A mysterious ray that immobilizes all motors and engines threatens the security of the country. Barry Eldon is the owner of an airline company that is competing with a rival company for a lucrative air-mail contract with the government. While the other company is bigger and more profitable than Barry's line, the rival owner has hired a scientist that has perfected a ray-machine that will cause airplanes that its ray is directed at to lose their engine power and crash. Thed government and the public are losing faith in Eldon's line before he, aided by Renee Dupont, can find out what is causing his airplanes to crash. Air Hawks (1935) <br/><br/>** 1/2 (out of 4) <br/><br/>Really weird Columbia "B" picture about a small, independent airline company, ran by Ralph Bellamy, who are competing for a contract against a major company. The major company fears they're going to lose the contract so they hire a mad scientist (an uncredited Edward Van Sloan) to build a death ray so they can shoot down the rivals planes. The business and romance side of this film are certainly routine but the sci-fi/horror elements are what really makes this film unique. Bellamy is good in his role bringing his usual charm to the screen but Van Sloan is downright over the top as the mad scientist but this brings a few laughs. I'm somewhat shocked this film got past the code back in the day since some of the violence, which includes pilots burning and crashing their planes, is pretty strong. Another interesting note is that real life pilot Wiley Post has a role here and we would die in a real crash soon after with Will Rogers. If you like old movies, this one is pretty entertaining, it has an interesting plot, that is suspenseful enough to keep you watching. Ralph Bellamy is as good in this as in any of his other movies. Also pretty funny because of it's age, lot's of smoking which is always a gas these days! In full disclosure, my great aunt Grace was one of the writers, but I've given it 8 stars, and it is worth the watch.
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326 weeks ago