Secret of the Skies: A bit of a bumpy flight

Is it worth your time?

If you have an itch for black-and-white dramas that move at the speed of a parked car, maybe. If you actually need a plot that makes sense by the halfway point, skip it. Fans of Ella Bromley might get a kick out of her scenes, but otherwise, this is strictly for people who find comfort in the low-budget aesthetic of 1930s filler.

Honestly, the whole thing feels like a rough draft that just happened to get recorded. The dialogue has this strange, clipped rhythm that makes everyone sound like they’re reciting instructions for a toaster.

Odd bits and pieces

• That one shot of the clouds looks like someone just held up a cotton ball in front of the lens. It's distracting.
• Norman Shepherd has a mustache that seems to have more personality than his actual character.
• The sound mixing is all over the place. Sometimes the wind noise is deafening, then suddenly, it's dead silent in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Watching this reminded me of In the Bag, mostly because both movies seem to be desperately trying to find something to do with their actors besides just talking. There’s a scene where John D'Arcy just paces back and forth for like, forty-five seconds. He’s clearly waiting for a cue that never comes. It’s painfully human and kind of funny.

The pacing is a disaster, but not in a boring way. It’s more of a confused way. You’ll be mid-sentence in a dramatic standoff, and then the movie just jumps to a shot of a runway that lasts for way too long. It’s like the editor got distracted and wandered off for a coffee.

I can’t tell if Fred Patey is trying to be menacing or if he just had a really bad headache during the shoot. He keeps rubbing his temples during his lines. It’s a detail I’m sure nobody intended for us to notice. 😅

It’s not as sharp as Danger Within, obviously. That one actually knows where it's going. Secret of the Skies just kind of drifts around until it runs out of film stock. If you’re looking for a masterpiece, keep looking. If you want to see a weird, slightly broken piece of history, you could do worse.

There’s this one sequence in the hangar that is just… incredibly dry. Nobody is doing anything. They’re just standing there. It feels like the movie gave up on the mystery entirely. I didn’t mind it much.

Ultimately, this movie is a relic. It’s not great, but it’s definitely not a total loss. Just don’t expect a smooth landing. ✈️