1939 American film
Stunt Pilot is a 1939 American adventure film directed by George Waggner and written by Scott Darling and George Waggner.[1] The film is based on the comic strip Tailspin Tommy by Hal Forrest and Glenn Chaffin.[2] Stunt Pilot stars John Trent, Marjorie Reynolds, Milburn Stone, Jason Robards Sr., Pat O'Malley and George Meeker.[3] Following the success of Mystery Plane (1939), Stunt Pilot, the second in the "Tailspin Tommy" series, was released on July 2, 1939, by Monogram Pictures.[4]
Plot
While working as a stunt pilot for Hollywood director Sheehan, Tailspin Tommy suspects that his aircraft was sabotaged to get authentic crash footage. He quits his job, and Earl Martin, a reckless pilot, replaces Tommy.
After Martin crashes his aircraft while flying with Tommy's sweetheart, Betty Lou Barnes, Tommy becomes enraged. Sheehan, needing a pilot to perform a dangerous dogfight with Martin, convinces Tommy's pal Skeeter to take the job. Skeeter is desperate to raise money to pay for his sister's operation.
Tommy, afraid for his friend's life, kidnaps Skeeter and flies in his place. During the dog fight, Tommy's machine gun is loaded with real bullets, and he shoots down Martin before realizing his gun is not shooting blanks. He is arrested on the charge of murder. Tommy remembers an argument he overheard between Martin and Sheehan, and is sure that the director is behind the murder. He takes off after Sheehan's train.
Meanwhile, the sheriff is after Tommy, until Skeeter finds photographs that show Sheehan replacing the bullets in Tommy's machine gun. Sheehan's train is stopped and the sheriff obtains Sheehan's confession that he killed Martin because the pilot had stolen the affections of his wife and then deserted her.
Production
Monogram Pictures, with the assistance of Paul Mantz, lined up an impressive number of aircraft to be used in Stunt Pilot:[5]
Principal photography on Stunt Pilot, with stunt flying by Wally West, began on May 20, 1939, at the Metropolitan Airport, Los Angeles.[7] Additional stock footage was obtained from Hell's Angels (1930).[8][N 1]
Reception
Aviation film historian Michael Paris in From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema recognized many "film within a film" elements in Stunt Pilot that would later appear in modern classics such as The Great Waldo Pepper (1975).[10]
