SPECTACULAR AIR THRILLER

Evening Star, Issue 21219, 28 September 1932, Page 9

SPECTACULAR AIR THRILLER

‘SKY DEVILS’ FOR REGENT Modern motion pictures are calling for big expenditures in an effort to make perfect entertainment. The first big air picture since ‘ Hell’s Angels ’ has been made, and by Howard Hughes, the young producer who made that epic of the screen, and again ho has spent a good-sized fortune to give the fans something worth while. It is ‘ Sky’s Devils,’ and this time Mr Hughes’s dollars have been handed out to make the American public laugh as well as thrill, for in these times a laugh seems to be the best tonic that motion picture producers can offer to their patrons. Consequently, he has turned out a comedy of the clouds with a war background, but with the horrors of the conflict left out, and its funny side brought to the fore. It is claimed that Mr Hughes accomplished it after putting more than 600,000d0l into a production that opens on the beach at Atlantic City with two hero lifeguards who cannot swim, carries on through a comedy fight in a boxing club, then aboard a transport bound for France, and finally at an air base in Paris and in the clouds above France and Germany. It is a comedy of the air, and, while it contains thrills aplenty and aerial battles in numbers, the funny side of it all has been accentuated wherever possible, the laughs prevailing and the darker sides subdued.

‘ Sky Devils ’ is a lightning fast picture based on the adventures of three Americans in the war. In it was used an air fleet of fifty-live planes to make the sensational flying sequences, one scene alone showing fifty ships in action above the clouds.

The story of ‘ Sky Devils ’ is an original one, written by a large staff of popular authors, including Robert E. Sherwood, noted playwright and critic; Robert E. Benchley, famous humorist; and Joseph Moncure March, who wrote the dialogue for 1 Hell’s Angels.’ It is written purely from an entertainment angle, with Spencer Tracy and George Cooper in the leading roles, and Ann Dvorak, a leading lady new to the screen, playing opposite them. William Boyd, Billy Bcvan, and Yola D’Avril are also in the cast, which was directed bv Edward Sutherland. Many of the dare-devil pilots who appeared in ‘ Hell’s Angels ’ are also in ‘ Sky Devils,’ putting over now stunts and hair-raising manoeuvres during the big battle that culminates in a crash of two planes and the bombing of a munitions factory.

‘ Sky Devils ’ opens on Friday at the Regent Theatre.