Phil Mercedes (Richard Dix), once a record-setting pilot with a fame resembling Charles Lindbergh's, is now an aging alcoholic. Reduced to his carnival roots to an air show performer, he crashes his stunt aircraft into a barn while drunk and is grounded for a year. His sister Kay (Wendy Barrie), becomes his only means of support. She hopes to land a job in the drafting department of McLean Aircraft, working for chief engineer Martin Ames (Kent Taylor).
With war already underway in Europe and the U.S. rearming for its inevitable entry, McLean aviation hopes to win a big contract with the Air Force. Although Kay is not very skilled, she shows Ames some drawings Phil made. The creative designs interest company owner Dan McLean (Edmund Lowe), who approves the construction of a high-speed fighter aircraft. Preliminary tests of the plane prove disastrous, with arrogant test pilot Dick Allerton (Donald Briggs) - unsuccessful in elbowing his way between Kay and a still disinterested Ames - contending that it is too dangerous to fly.
With the test craft grounded by a watchful civil air authority, Phil jumps in and attempts a successful flight test to save McLean from financial ruin - and keep everyone involved in the project going. Instead, a wing shears off and Phil is only able to save his life by parachuting. He is grounded for life for his reckless insubordination.
With a redesign of the wings, the Army Air Force is invited to test the airplane, bringing its own pilot. The plane passes every test, including the crucial high-speed dive, but the landing gear will not extend fully, leaving the test pilot vainly circling the airport. Once again death looms, as does a barely postponed McLean bankruptcy. Once again Phil comes to the rescue, heading off a pilot bail-out and consequent destruction of the only prototype aircraft by being taken aloft in a two-seat plane in an attempt to use his wing-walking skills to free the stuck landing gear. Ultimately he leaves the safety of the rescue airplane and clings to a wheel strut, trying to use his weight to jar it free. When that fails he releases his chute, hoping that the added drag will do the trick. The wheels won't budge...but his chute gets caught on the tailwheel, ripping it. Not realizing this - and having no choice anyway, nor a reserve chute to deploy - Phil lets go, rides a "streamer" down to the ground. Miraculously, the landing gear opens fully, the pilot makes a safe landing, and the potential giant contract with the government is saved.
But not Phil. Gravely wounded on impact, he is able to exchange felicitations with Kay and die in Ames' arms, thereby giving his blessing to their union.
The Hughes H-1 Racer featured prominently in Men Against the Sky
Novelist Nathanael West was involved in a number of B films in this period, including Men Against the Sky, but recognition of his work was short-lived. Along with his wife Eileen, he was killed in a car crash on December 22, 1940, when West (a notoriously bad driver) ran a stop sign in Southern California.[2] Principal photography for Men Against the Sky took place from late May to June 15, 1940.[3]
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lucille Ball, considered Hollywood's B movie queen, was to play the female lead before Wendy Barrie came on board.[4] Paul Mantz, noted movie stunt pilot, was the aviation consultant. Models were used to simulate accidents, but takeoff and in-flight footage of the experimental Hughes H-1 Racer taken during its trials was used for realism as a substitute for the McLean test aircraft.[5]
Reception
Men Against the Sky was generally considered a popular entry in the aviation film genre, although not of the same caliber as Test Pilot (1938) or Men With Wings (1938), which explored the same subject. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times in a contemporary review, characterized Men Against the Sky as a "generally entertaining little action picture," although he criticized its "maudlin heroics," called the storyline "routine and obvious", and characterized the performances as "stock and pedestrian."[6]
Cowin, Hugh W. The Risk Takers, A Unique Pictorial Record 1908-1972: Racing & Record-setting Aircraft (Aviation Pioneer 2). London: Osprey Aviation, 1999. ISBN1-85532-904-2.
Wynne, H. Hugh. The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. ISBN0-933126-85-9.
