Speed Wings: Planes, Punches, and Old-School Chaos

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s aviation B-movies, Speed Wings is a breezy, messy delight. If you need logic or, you know, a plot that doesn't feel like it was written on a napkin during a turbulence-heavy flight, stay far away.

Fans of The Red Ace might recognize the frantic energy here. It’s definitely not for anyone who gets annoyed by characters making the absolute worst decisions possible every five minutes. ✈️

The engine of the story

The whole movie hinges on this "faster motor" which apparently is enough to drive people to kidnapping and multiple plane crashes. I lost count of how many times a plane goes down. It feels like every time they look at a hangar, something is exploding or sliding off the runway.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Speed Wings (1934) through its definitive frames.

Mary Stuart is the real glue here. Evalyn Knapp plays her with this constant, slightly bewildered look, but she’s the only one who actually knows how to fly the things they’re crashing. It’s pretty funny watching the brothers act like they’re the heroes when she’s clearly the one doing all the heavy lifting.

Odd little details

• The fist-fights are delightfully staged. They look like two people trying to swat a fly while standing on a boat.
• There is a moment where the dialogue is so fast it sounds like they’re trying to finish the scene before their lunch break.
• The sound mixing is a bit of a disaster. Sometimes the plane engines are louder than the actors, then suddenly it’s dead silent.

There’s this one sequence in the middle where Jerry loses his "nerve." It’s supposed to be this big emotional pivot point, but it happens so fast I almost missed it. He goes from shaking in his boots to full-on action hero in about two minutes flat.

Final thoughts

It’s not trying to be Journey's End, and thank god for that. It just wants to get to the next plane crash. Sometimes the movie feels like it’s barely holding itself together, much like the planes in the film.

I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but it’s definitely not boring. If you want to see someone get kidnapped and saved in the span of an afternoon, this fits the bill. It’s got that raw, dusty charm that only these old aviation flicks seem to have. 🎞️