Directed by:
Howard HawksScreenplay:
Jules FurthmanCinematography:
Joseph WalkerComposer:
Dimitri TiomkinCast:
Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Richard Barthelmess, Rita Hayworth, Thomas Mitchell, Allyn Joslyn, Sig Ruman, John Carroll, Noah Beery Jr., Don 'Red' Barry (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
When showgirl Bonnie Lee's ship docks in the "banana republic" of Barranca, she is delighted to meet Joe Souther and Les Peters, two American flyers for a cut-rate airline owned by softhearted Dutchy. The airline is run by the hard-boiled Geoff Carter, who, despite hazardous weather conditions in the Andes and frequent crack ups, must maintain a regular schedule for six months in order to obtain the mail subsidy. The conviviality of the evening is shattered as Dutch, Tex, Geoff and Bonnie watch in horror as Joe's plane crashes in the fog. Geoff's best friend, Kid Dabb, warns Bonnie to stay away from the misogynistic Geoff, whose bad experience with one woman has soured him against the entire sex, and whose motto is that he will never ask a woman for anything. Bonnie finds herself attracted to him nevertheless, and decides to remain in Barranca. Complications arise with the arrival of Bat MacPherson, a new pilot, and his wife Judy. Years earlier, MacPherson's cowardice caused the death of Kid's younger brother, and as a result, the other pilots object to his presence. When Geoff is forced to ground Kid because of failing eyesight, however, he is short on pilots and agrees to hire MacPherson on the condition that he fly the most dangerous missions. Meanwhile, Bonnie is on the verge of confessing her love for Geoff when Kid calls him away to test a new airplane. On the night of the last flight necessary to clinch the contract, a storm rages, and Bonnie, terrified that Geoff will not return from his mission, accidentally shoots him while begging him not to fly. With a bullet in his shoulder, Geoff is unable to fly, and so MacPerson and Kid, the two antagonists, volunteer to take over his mission. While they are navigating the fog shrouded-pass, a bird crashes through their windshield, breaking Kid's neck and setting the plane on fire. Rather than save himself by parachuting to safety, MacPherson crash lands the plane in a ball of flames, thus winning redemption from the dying Kid. As the weather clears, Geoff and Les prepare to take off again, but before he leaves, Geoff uses Kid's single-sided coin to ask Bonnie to stay with him. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Cary Grant
UK
Best movies:
North by Northwest (1959)
Charade (1963)
Holiday (1938)
Jean Arthur
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The Talk of the Town (1942)
Richard Barthelmess
USA
Best movies:
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Way Down East (1920)
Snow White (1916)
Rita Hayworth
USA
Best movies:
You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen (2012) - a.f.
Thomas Mitchell
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Allyn Joslyn
USA
Best movies:
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
Sig Ruman
German Empire
Best movies:
Love Crazy (1941)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
One, Two, Three (1961)
John Carroll
USA
Best movies:
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Go West (1940)
Monte Carlo (1930)
Noah Beery Jr.
USA
Best movies:
Of Mice and Men (1939)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
White Feather (1955)
Don 'Red' Barry
USA
Best movies:
Johnny Got His Gun (1971)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Dead End (1937)
Robert Sterling
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Johnny Eager (1941)
Pat Flaherty
USA
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Forbes Murray
Canada
Best movies:
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Edison, the Man (1940)
Vertigo (1958)
James Millican
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Love Crazy (1941)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Ky Robinson
Best movies:
Love Crazy (1941)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Wilson Benge
UK
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Love Crazy (1941)
Gaslight (1944)
Eddie Foster
Russian Empire
Best movies:
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)
The General (1926)
White Heat (1949)
Raúl Lechuga
Best movies:
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
La perla (1947)
Lucio Villegas
Chile
Best movies:
The Mark of Zorro (1940)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Tycoon (1947)
Victor Kilian
USA
Best movies:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
The Yearling (1946)
The Mark of Zorro (1940)