Bombay Clipper

1941 film by John Rawlins

February 6, 1942 (1942-02-06)

Running time

60 minsCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Bombay Clipper is a 1942 aviation drama film directed by John Rawlins and starring William Gargan and Irene Hervey. The film features Maria Montez in an early role. Turhan Bey also appears.^[1]^[2]

The film was based on the exploits of oceanic flyers, flying for Pan American World Airways.^[3]^[4]

Plot

Foreign correspondent Jim Montgomery (William Gargan) agrees to quit his job when his fiancée Frankie (Irene Hervey) threatens to return home to San Francisco without him, tired of his profession always coming first. He remains in Bombay, India for one more assignment, investigating a report of missing jewels, valued at four million dollars. A mysterious man called Chundra (Turhan Bey) continues to observe him.

With the case still unsolved, Jim and Frankie board a flying boat to Manila, unaware that the gems are aboard. A passenger is mysteriously killed, but not before the jewels are hidden in Frankie's case. George Lewis (Lloyd Corrigan), another passenger, admits to being a courier for the diamonds, saying they are meant to be a gift to a foreign dignitary. Lewis, too, is then killed.

Montgomery encounters the culprit and is in danger of being thrown from the aircraft, but he is rescued by Chundra, who is actually a government agent. Frankie can not blame Jim this time for being in a hurry to get back to work and report the story.

Cast

William Gargan as Jim Montgomery
Irene Hervey as Frankie
Charles Lang as Tex Harper
Maria Montez as Sonya Dietrich Landers
Mary Gordon as Abigail McPherson
Lloyd Corrigan as George Lewis
Truman Bradley as Dr. Landers
Turhan Bey as Chundra
Peter Lynn as Bland
Riley Hill (credited as Roy Harris) as Steward

Production

Universal announced the film in February 1941.^[5] Stanley Rubin and Roy Chanslor started writing the script in April.^[6]

Filming on Bombay Clipper started in June 1941.^[7] Much of the movie was shot on a set made to simulate the Boeing Clipper's interior. ^{[N 1]}

Reception

The Los Angeles Times called the film an "excellent melodrama."^[8]

Aviation film historian James M. Farmer in Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation (1984), indicated that Bombay Clipper was "Low-minded mystery fare."^[9] In Aviation in the Cinema (1985), aviation film historian Stephen Pendo considered Bombay Clipper, a "routine" drama that pits reporter, detective and spies against each in solving a murder mystery on a flight across the Pacific Ocean.^[10]

References

Notes

^ The newer Pan-Am Boeing 314 Clippers were featured in the film's promotion, rather than the company's Sikorsky S-42 flying boats.^[3]

Citations

^ Pérez, Vivian and Luisa Peguero. "'Bombay Clipper' (1942) aka 'El Vuelo de Bombay'". Mariamontez.org. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
^ "Bombay Clipper". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 8, no. 85. London. Jan 1, 1941. p. 163.
^ ^a ^b Weirather. Larry. "Hollywood: Clippers go to the movies." clipperculture.com, 2007. Retrieved: May 26, 2019.
^ "Universal plans program at meeting in Chicago". Los Angeles Times. February 11, 1941. p. A2.
^ "Universal Plans Program Including 61 Major Offerings: Sixty-nine Reels of Short Subjects Also on List Announced at Meeting in Chicago". Los Angeles Times. Feb 11, 1941. p. A2.
^ "RKO Will Distribute Goldwyn Productions and Acquires Rights to 'Fantasia'". New York Times. Apr 28, 1941. p. 11.
^ Churchill, Douglas W. (June 16, 1941). The New York Times. p. 11. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ Schallert, Edwin (Jan 26, 1942). "'Playmates' Giddy, Goofy, Sophomoric Cinemelange". Los Angeles Times. p. 13.
^ Farmer 1984, p. 296.
^ Pendo 1985, p. 21.

Bibliography

Farmer, James H. Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books Inc., 1984. ISBN 978-0-83062-374-7.
Pendo, Stephen. Aviation in the Cinema. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. ISBN 0-8-1081-746-2.