{{short description|1936 film by Erle C. Kenton}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox film | name = Devil's Squadron | image =File:Devil's Squadron.jpg | caption =[[Film poster]] | director = [[Erle C. Kenton]] | producer = [[Robert North (producer)|Robert North]] | writer = [[Dick Grace]]<br/>[[Howard J. Green]] <br/> [[Bruce Manning]] <br/> Lionel Houser | narrator = | starring = [[Richard Dix]] <br/> [[Karen Morley]] <br/> [[Lloyd Nolan]] | music = [[Howard Jackson (composer)|Howard Jackson]] | cinematography = [[John Stumar]] | editing = [[John Rawlins (director)|John Rawlins]] | studio = [[Columbia Pictures]] | distributor = Columbia Pictures | released = {{Film date|1936|05|01}} | runtime = 80 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross = }}
'''''Devil's Squadron''''' is a 1936 American [[drama film]] directed by [[Erle C. Kenton]] and starring [[Richard Dix]], [[Karen Morley]] and [[Lloyd Nolan]].<ref>Balio 1995, p. 320.</ref> The following written prologue appears after the opening credits: "This picture is dedicated to the test pilots....those men who knowingly face death every time they leave the ground in an untried airplane. We never hear of these men, yet on their courage depends the future of aviation." <ref name="Notes">[https://web.archive.org/web/20201122020320/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/73029/devils-squadron#notes "Notes: 'Devil's Squadron'."] ''TCM'', 2019. Retrieved: June 30, 2019.</ref> {{#tag:ref|Although ''Devil's Squadron'' focused on civil aviation, the [[United States Army Air Corps]] assisted in the production.<ref>Paris 1995, p. 120.</ref>|group=N}}{{TOC limit|limit=2}}
==Plot== Test pilot Paul Redmond ([[Richard Dix]]) was dishonorably discharged from the United States Marines, and needed a second chance. When he encounters Martha Dawson ([[Karen Morley]]), the daughter of an aircraft manufacturer, by chance on an airliner, he also meets Martha's father, Colonel E. J. Dawson ([[Boyd Irwin]]) and her fiancé, Dana Kirk ([[Lloyd Nolan]]). Colonel Dawson owns Dawson Aircraft Corporation, building aircraft for the [[United States Army Air Corps|U.S. Army Air Corps]].
Dana and Paul are old friends and, subsequently Dana hires his friend as a new test pilot for Dawson Aircraft. During a test flight, Paul establishes a new speed record, but crash-lands. When her father dies, Martha and her brother, Ritchie (William Stelling), who is also a test pilot, take over the company operations.
During continuing test flights, many of the company's pilots are killed or injured. Ritchie is emotionally affected by the crashes, and, on the eve of his test flight, he commits suicide. Paul covers up Ritchie's suicide by flying the body in a test aircraft, setting the aircraft on fire, and parachuting out.
The investigation into the first accident that Paul caused, reveals he was discharged from the Marines for bailing out on a student flyer. The company test pilots suspect Paul did the same thing to Ritchie. Martha wants to close the company but one last test flight can still save Dawson Aircraft Corporation.
Later, Paul learns that Dana is scheduled to perform a dangerous flight test and trying to vindicate himself, Paul knocks him unconscious and performs the test himself. Watched by Army Major T. L. Metcalf ([[Thurston Hall]]), Paul wins the Air Corps contract with his flying.
Test pilot Jim Barlow ([[Gene Morgan]]) tells Dana how Paul covered up Ritchie's suicide. Martha learns that Paul had flown the tests that won the Army contract. With the truth revealed, Barlow unites Martha and Paul by skywriting, "Paul, come back to Marty!"
