Dumbrille and Edward Van Sloan aid the tension. The brief presence of an overly cute little girl, played with cloying precociousness by Marianne Edwards (daughter of one of the victims) is only a slight distraction, and Wiley Post's cameo adds historical value. Post was killed in a plane crash just a few months later, along with Will Rogers, adding a poignant postscript to his sole appearance on screen.