Wings In The Dark (1935)

 

Wings In The Dark - 1935

Coming up next we have 1935's "Wings In The Dark", a film about a lady pilot who dreams of making history and a pilot whose hopes for the future are dashed when a horrible accident happens.

The film's cast includes Myrna Loy, Cary Grant, Roscoe Karns, Hobart Cavanaugh, Dean Jagger, and Lightning.

Sheila Mason is a pilot who makes money by flying daring stunts and writing advertisements in the sky.  She's one of the few women pilots in the world.

However, she wants to do something more than fly stunts, as she tells her manager, Nick.  She's looking for something with more substance.

Her hero is fellow pilot Ken Gordon.  Ken is working on a version of autopilot that he hopes will be standard in future aircraft.  He's also going to be testing his invention by flying from New York to Paris.

Unfortunately, Ken is grounded when its felt that this new autopilot is unsafe.  Sheila offers her support, and she seems to be the only one who gets what he is trying to do for the industry.  She encourages him to make the trip without permission.

Sadly, as he is preparing for departure, a horrible accident causes Ken to go blind.

His doctors tell him they don't know when or if he will ever see again.  Ken decides to get away from everything.  He doesn't want any charity or pity.  His friend and partner, Mac, gives him as much support as he can.

Ken decides to do everything for himself, including walking in the woods unaided.  He goes slow, trying to feel his way around.  He gets pretty good at it, but accidents will happen.

Feeling responsible for his accident, Sheila arranges for a seeing eye dog named Lightning to be brought to Ken.  At first, he is very resistive to the idea.

But Lightning soon wins Ken over with his personality and eagerness to show what he can do.

Having Lightning around lifts Ken from his moods and depression over his blindness.  He and Sheila begin a romantic relationship.

He even begins to work on his autopilot project again.  Mac is always nearby to take over the controls if things go wrong.

Meanwhile, Sheila accepts a risky non-stop flight from Moscow to New York.  The daring flight pays $25,000, and Sheila wants to use the money to enable her and Ken to marry.

With the world listening in over their radios for any updates of the flight, Sheila eagerly sets out.

On the last leg of the journey from Boston to New York, a thick fog makes visibility zero, and Sheila is basically flying blind.  As Mac observes, "Oh, it’s terrible.  Why, the fog is so low out on that field a snake couldn’t crawl under it."

Ken has Mac drive him to the airfield to see if there's anything he can do to help Sheila.  Having just received some bad news about the future of his autopilot project, he's got an ulterior motive.  He uses the autopilot to get into the air (without Mac in the co-pilot's seat) and guide Sheila to safety.  His plan is to get her safely on the ground then take off again and just fly until he runs out of fuel.

Sheila doesn't let that happen.  Once they're on the ground and she realizes what he's about to do, she turns her plane so that it crashes into his.

It's a good thing she did.  With all the press taking photos, Ken tells Sheila that he can see the flash from the photographers' cameras.  Sheila embraces him as they both realize that his sight is returning.

Cast rundown:

   Myrna Loy......................................Sheila Mason

   Cary Grant......................................Ken Gordon

   Roscoe Karns..................................Nick Williams

   Hobart Cavanaugh...........................Mac

   Dean Jagger...................................Top Harmon

   Lightning........................................Lightning

And that's it for Wings In The Dark.  Myrna Loy, a bigger star at the time, received top-billing over Cary Grant, however that changed over time as Grant's star eclipsed Loy's.  This was the first of three films in which they would star together.  Myrna Loy's role was inspired by Amelia Earhart, and Earhart visited the set as a consultant.  Lightning, the dog, was often billed as "The Wonder Dog" or "The Marvel Dog" because of his intelligence.  He appeared in many films throughout the 1930s.

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Cain And Mabel (1936)

Cain And Mabel - 1936

Coming up next we have 1936's "Cain And Mabel", a film about a dancer and a prizefighter who initially can't stand each other.  Their animosity turns into romance, but can the meddling of their handlers divide them forever?

The film's cast includes Marion Davies, Clark Gable, Allen Jenkins, Roscoe Karns, Walter Catlett, Robert Paige, Hobart Cavanaugh, Ruth Donnelly, Pert Kelton, and William Collier Sr.

Mabel O'Dare is a waitress who gets her big chance at show business when a producer gives her a shot at the big time.

While rehearsing in her hotel room one night, she disturbs the occupants of the room beneath her.  The main occupant is prizefighter Larry Cain, a former garage mechanic.  He's got a big fight the next night and is counting on a good night's rest.  "But I've got a fight tomorrow night!" he tells her.  Mabel keeps right on dancing, saying, "Well, you won't have to wait until tomorrow night if you don't stop disturbing me."

Mabel refuses to quit rehearsing, which angers Larry.  "Some day I’ll meet that dame.  When I do, I’ll spank her so tender she can sit on a newspaper and read the headlines," he proclaims.

The lack of sleep and focus cause Larry to lose an important fight, and he gets extra mad.

They meet each other after Mabel's opening show after party.  The two spend the evening insulting each other, and the culmination of the night's festivities includes Larry nominating Mabel for the Ice Bucket Challenge.

However, the battling duo's handlers see this as an opportunity to enhance their careers.  They put it into the papers that the two are involved in a romance.

Larry and Mabel are both furious, and each accuses the other of printing outright lies in the papers.

After much cajoling from their handlers, both Larry and Mabel agree to a romance for appearance's sake, though neither one is anxious to see the other again.

Larry's first order of business is attending Mabel's new show as her doting boyfriend.  He yawns his way through the elaborate performance.

Lo and behold, Mabel and Larry actually fall in love.  She wants to quit show business to become a housewife, and he wants to quit prizefighting and return to his garage mechanic origins.

And because they are such well known "celebrities", they are forced to disguise themselves and meet in secret to plan their future together.

Their advisors, however, looking to keep raking in the dough, come up with a scheme that will see an end to the romance and let them go their separate ways.  They plant a story in the newspapers which infuriates the couple.

Have no fear.  At Larry's final fight, the two kiss and make up, and they can finally look forward to the future that they want for themselves.

Cast rundown:

   Marion Davies.................................Mabel O'Dare

   Clark Gable.....................................Larry Cain

   Allen Jenkins...................................Dodo

   Roscoe Karns..................................Aloysius K. Reilly

   Walter Catlett..................................Jake Sherman

   Robert Paige...................................Ronny Cauldwell

   Hobart Cavanaugh...........................Milo

   Ruth Donnelly..................................Aunt Mimi

   Pert Kelton......................................Toddy Williams

   William Collier Sr.............................Pat "Pop" Walters

And that's it for Cain And Mabel.  During the big dance number (the one that Larry has to sit through after it's agreed they will appear together for publicity's sake), 225 dancers and over 2,000 ostrich feathers were utilized.  600 arc lights lit up the soundstage, causing the temperature to rise to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.  Marion Davies had over 100 pounds of ice trucked in, and a reporter at the time claimed that the chorus girls would sit on blocks of ice between takes.  Marion Davies recalled, "The girls would faint on set, even though they had those big airplane propellers with ice in front of them.  They would faint like dead flies."

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