View source for Test Pilot (film)

{{short description|1938 American film directed by Victor Fleming}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Test Pilot
| image          = TestPilot_38.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Victor Fleming]]
| producer       = [[Louis D. Lighton]]
| writer         = [[Frank Wead]]
| based_on       = 
| screenplay     = [[Waldemar Young]]<br>Vincent Lawrence<br>[[Howard Hawks]]<br>[[John Lee Mahin]]
| starring       = [[Clark Gable]]<br>[[Myrna Loy]]<br>[[Spencer Tracy]]
| cinematography = [[Ray June]]
| music          = [[Franz Waxman]]
| editing        = [[Tom Held]]
| studio         = [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]
| distributor    = [[Loews Cineplex Entertainment|Loew's Inc.]]
| released       = {{Film date|1938|04|15}}<small>(New York and Los Angeles)</small><ref>Hanson 1993, p. 2144.</ref>
<br>{{Film date|1938|04|22|US}}
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| runtime        = 118 minutes
| budget         = $1.7 million<ref name="Mannix">"The Eddie Mannix Ledger". ''Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study,'' Los Angeles.</ref>
| gross          = $3.9 million<ref name="Mannix"/>
}}
[[File:Test Pilot 4 1938.jpg|thumb|right|262px|{{center|Lobby card}}]]
'''''Test Pilot''''' is a 1938 American [[drama film]] directed by [[Victor Fleming]], starring [[Clark Gable]], [[Myrna Loy]] and [[Spencer Tracy]], and featuring [[Lionel Barrymore]]. The [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]-nominated film tells the story of a daredevil [[test pilot]] (Gable), his wife (Loy), and his best friend (Tracy).

''Test Pilot'' was written by [[Howard Hawks]], Vincent Lawrence, [[John Lee Mahin]], [[Frank Wead]], and [[Waldemar Young]]. The screenplay was largely based on an original story by former naval aviator Wead.
{{TOC limit|limit=2}}

==Plot==
{{stack|[[File:Clark Gable and Myrna Loy.jpg|thumb|upright|Gable and Loy acted alongside the racing aircraft of the day.]]}}
Reckless test pilot Jim Lane is forced to land on a Kansas farm in his aircraft, the "Drake Bullet", where he meets Ann "Thursday" Barton. They spend the day together and fall in love. Once Jim's best friend and mechanic, Gunner Morris, arrives, Jim ignores Ann. To spur him, she gets engaged to her sweetheart. Jim leaves in the morning, but soon comes back for her. They quickly get married.

Jim loses his job at Drake when he clashes with the owner. He gets a job with another outfit, flying a very experimental aircraft. Ann soon finds out how dangerous her husband's occupation is, but she promises Gunner that she will stick to her man. Jim wins the race, but Benson, the man Drake sends in Jim's place, dies, leaving a wife and three children behind.

Jim tries to reform his ways and begins by taking a job testing aircraft, even conducting dangerous flights as he wants to give Ann a real home. Gunner remains true to his friend.{{#tag:ref|Gunner has a superstitious preflight ritual of putting a piece of [[chewing gum]] on the aircraft. In ''[[The Right Stuff (film)|The Right Stuff]]'' (1983), Jack Ridley, [[Chuck Yeager]]'s best friend and engineer on his test missions, also had given him a stick of [[Beemans gum|Beemans chewing gum]] before Yeager's test flights. This allusion to a chewing gum ritual was later included in ''[[The Rocketeer (film)|The Rocketeer]]'' (1991).<ref>[http://beemansgum.org/movies "Beemans Gum Featured In The Right Stuff."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810064633/http://beemansgum.org/movies/ |date=2013-08-10 }} ''[[Beemans gum]]''.  Retrieved: August 25, 2013.</ref>|group=N}}

One day, Gunner accompanies Jim on a test flight of a new bomber (a Y1B-17, a pre-production  [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]] prototype). Upon reaching {{convert|30000|ft|m km}}, the bomber goes into a [[Spin (flight)|spin]] and sandbags (substituting for the weight of bombs) break loose, pinning Gunner. Unwilling to bail out without his buddy, Jim manages to crash land, and pulls a badly injured Gunner out of the wreckage right before it burst into flames, but it is too late for Gunner. When Jim realizes the toll his job has taken on his wife, he gives it up and joins the [[United States Army Air Corps]].

==Cast==
As appearing in ''Test Pilot'' (main roles and screen credits identified):<ref name= "credits">[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030848/ "Credits: 'Test Pilot' (1938)."] ''IMDb.'' Retrieved: January 5, 2013.</ref>
{{div col}}
* [[Clark Gable]] as Jim Lane
* [[Myrna Loy]] as Ann Barton
* [[Spencer Tracy]] as Gunner Morris
* [[Lionel Barrymore]] as Drake
* [[Samuel S. Hinds]] as General Ross
* [[Marjorie Main]] as Landlady
* Ted Pearson as Joe
* [[Gloria Holden]] as Mrs. Benson
* [[Louis Jean Heydt]] as Benson
* [[Virginia Grey]] as Sarah
* [[Priscilla Lawson]] as Mable
* [[Arthur Aylesworth]] as Mr. Frank Barton
* Claudia Coleman as Mrs. Barton
* [[Fay Holden]] as Lingerie Saleslady (uncredited)
* [[Roger Converse]] as Advertising Man (uncredited)
* [[Gregory Gaye]] as Grant (uncredited)
* [[Lester Dorr]] as Pilot (uncredited)
{{div col end}}

