SPOILER AHEAD:
It ought to be painful to watch. It's a love story (with airplanes), a triangle, in which Gunner loves Jim and Ann loves Jim. Jim is an overgrown adolescent, self-centered and living for the moment, caring little whom he hurts in the process. And Gunner loves him dearly, forgives him everything, and guards him jealously against female intrusions into Jim's career. (I don't detect anything homoerotic in their relationship, though Gunner's apparent distrust of women points a bit in that direction. Of course, the Hays Office would never let anything that overtly suggested homosexuality make it to the screen.) When Ann enters Jim's life, his attraction to her is impulsive, as is hers. His love is genuine, as is hers, but her first attraction is to this dashing aviator who has dropped out of the sky into her humdrum Midwestern life. Yes, Gunner is suspicious of her at first, but eventually he comes to love Ann, and pity her, too, because she takes on the terrible burden that Gunner has lived with for years -- the knowledge that Jim is going to die in the air, "at his trade," someday. Ann's loyalty to Jim is commendable, after she realizes that Jim is "doomed." The filmmakers sort of pull their punch, however, killing off Gunner instead of Jim, saving him for a happily-ever-after conclusion. Imagine just Gunner and Ann surviving -- what would the ending be then?
I really liked this film because the three main characters and their relationship are a bit more complex than most Hollywood fare of the '30s. It really is worth multiple viewings -- especially if you like airplanes.
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