Captains of the Clouds (1942)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

"Captains of the Clouds" was the first technicolour film James Cagney made and it is a pretty good one. The photography showing the airplanes is the main attraction here but Cagney's performance is good. He, along with four other pilots based in Canada, specialise in transporting various goods across the country. Being typically cocky and slightly arrogant, Cagney rubs his fellow pilots up the wrong way by stealing their business. Events take a more serious turn as Cagney sustains a serious head injury. Dennis Morgan has to fly a surgeon to where Cagney is holed up in the middle of a fierce storm. Those scenes are well done. Eventually, the five pilots are drafted into the Canadian Air Force. Cagney fooling around lands him in serious trouble and he finally begins to mature, assuming some responsibility for his actions. I think Cagney's performance got better after he is officially disciplined by his superiors. He begins to realise the trouble he had caused and this is highlighted in the way he delivers his lines more slowly. The scene where he has a private chat with Dennis Morgan is well done. A pretty good film.

There are few surprises here but they aren't really needed. In fact, we might be shocked if any genuine innovation appeared in a 1942 Warners flag-waving adventure about a small gang of Canadian bush pilots who join the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. No, this fits the template in a way that satisfies and uplifts. In a changing and often disappointing universe we can always depend on director Michael Curtiz and his studio to deliver the reassuring goods.Half a dozen bush pilots fly around in the lake country transporting supplies to isolated settlements. The pilots include some familiar names -- the handsome Dennis Morgan, the comic George Tobias, the avuncular and not overly bright Alan Hale. James Cagney brings his own float plane into this milieu and begins to undercut everyone else's business. On top of that, he marries Morgan's girl friend, Brenda Marshall, simply to keep Morgan from ruining his plans to establish his own airport. Morgan would fail if he hooked up with the flighty and impulsive Marshall. Just a pal looking out for his buddy. Actually I'm not too sure that Cagney, with his New York cockiness, fits too well into this picture of rural Canadian types. He overcomes any weaknesses, though, by dint of the application of sheer skill. He's so graceful, so bouncy, in speech and manner. When he's knocked cold by a spinning propeller he practically does an entre chat before he collapses.The friendships and rivalries come to a head when war is declared and they all join the RCAF. Hale is rejected for being too old. Cagney's daredevil style during training gets him cashiered, but there is the usual climactic expiation.In addition to the easily grasped plot and the headlong pace, there are some dazzling shots of airplanes in flight. The skies are royal blue, the fir forests are veridian, and the scattered fair-weather cumulus clouds are puffs of cotton. Makes one want to take to the air. Well, makes SOME of us want to take to the air anyway. Others of us are guided by the maxim that what goes up must come down, without any specifics about exactly how the descent is achieved. The model work is of the period and not very convincing but who cares? It zips along enjoyably at a riotous pace.

"Captains of the Clouds" seems to be a big-budget production that splurged on a star like Cagney, color film, and lots of exciting flight footage. There must not have been any money left for a cohesive screenplay.The story never gains traction, and instead ends up being a series of episodes. First, we're in the backwoods, beginning to learn about the life of Canada's bush pilots. Then we're off to a big city hotel. A love triangle of sorts is introduced, then a third of the way through is abandoned. At an odd point in the plot's progression, we're off to prepare for flying planes in the war, and then Cagney is back in his bush plane, buzzing an airfield.The performances are weak, too, with the actors relying on overly broad strokes and lots of mugging and strutting.

Having grown up in North Bay Ontario Canada, I would like to point out that the first part of Captains of the Clouds was set on Trout Lake near North Bay . The Actors stayed at The Empire Hotel in North Bay.All of the people of North Bay were excited about this movie and many of us crowded around the entrance to the Hotel and every other place the Stars were sighted. It was certainly a memorable time for the residents of North Bay!! There are more details I would love to add but at this point I would like to ask if there are any reviews that include ALL the areas where Captains of the Clouds was set? Thank you.Patricia Kennedy