"Wings in the Dark" is a very good drama and romance, with one of Myrna Loy's better dramatic roles. While billed as an adventure, the film is a sort of heroine film and fictional story of an aviation inventor. It has some very good flying scenes and a final nail-biting drama in the air.
Myrna Loy stars as Sheila Mason, the daring female barnstorming pilot. She will take about any job from sky-writing with smoke, to circus shows and county fairs, to daring bridge passes. Cary Grant's famous Ken Gordon, a pilot and inventor, has developed an instrument control system that would allow a blind person to fly and land a plane. He plans to make such a trans-Atlantic flight with his plane's windows covered. But a small stove lighting accident blinds him.
Mason and Gordon's partner and mechanic, Mac (played by Hobart Cavanaugh) keep encouraging Gordon to write and work on his invention. And, unbeknownst to him, Mason flies extra gigs to raise the money to keep him going. When the aviation company that had loaned him the plane for his tests reclaims the plane, Mason takes up a challenge that their friend and occasional promoter Nick Williams, arranged. She will fly non-stop from Moscow to New York in a large well-equipped plane sponsored by an oil company. Her payoff would be $25,000.
The gig gets international attention and press coverage. People listen in on their radios to the latest updates of Sheila Mason's whereabouts. But she runs into heavy fog on the last leg from Boston to New York, and with a dwindling fuel supply, she has no way to tell where she is. Gordon and Mac race to the hanger where the aviation company had reclaimed his plane. He takes off, flying blind, gets in the vicinity where Sheila's plane should be, contacts her on the radio and tells her to climb above the clouds. When she sees him above the clouds, he tells her to close in on him and follow him down through the fog and for a safe landing.
Myrna Loy had top billing for this film over Cary Grant, and it was her film all the way. Grant's star was firmly set by 1935, and so was Loy's. Grant would get top billing in their next two films together. Those were the first-rate comedy-romance films, "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" of 1947, and "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" of 1948.
Here are some favorite lines from this film.
Nick Williams, "Now look, there's a little joint out in New Jersey, see, and they got a bridge." Sheila Mason, "And they want somebody to fly under it." Williams, "Yes" Mason, "What'd they build the bridge for anyway?" Williams, "Civic Pride. Now look, you can do it with your eyes closed - about 20 feet high and 40 feet wide and a nice little river underneath." Mason, "That's in case I miss?" Williams, "You can't miss. After that all you gotta do is a parachute jump." Mason, "Oh, that's all?" Williams, "Sure!" Mason, "Is that, uh, before the bridge or after the bridge, or under the bridge?" Williams, "Now, Sheila, it's a cinch." Mason, "Okay."
Sheila Mason, "What time does this cinch take place?" Nick Williams, "Four o'clock - the sun's right at your back." Mason, "You think of everything, don't you?" Top Harmon, "Why don't ya hire this guy to shoot ya, Sheila - save a little trouble?" Williams, "Ahh, quiet, Top."
Myrna Loy stars as Sheila Mason, the daring female barnstorming pilot. She will take about any job from sky-writing with smoke, to circus shows and county fairs, to daring bridge passes. Cary Grant's famous Ken Gordon, a pilot and inventor, has developed an instrument control system that would allow a blind person to fly and land a plane. He plans to make such a trans-Atlantic flight with his plane's windows covered. But a small stove lighting accident blinds him.
Mason and Gordon's partner and mechanic, Mac (played by Hobart Cavanaugh) keep encouraging Gordon to write and work on his invention. And, unbeknownst to him, Mason flies extra gigs to raise the money to keep him going. When the aviation company that had loaned him the plane for his tests reclaims the plane, Mason takes up a challenge that their friend and occasional promoter Nick Williams, arranged. She will fly non-stop from Moscow to New York in a large well-equipped plane sponsored by an oil company. Her payoff would be $25,000.
The gig gets international attention and press coverage. People listen in on their radios to the latest updates of Sheila Mason's whereabouts. But she runs into heavy fog on the last leg from Boston to New York, and with a dwindling fuel supply, she has no way to tell where she is. Gordon and Mac race to the hanger where the aviation company had reclaimed his plane. He takes off, flying blind, gets in the vicinity where Sheila's plane should be, contacts her on the radio and tells her to climb above the clouds. When she sees him above the clouds, he tells her to close in on him and follow him down through the fog and for a safe landing.
Myrna Loy had top billing for this film over Cary Grant, and it was her film all the way. Grant's star was firmly set by 1935, and so was Loy's. Grant would get top billing in their next two films together. Those were the first-rate comedy-romance films, "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" of 1947, and "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" of 1948.
Here are some favorite lines from this film.
Nick Williams, "Now look, there's a little joint out in New Jersey, see, and they got a bridge." Sheila Mason, "And they want somebody to fly under it." Williams, "Yes" Mason, "What'd they build the bridge for anyway?" Williams, "Civic Pride. Now look, you can do it with your eyes closed - about 20 feet high and 40 feet wide and a nice little river underneath." Mason, "That's in case I miss?" Williams, "You can't miss. After that all you gotta do is a parachute jump." Mason, "Oh, that's all?" Williams, "Sure!" Mason, "Is that, uh, before the bridge or after the bridge, or under the bridge?" Williams, "Now, Sheila, it's a cinch." Mason, "Okay."
Sheila Mason, "What time does this cinch take place?" Nick Williams, "Four o'clock - the sun's right at your back." Mason, "You think of everything, don't you?" Top Harmon, "Why don't ya hire this guy to shoot ya, Sheila - save a little trouble?" Williams, "Ahh, quiet, Top."