# Danger Flight
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{{short description|1939 film by Howard Bretherton}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Danger Flight
| image =File:DANGER FLIGHT poster.jpg
| caption =[Film poster](/source/Film_poster)
| director = [Howard Bretherton](/source/Howard_Bretherton)
| producer = Paul Malvern
| writer = [Hal Forrest](/source/Hal_Forrest) (comic strip "[Tailspin Tommy](/source/Tailspin_Tommy)")
Byron Morgan (screenplay)
[Edwin C. Parsons](/source/Edwin_C._Parsons) (screenplay)
| narrator =
| starring = [John Trent](/source/John_Trent_(actor))
[Marjorie Reynolds](/source/Marjorie_Reynolds)
[Milburn Stone](/source/Milburn_Stone)
[Jason Robards Sr.](/source/Jason_Robards_Sr.)
| music =
| cinematography = Fred Jackman Jr.
| editing = Edward Schroeder
| studio = [Monogram Pictures](/source/Monogram_Pictures)
| distributor = Monogram Pictures
| released = {{Film date|1939|11|01}}
| runtime = 65 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'''''Danger Flight''''' (aka '''''Scouts of the Air''''') is a 1939 American film directed by [Howard Bretherton](/source/Howard_Bretherton) and starring [John Trent](/source/John_Trent_(actor)) as [Tailspin Tommy](/source/Tailspin_Tommy) Tompkins, [Marjorie Reynolds](/source/Marjorie_Reynolds), [Milburn Stone](/source/Milburn_Stone) and [Jason Robards Sr.](/source/Jason_Robards_Sr.)[[https://catalog.afi.com/Film/7544-DANGER-FLIGHT?sid=190c6b72-11e5-40cd-914e-3d9f53c8325b&sr=13.696403&cp=1&pos=0 "Catalog: 'Danger Flight'."] ''Catalog.afi.com'', 2019. Retrieved: July 15, 2019.] The film featured young aviation enthusiasts in a model club.[Wynne 1987, p. 172.]
''Sky Patrol'' is based on the comic strip ''[Tailspin Tommy](/source/Tailspin_Tommy)'' by [Hal Forrest](/source/Hal_Forrest) and Glenn Chaffin. {{#tag:ref|John Trent, as [LaVerne Browne](/source/LaVerne_Browne) was a pilot for [TWA](/source/Trans_World_Airlines) flying [Douglas DC-2](/source/Douglas_DC-2)s.[Farmer 1984, p. 130.]|group=N}} The final offering of four "[Tailspin Tommy](/source/Tailspin_Tommy_Tomkins)" films made by [Monogram Pictures](/source/Monogram_Pictures), ''Danger Flight'', was released on November 1, 1939.[Brennan, Sandra. [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/danger-flight-v124789 "Review: 'Danger Flight' (1939)."] ''AllMovie'', 2019. Retrieved: July 15, 2019.]{{TOC limit|limit=2}}
==Plot==
Ace flyer "Tailspin" Tommy Tomkins ([John Trent](/source/John_Trent_(actor))) starts a model flying club for young boys, to learn about aviation. When Mr. Brown ([Joseph E. Bernard](/source/Joseph_E._Bernard)) receives a large payroll by aircraft, then by car, gangster Mike Lewis ([Dennis Moore](/source/Dennis_Moore_(actor))) and two gang members try to hold him up. Tommy agrees to carry the next payroll by small aircraft and then helps Mike's little brother Whitey (Tommy Baker), a tough orphan, get a model aircraft and join the model club.
On the night of a bad rain storm, Flight 14 (the payroll flight) is due to arrive with Brown's payroll, but an accident at a dam has Tommy flying to drop medical supplies. Tommy tries to land, but with zero visibility, he overshoots the field and crashes.
While search parties look for Tommy east of the airfield, Whitey is sure he knows where Tommy crashed and sends the boys out to search. After Whitey finds Tommy's wrecked aircraft, he sends his model aircraft up into the sky. Tommy's friends, Skeeter ([Milburn Stone](/source/Milburn_Stone)) and Betty Lou ([Marjorie Reynolds](/source/Marjorie_Reynolds)), see Whitey's model aircraft and rescue Tommy.
