By Frank Miller
Marines Fly High
Brief Synopsis
Two Marines compete for the love of a Central American plantation owner.
Cast & Crew
Read More
George Nicholls Jr.
Director
Richard Dix
Lt. [Danny] Darrick
Lucille Ball
Joan Grant
Chester Morris
Lt. Malone
John Eldredge
John Henderson
Steffi Duna
Teresa
Film Details
Genre
Adventure
Action
Drama
War
Release Date
Feb
2,
1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 8m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7 reels
Synopsis
When a band of Central American outlaws led by revolutionist El Vengador raid the cocoa plantation owned by American Joan Grant, Joan turns to the United States Marines for protection. The Marines, under the command of Colonel Hill, are training at a nearby post, and the colonel assigns Lieutenant Danny Darrick and the newly arrived Lieutenant Malone to fly a reconnaissance mission to locate the bandits' hideout. Although comrades at arms, the lieutenants find themselves in competition for Joan's affections, and the appearance of Darrick's old flame, Teresa, straddles him with a definite handicap. After a night of romance, the Marines take off on their mission, but their airplane is shot down by the bandits, and they must parachute to safety. Soon after their return to the post, Joan decides to return to her plantation to retrieve the contents of the safe, and Darrick and Malone volunteer to escort her. Along the way, they find Joan's neighbor murdered and his house in flames, and Malone returns to the post to report the attack while Joan and Darrick continue to the plantation. Upon reaching Joan's plantation, they are ambushed by the bandits, who are being led by Joan's foreman, John Henderson, who has been masquerading as El Vengador. After knocking Darrick unconscious and kidnapping Joan, Henderson returns to town and sets a trap for the unwitting Marines. While the doctor confines Darrick to bed because of the blow he has suffered, Malone leads a column of Marines into Henderson's trap. Luckily, Darrick disobeys orders, borrows a plane and arrives just in time to foil Henderson's ambush and rescue Joan.
Cast
Richard Dix
Lt. [Danny] Darrick
Lucille Ball
Joan Grant
Chester Morris
Lt. Malone
John Eldredge
John Henderson
Steffi Duna
Teresa
Paul Harvey
Col. Hill
Horace Macmahon
Monk O'Hara
Dick Hogan
Corp. Haines
Robert Stanton
Lt. Hobbs
Ann Shoemaker
Mrs. Hill
Nestor Paiva
Fernandez
Ethan Laidlaw
Barnes
Crew
Louis Betancourt
Native Music comp
Lieut. Commander A. J. Bolton
Screenwriter
Jerry Cady
Screenwriter
Albert D'agostino
Art Director Associate
A. C. Edington
Story
Frederic Knudtson
Editing
Lee Marcus
Executive Producer
Van Nest Polglase
Art Director
Frank Redman
Director of Photography
Renie
Gowns
Dave Robel
Dance Director
Robert Sisk
Producer
J. Dewey Starkey
Assistant Director
Roy Webb
Music Director
Earl A. Wolcott
Recording
Film Details
Genre
Adventure
Action
Drama
War
Release Date
Feb
2,
1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 8m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7 reels
Articles
Marines Fly High -
RKO crammed enough action into this 68-minte programmer for a quartet of Indiana Jones movies. It all starts when bandits led by the mysterious El Vengador stage a series of raids on Lucille Ball's Central American coffee plantation. For help, he calls on a platoon of Marines staging training maneuvers nearby, a move that nets her a good deal of help and a romantic triangle. The two officers assigned to smoke out the bandits (Richard Dix and Chester Morris) both fall for the future TV star and spend as much time vying for her affections as they do hunting down bad guys. The triangle hardly gets in the way of the action, which includes plane crashes, shoot-outs, ambushes and a deadly trap set for the fighting forces. The studio version of jungle life was nothing new for Ball, who was a regular feature in RKO B movies like Panama Lady, not to mention the more prestigious Five Came Back (both 1939). And though she didn't get to flex her comic muscles much, at least the film let her look fetching in her plantation attire. Director George Nichols, Jr. died unexpectedly in a car accident during filming, forcing RKO to replace him with Benjamin Stoloff.
By Frank Miller
By Frank Miller
Marines Fly High -
RKO crammed enough action into this 68-minte programmer for a quartet of Indiana Jones movies. It all starts when bandits led by the mysterious El Vengador stage a series of raids on Lucille Ball's Central American coffee plantation. For help, he calls on a platoon of Marines staging training maneuvers nearby, a move that nets her a good deal of help and a romantic triangle. The two officers assigned to smoke out the bandits (Richard Dix and Chester Morris) both fall for the future TV star and spend as much time vying for her affections as they do hunting down bad guys. The triangle hardly gets in the way of the action, which includes plane crashes, shoot-outs, ambushes and a deadly trap set for the fighting forces. The studio version of jungle life was nothing new for Ball, who was a regular feature in RKO B movies like Panama Lady, not to mention the more prestigious Five Came Back (both 1939). And though she didn't get to flex her comic muscles much, at least the film let her look fetching in her plantation attire. Director George Nichols, Jr. died unexpectedly in a car accident during filming, forcing RKO to replace him with Benjamin Stoloff.
By Frank Miller
Quotes
Trivia
Ben Stoloff took over direction of the film when George Nicholls, Jr. was killed in an automobile accident during production.
Notes
This film was also reviewed as The Marines Fly High. A Hollywood Reporter news item notes that Ben Stoloff completed the direction of this picture after George Nicholls, Jr. was killed in an automobile accident on November 15, 1939.
