Spies of the Air (1939)
1h 18m | PG-13
Set just before the outbreak of WWII, this is the story of a test pilot who works for the (unnamed) enemy. Made in 1939, by the time it was released in 1940, war had been declared.
Director: David MacDonald
Studio: British National Films
Genre: Adventure
Video: 720p
Cast
Barry K. Barnes
as Peter Thurloe
Joan Marion
as Dorothy Houghton
Roger Livesey
as Charles Houghton
Basil Radford
as Bill Madison
Everley Gregg
as Emily Madison
Felix Aylmer
as Col. Cairns
Reviews
Not much to say about tis rather routine, short, pre-war espionage drama. Roger Livesey is an aeronautical engineer working with his team (Basil Bradford and Barry Barnes) on a top secret design for a test aircraft. Meantime Felix Aylmer ("Col. Cairns") is in charge of security and when he suspects the plans are being copied we have to try and suss out who the traitor is - and discover it's not just the nation that might be being betrayed. It's got an efficient script, the story doesn't hang about and there is some enjoyable aerial photography (interspersed with some rather fun toy aircraft-on-a-wire type shots too) with quite a good ending. David MacDonald does fine with what must have been a tiny budget, and it has a certain, enjoyable, generosity of spirit about it.