Air Mail (1932)

Frank Albertson, as "Tommy Bogan", Slim Summerville as "Slim McCune", and Hans Fuerberg as "Heinie Kramer" in John Ford's Pre-Code adventure movie for Universal Pictures. 'Air Mail' (1932), starring in the lead roles, Ralph Bellamy as "Mike Miller", Gloria Stuart as "Ruth Barnes", Pat O'Brien as "Duke Talbot", and Lilian Bond as "Irene Wilkins". Also starring in supporting roles are Russell Hopton as "Dizzy Wilkins", David Landau as "Pop", Leslie Fenton as "Tony Dressel", Thomas Carrigan as "Sleepy Collins", and William Daly as "Tex Lane". Air Mail was primarily filmed at Universal Studios stages and back lots. A special stage was built to film miniature scenes where a gantry was constructed above the stage to allow models to fly over a large miniature set. 'Air Mail' was well received in an era not far removed from a time when air mail pilots like Charles Lindbergh were idolized. Critical reviews praised the atmospheric settings and flying scenes, but had difficulties with the underlying personal dramas. In my opinion, the movie is well worth seeing those "atmospheric settings" and especially to see how the "special effects" in the flying scenes were handled way back during the Pre-Code period of movie-making. Slim Summerville (born George Joseph Somerville, July 10, 1892 – January 5, 1946) was an American film actor and director best known for his work in comedies. His career in movies spanned from 1912 to 1946, the year of his passing.