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Flight Angels is a 1940 commercial aviation film from Warner Bros. Pictures, produced by Edmund Grainger and directed by Lewis Seiler, from an original story by Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay. The film stars Virginia Bruce, Dennis Morgan, Wayne Morris, and Ralph Bellamy as airline employees, flying Douglas DST airliners.
The basic premise of the film follows the operational conditions of a commercial airline, while also following its stewardesses and pilots as they go through their daily routines, punctuated with the details of their personal lives.
After Farber and Norvell get married, he finds that teaching is too restrictive and yearns to get back to his secret project. When he learns that the US Army Air Corps is going to test his aircraft, he attempts to get permission to make the first flight, but is refused due to his failing eyesight. Coming back after hours, Farber takes off and puts his secret aircraft through a high altitude test although Graves warns him by radio that the aircraft is too dangerous to fly without further development. At height, windows blow in and Farber barely recovers from going unconscious and pulling out of a high-speed dive, to make a crash landing back at his base.
Angrily giving up his pilot's license, he decides to leave his wife and join the newly formed Chinese mercenary air force fighting against Japan. Air Corps officers intercept him in San Francisco and call him back to active duty in the military to keep the secret of the "stratosphere ship" in US hands. Graves rearranges Mary's flight schedule, sending her to San Antonio, where she is met by newly promoted Capt. Farber, now a flight instructor at Randolph Field. The reunited couple are finally at peace, knowing that everything will turn out all right.
Principal photography consisting of aerial shots and exteriors took place at Burbank Airport, California. Although a mix of studio mock-ups, real aircraft and model work was used effectively, the stock footage of DC-3s at the beginning of the film led to Flagship Illinois becoming Flagship Tennessee as the airliner begins to taxi from the gate and then becomes the Flagship Illinois again as passengers are leaving after a bumpy landing, necessitated by the birth of a baby on board.
The cast was made up of a large group of both rising and falling stars who were not typical of a lesser film. While filming Flight Angels in 1940, Wayne Morris became interested in flying and became a naval aviator. When war was imminent, Morris joined the Naval Reserve and became a Navy flier in 1942, leaving his film career behind for the duration of the war. Flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat off the aircraft carrier USS Essex, Morris shot down seven Japanese aircraft and contributed to the sinking of five ships.
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