==Cast== {{div col|colwidth=25em}} * [[Richard Dix]] as Paul Redmond * [[Karen Morley]] as Martha Dawson * [[Lloyd Nolan]] as Dana Kirk * [[Shirley Ross]] as Eunice * [[Henry Mollison]] as Austin Forrester * [[Gene Morgan]] as Jim Barlow * [[Gordon Jones (actor)|Gordon Jones]] as Tex * William Stelling as Ritchie Dawson * [[Thurston Hall]] as Major Metcalf * Gertrude Green as Lulu * [[Boyd Irwin]] as Col. Dawson * Bill Barrud as Butch * [[Cora Sue Collins]] as Mary {{div col end}}
==Production== According to a ''Motion Picture Herald'' story on ''Devil's Squadron'', writer [[Dick Grace]] was a former noted movie stunt pilot.<ref name="Notes"/> Principal photography on ''Devil's Squadron'' took place at the [[Van Nuys Airport|Los Angeles Metropolitan Airport]] and [[Grand Central Airport (California)|Grand Central Air Terminal]] in [[Glendale, California]].<ref name="Aeromovies">Santoir, Christian. [http://www.aeromovies.fr/articles.php?lng=en&pg=8egan03#z2 "Review: 'Devil's Squadron'."] ''Aeromovies'', October 19, 2010. Retrieved: June 30, 2019.</ref> The shooting began on December 17, 1935, and continued until February 2, 1936, with the film's shooting schedule including a three-week hiatus during January 1936.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20201122020320/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/73029/devils-squadron#film-details "Original print information: 'Devil's Squadron'."] ''TCM'', 2019. Retrieved: June 30, 2019.</ref>
''Devil's Squadron'' was a [[B movie]] [[aviation]] thriller that, nonetheless, featured an extensive number of aircraft, including: [[Northrop Gamma|Northrop 5B Gamma]], [[Ryan ST]], [[Fokker F-14| Fokker C-14]], [[Douglas DC-2]], [[Garland-Lincoln LF-1]], [[Brown B-2 Racer|Brown B2]] and [[Fairchild 71]].<ref name="Aeromovies"/>
==Reception== The contemporary film review in ''[[The New York Times]]'', noted, "That unsung hero of the airplane industry, the test pilot, has his somewhat grisly hour or so this week at the Globe Theatre in 'Devil's Squadron', a film distinguished by some excellent shots of stunt flying and an accompanying romance which does not run off at the deep end."<ref>J.P.M. [https://www.nytimes.com/1936/05/11/archives/at-the-globe.html "At the Globe."] ''The New York Times'', May 11, 1936.</ref>
Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo, in ''Aviation in the Cinema'' (1985) noted ''Devil's Squadron'' promoted "... the theory that these test pilots are merely human guinea pigs for designers' sometimes unsafe modifications.".<ref>Pendo 1985, p. 243.</ref>
Aviation film historian James Farmer in ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1984) considered ''Devil's Squadron'', a "... superior "second-bill" air thriller."<ref>Farmer 1984, p. 302.</ref>
==References== ===Notes=== {{Reflist|group=N}}
===Citations=== {{Reflist}}
===Bibliography=== {{Refbegin}} * Balio, Tino. ''Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business Enterprise, 1930-1939''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1995. {{ISBN|978-0-52020-334-1}}. * Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1st ed.). Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: TAB Books 1984. {{ISBN| 978-0-83062-374-7}}. * Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. {{ISBN|978-0-7190-4074-0}}. * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. {{ISBN|0-8-1081-746-2}}. {{Refend}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0027520|Devil's Squadron}} * {{AFI film|6515|Devil's Squadron}}
{{Erle C. Kenton}}
[[Category:1936 films]] [[Category:1936 drama films]] [[Category:American aviation films]] [[Category:American drama films]] [[Category:Films directed by Erle C. Kenton]] [[Category:Columbia Pictures films]] [[Category:American black-and-white films]] [[Category:Films produced by Robert North]] [[Category:1936 English-language films]] [[Category:1936 American films]] [[Category:Films scored by Howard Jackson (composer)]] [[Category:English-language drama films]]