Headlines praise Whitey's heroism and Mike introduces him to gang boss Dawson ([Julius Tannen](/source/Julius_Tannen)), a toy manufacturer who proposes a "Whitey Lewis" aircraft that features a secret code. Tommy helps Whitey invent a model aircraft to be used during emergencies that can sky-write using smoke signals.
When Flight 14 finally arrives with the payroll, Tommy takes it on his plane with him. The gangsters pretend to have a car accident and Whitey, worried his brother is hurt, sends a smoke signal to Tommy, who lands and is held up.
At first, Tommy believes Whitey is with the gangsters but then they are both taken hostage. In the basement of Dawson's cabin hideout, Tommy and Whitey repair Whitey's miniature model and send a smoke signal, spotted by a pilot overhead.
The police find Whitey's model and search for the hideout, but Tommy sends Whitey upstairs to escape. Whitey is caught, and when Dawson hurts his brother, he slugs Dawson, who shoots him.
The gang escapes by car but drives over a cliff. Tommy helps Whitey out of the cabin and later, Mr. Brown gives Whitey a scout uniform. The head of Whitey's school makes plans for an air scout troop that will soon become a national organization led by Tailspin Tommy.
==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [John Trent](/source/John_Trent_(actor)) as [Tailspin Tommy](/source/Tailspin_Tommy) Tompkins
* [Marjorie Reynolds](/source/Marjorie_Reynolds) as Betty Lou
* [Milburn Stone](/source/Milburn_Stone) as Skeeter
* [Jason Robards Sr.](/source/Jason_Robards_Sr.) as Paul Smith
* Tommy Baker as Whitey Lewis
* [Dennis Moore](/source/Dennis_Moore_(actor)) as Mike Lewis
* [Julius Tannen](/source/Julius_Tannen) as Dawson
* [Eddie Parker](/source/Eddie_Parker_(actor)) as Williams
* [Joseph E. Bernard](/source/Joseph_E._Bernard) as Brown
* Harry Harvey Jr. as Johnny
* Walter Wills as Cap
* [Forrest Taylor](/source/Forrest_Taylor) appears uncredited as Police Radio Dispatcher.
{{div col end}}
==Production==
Principal photography for ''Danger Flight'' took place at the Alhambra, California, airport, and began in early September 1939.[[https://web.archive.org/web/20121128222425/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/72176/Danger-Flight/#film-details "Original print information: 'Danger Flight'."] ''TCM'', 2019. Retrieved: July 15, 2019.]
The aircraft used in ''Danger Flight'' include:
* [Ryan STA](/source/Ryan_ST) c/n 105, NC14912
* [Stinson A](/source/Stinson_A) c/n 9107, NC15107
* [Stinson SR](/source/Stinson_Aircraft_Company)[Santoir, Christian. [http://aeromovies.fr/articles.php?lng=en&pg=827#z2 "Review: 'Danger Flight'."]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ''Aeromovies'', September 1, 2010. Retrieved: July 15, 2019.]
==Reception==
Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo in ''Aviation in the Cinema'' (1985) saw ''Danger Flight'' as an interesting concept with a young boy "becoming involved in model aircraft building".[Pendo 1985, p. 19.]
==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=N}}
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}
===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
* Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation''. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books Inc., 1984. {{ISBN|978-0-83062-374-7}}.
* Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. {{ISBN|0-8-1081-746-2}}.
* Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies''. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. {{ISBN|0-933126-85-9}}.
{{Refend}}
==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0031204|Danger Flight}}
* {{Internet Archive film|danger_flight}}
* {{TCMDb title|72176|Danger Flight}}
{{Howard Bretherton}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Danger Flight}}
Category:1939 films
Category:1939 adventure films
Category:American aviation films
Category:Monogram Pictures films
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:American adventure films
Category:Films directed by Howard Bretherton
Category:1939 English-language films
Category:1939 American films
Category:Films based on comic strips
Category:English-language adventure films
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Danger Flight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Flight) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Flight?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.