Danger Flight
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Howard Bretherton
John Trent
Marjorie Reynolds
Milburn Stone
Tommy Baker
Dennis Moore
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Ace flyer "Tailspin" Tommy Tomkins leads a flying club for young boys, who learn about aviation by flying toy planes. When Mr. Brown receives a large payroll by plane, which he must then transport farther by car, gangster Mike Lewis and two fellow gang members try to hold him up After Brown escapes, Tommy agrees to carry the next payroll by small plane and then helps Mike's little brother Whitey, a tough orphan, get a toy plane and join the club. On the night of a bad rain storm, Flight 14 is due to arrive with Brown's payroll. When an accident at a dam traps injured men, however, Tommy is asked to drop medical supplies. Tommy must use his own parachute to drop the supplies and then must land with zero visibility. The lights on the airstrip are out, and Tommy overshoots the field, then runs out of gas and crashes into a bank of trees. While search parties look for Tommy's downed plane east of the airfield, Whitey is sure Tommy crashed west and sends the boys out to search. After Whitey finds Tommy's plane and sends his toy plane up, Tommy's friends, Skeeter and Betty Lou, see Whitey's plane from the air and rescue Tommy. Headlines praise Whitey's heroism, causing the boy's ego to inflate. Taking advantage of Whitey's egotism, Mike introduces him to gang boss Dawson, as a manufacturer of toys who would like to develop a "Whitey Lewis" scout plane that features a secret code. Tommy helps Whitey invent a miniature plane that can send a smoke signal to be used during emergencies. When Flight 14 finally arrives with the payroll, Tommy takes it on his plane with him. The gangsters, meanwhile, pretend to have a car accident, and Whitey, believing Mike is hurt, sends a smoke signal to Tommy, who lands and is held up. At first, Tommy believes Whitey betrayed him, but when they are both taken hostage, Tommy realizes that Whitey is innocent. In the basement of Dawson's cabin hideout, Tommy and Whitey repair Whitey's miniature plane and send a smoke signal, which is spotted by a pilot. The police find the plane and search for the hideout, while Tommy, afraid the signal didn't work, sends Whitey upstairs to escape. Whitey is caught, but when Mike sees Dawson manhandle his brother, he slugs Dawson, who shoots him. Tommy and Whitey are both knocked out, and the gang escapes by car and goes over a cliff. Tommy wakes and helps Whitey out of the cabin. Later, Brown gives Whitey a scout uniform, and the head of Whitey's school makes plans for an air scout troop that will soon become a national organization led by Tailspin Tommy.
Director
Howard Bretherton
Cast
John Trent
Marjorie Reynolds
Milburn Stone
Tommy Baker
Dennis Moore
Julius Tannen
Edwin Parker
Joe Bernard
Harry Harvey Jr.
Walter Willis
Crew
Glenn Cook
Glenn Cook
Scott R. Dunlap
Hal Forrest
Albert Greenwood
E. R. Hickson
Fred Jackman [jr.]
Jackman Process Corp.
Paul Malvern
Byron Morgan
L. John Myers
Edwin C. Parsons
Edward Schroeder
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The name "Tailspin Tommy" is listed above the film's title. The working title of this film was Scouts of the Air. According to a news item in Hollywood Reporter, the picture was shot on location at Big Bear, CA and at the airport at Alhambra, CA. For additional information about the series, consult the Series Index and see the entry for Mystery Plane (below).
