This is the second of 3 films featuring Gable and Tracy. The leading lady changed each time. This time, it was Myrna Loy as a flier-struck midwest farm girl who wins the heart of dashing Gable. The relationship between Tracy and Gable is basically the same in all 3 films. Tracy officially is the odd man out in a triangle. However, when Gable and the leading lady are feeling like enemies, Tracy takes over to console and advise the wife or girlfriend. In "San Francisco" and "Boomtown", they go back and forth as buddies or arch-enemies. In this film, they remain buddies, but Tracy and Myrna share the morose certainty that Gable will not live long in his role as test pilot for experimental aircraft. Gable, on the other hand, seems not to care whether he dies or is permanently maimed. Neither does he care sufficiently about the increasingly morose fears of Tracy and Marna to quit his dangerous job and stunt flying. Afterall, he periodically makes a bundle of cash(which he usually parties away)and becomes a local celebrity. Clearly, the '30s public liked films featuring both Gable and Tracy. But Tracy got fed up with playing second fiddle to Gable and "Boomtown" was their last pairing.
It is usually assumed that Gable's character is based on the autobiography of test pilot Jimmy Collins, also titled "Test Pilot", published just a few years earlier. However, a detailed discussion at the Turner Classic Movies web site considerably muddies this neat assumption. Seems MGM already had this project in mind and named in 1933. Thus, MGM did not credit the story as being based on Collins' life or book. Yet, one of the most harrowing scenes in the film, when the wings are torn off Gable's plane in a high speed dive, essentially duplicates what happened in Collins' fatal crash, just a couple of years before. Incidentally, Collins' grandson, also named Jimmy, recently had his grandfather's book reprinted. He himself was one of the top rock climbers in the world a few decades ago. Seems that daredeviling runs in the family.
Ironically, it was Tracy, not Gable, who eventually dies in a test run, apparently his only one.(Was this perhaps a confirmation of FDR's message "We have nothing to fear but fear itself"?) However, the death of his friend and the resulting hysteria of Myrna finally convinces Gable that the highs he gets from constantly trying to cheat death are too great a price for those close to him. He retires to a ground instructor role. In retrospect, we wonder why Myrna's character agreed to marry Gable's character, knowing first hand how dangerous flying was at this time. Incidentally, in his fatal crash, Collins knew he was exceeding the design specifications of his aircraft. Setting a new record meant more to him than cheating death again. Appropriately, what was left of his plane nosedived into a cemetery(for test pilots?).
Actually, this is my least favorite of the Gable-Tracy films, the others having more complicated plots. Dive bombing and crashing airplanes would become all too familiar in a few years. At this time, it was the test pilots of future warplanes who were the race car drivers of the sky. Hopefully, this film will be included in a future DVD Gable collection.
It is usually assumed that Gable's character is based on the autobiography of test pilot Jimmy Collins, also titled "Test Pilot", published just a few years earlier. However, a detailed discussion at the Turner Classic Movies web site considerably muddies this neat assumption. Seems MGM already had this project in mind and named in 1933. Thus, MGM did not credit the story as being based on Collins' life or book. Yet, one of the most harrowing scenes in the film, when the wings are torn off Gable's plane in a high speed dive, essentially duplicates what happened in Collins' fatal crash, just a couple of years before. Incidentally, Collins' grandson, also named Jimmy, recently had his grandfather's book reprinted. He himself was one of the top rock climbers in the world a few decades ago. Seems that daredeviling runs in the family.
Ironically, it was Tracy, not Gable, who eventually dies in a test run, apparently his only one.(Was this perhaps a confirmation of FDR's message "We have nothing to fear but fear itself"?) However, the death of his friend and the resulting hysteria of Myrna finally convinces Gable that the highs he gets from constantly trying to cheat death are too great a price for those close to him. He retires to a ground instructor role. In retrospect, we wonder why Myrna's character agreed to marry Gable's character, knowing first hand how dangerous flying was at this time. Incidentally, in his fatal crash, Collins knew he was exceeding the design specifications of his aircraft. Setting a new record meant more to him than cheating death again. Appropriately, what was left of his plane nosedived into a cemetery(for test pilots?).
Actually, this is my least favorite of the Gable-Tracy films, the others having more complicated plots. Dive bombing and crashing airplanes would become all too familiar in a few years. At this time, it was the test pilots of future warplanes who were the race car drivers of the sky. Hopefully, this film will be included in a future DVD Gable collection.