Love Takes Flight
Cast & Crew
Conrad Nagel
Bruce Cabot
Beatrice Roberts
Astrid Allwyn
John Sheehan
Edwin Maxwell
Film Details
Technical Specs
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com//img/global/logo-AFI.png)
Synopsis
Ace pilot Neil Bradshaw, known as Brad, and his girl friend, Joan Lawson, an airline hostess and pilot in training, dream of flying to Manila from Los Angeles in record time. When David Miller, a producer from Empire Films, offers Joan a movie contract, she turns it down after Brad says he would never take a job on the ground. Meanwhile, Miller's star actress, Diana Audre, refuses to make the film Sky Fever because she dislikes her co-star, and must fly to New York to appeal to Swanson, the president of Empire Films. When Diana's flight is delayed because of bad weather, Spud Johnson, publicity agent for American Airlines, orders Brad to fly Diana solo to New York as a publicity stunt. Forced to land in the mountains, Diana and Brad are assumed missing and make headlines all over the country. After they are rescued, Diana insists Brad co-star in Sky Fever , and he gives up flying and becomes a Hollywood sensation, as well as Diana's boyfriend. Spud, meanwhile, promotes Joan in flying contests and she breaks a string of records. After Joan wins a contest flying a Parker plane, Bill Parker, a long-time admirer of Joan, swears his love, but she rejects him. When Joan makes plans to fly solo to Manila, Spud urges Brad to talk her out of it, but Brad's insults about her flying ability only make her more determined. Joan takes off for Manila, and when she veers off course slightly, Brad appears from the back of the plane and flies her safely to Manila, then parachutes himself to safety before she lands her plane. On land, Joan tearfully confesses Brad's intervention to the press. Later, he confesses his love to her and they embrace.
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com//img/global/logo-AFI.png)
Director
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/ConradNagel.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Conrad Nagel
Cast
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/BruceCabot.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Bruce Cabot
Beatrice Roberts
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/AstridAllwyn.2734.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Astrid Allwyn
John Sheehan
Edwin Maxwell
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/GradySutton.187276.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Grady Sutton
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/ArthurHoyt.89935.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Arthur Hoyt
Harry Tyler
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/BillElliott.jpg?imwidth=188&height=141)
Gordon Elliott
William Thorne
Elliott Fisher
William Moore
Brooks Benedict
Carol Tevis
Jack Duffy
Reed Howes
Henry Roquemore
Crew
Edward L. Alperson
Anne Morrison Chapin
Robert Crandall
Sam Diege
George A. Hirliman
Lionel O. Houser
Mervin Houser
Tony Martinelli
Doc Merman
Abe Meyer
Ben Pivar
Mack Stengler
F. Paul Sylos
Herb White
William Wilmarth
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com//img/global/logo-AFI.png)
Film Details
Technical Specs
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com//img/global/logo-AFI.png)
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The title of Anne Morrison Chapin's story was "Love Takes Flight." Variety erroneously combines scenarists Lionel and Mervin Houser into one name in its review. A Hollywood Reporter production chart for the first day of shooting lists Ann Evers in the cast and credits only Lionel Houser with screenwriting. Evers' participation in the final film has not been confirmed. Although the Motion Picture Herald review states that this film recalls the ill-fated trans-world flight of Amelia Earhart, the film was actually shot before Earhart and her navigator, Robert Noonan, vanished over the Pacific on July 2, 1937 and were presumed dead. It also reportedly paralleled motion picture producer B. P. Schulberg's discovery of pilot John Trent and his rise to film stardom. In reference to Grand National's over-use of American Airlines logos and "apparatus" in the picture, the Variety reviewer stated, "limited production cost is too obviously made possible by the cooperation of the American Airlines." According to the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library, this film was rejected by the Hays Office initially because of scenes containing an "excessive amount of drinking, which...is not absolutely necessary to the motivation of the plot." The scenes were later altered.
![](https://prod-images.tcm.com//img/global/logo-AFI.png)