==Production==
[[File:Test Pilot lobby card 1938.JPG|thumb|right|Lobby card with Tracy, Gable and [[Lionel Barrymore]]]]
[[File:Test Pilot 1937 Lindbergh Field-1.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Test Pilot film set, Lindbergh Field|Gable (arms crossed) at Lindbergh Field]]
[[File:Test Pilot 1937 Lindbergh Field-2.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Test Pilot film set, Lindbergh Field|Loy, Gable, and Tracy at Lindbergh Field]]
[[File:Test Pilot 1937 Lindbergh Field-3.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Test Pilot film set, Lindbergh Field|Tracy and Loy at Lindbergh Field]]
''Test Pilot'' brought together three of the most bankable Hollywood stars of the period, but while Loy and Gable became friends, an uneasy relationship existed between Tracy and Gable. At the climax of a lengthy take where he was cradling his comrade's head in his arms, Gable was reported to have said, "Die, goddamn it, Spence! I wish to Christ you would!" and dropped Tracy's head with a thud.<ref name="Articles">Tatara, Paul. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/838/test-pilot#articles-reviews "Test Pilot: Articles."] ''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: February 15, 2024.</ref>
 
Principal photography took place from December 1, 1937, to February 18, 1938, at MGM studios and on location at [[Van Nuys, Los Angeles|Van Nuys, California]], [[San Diego International Airport|Lindbergh Field (San Diego)]], [[March Air Reserve Base|March Field]], California, and at the [[National Air Races|Cleveland National Air Races]], with retakes  on March 30 to early April 1938.<ref>[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/838/test-pilot#film-details "Test Pilot: Original Print Information."]''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: February 15, 2024.</ref> ''Test Pilot'' utilized authentic [[United States Army Air Corps]] airfield settings and was able to obtain rights to film using Boeing's new Y1B-17, which was destined to become the progenitor of the wartime [[B-17 bomber]] series. The Drake Bullet was actually the [[Seversky P-35|SEV-S2]] NR70Y, a modified civilian racer version of the U.S. Army Air Corps P-35. The other test aircraft that is flown to its top diving speed is a [[Northrop A-17]] attack bomber.<ref>[http://www.aerofiles.com/film-t.html "Test Pilot".] ''Aero Files.'' Retrieved: August 25, 2013.</ref>{{#tag:ref|In the film, the A-17 sheds a wing.|group=N}} Renowned movie stunt pilot [[Paul Mantz]] served as the second unit director in charge of the flying sequences.<ref>Orriss 1984, pp. 13–14.</ref> Although uncredited, real-life test pilot Sammy Wroath did the flying sequences.

==Reception==
[[File:Test Pilot 2 1936.JPG|thumb|right|{{center|Lobby card}}]]
[[File:Test Pilot 3 1938.JPG|thumb|right|{{center|Lobby card with Loy and Gable}}]]
Proving to be an "audience-pleaser"<ref>Erickson, Hal. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121026101916/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/49173/Test-Pilot/overview?scp=1&sq=Test%20Pilot&st=cse "Test Pilot."] ''[[The New York Times]].'' Retrieved: September 21, 2015.</ref> and becoming one of MGM's top money-makers in 1938, ''Test Pilot'' also found favor with critics. [[Frank Nugent|Frank S. Nugent]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called it "a bang-up aviation drama ... It is a generous show by any reckoning, long in its running time, star-studded and spectacular, and Victor Fleming, its director, has paced it wisely."<ref>Nugent, Frank S. "The Screen: 'Test Pilot,' Metro's aviation drama, opens at the Capitol". ''The New York Times'', April 16, 1938, p. 17.</ref> ''[[Film Daily]]'' raved, "Spectacular romance thriller ... It can't miss."<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/filmdail73wids#page/n119/mode/2up "Reviews of the new films."] ''[[Film Daily]]'' (New York: Wid's Films and Film Folk, Inc.), April 15, 1938, p. 7.</ref> ''[[Harrison's Reports]]'' wrote, "Excellent entertainment ... Other air pictures have been made; but for sheer thrills, this one leads them all because of the realistic way it has been done."<ref>"Test Pilot." ''[[Harrison's Reports]]'' (New York),  April 30, 1938, p. 70.</ref> [[John Mosher (writer)|John Mosher]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' wrote that while aviation films with fine flying scenes had already been done, those in this picture were "superior to the average".<ref>Mosher, John. "The current cinema." ''[[The New Yorker]]'' (F-R Publishing Corp.), April 23, 1938, p. 68.</ref>

Today, it is considered a significant aviation film by historians due to the use of contemporary aircraft.<ref>Hardwick and Schnepf 1989, p. 61.</ref> Even at the time of its release, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' noted that the "story bespeaks authority in detail, obviously explained by the fact that Capt. Frank Wead, who authored the original, has had (a) practical aviation background."<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/variety130-1938-04#page/n125/mode/2up "Film reviews."] ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', April 20, 1938, p. 15.</ref>
Both Loy and Tracy (despite his obvious scene-stealing battles with Gable) later claimed ''Test Pilot'' was their favorite film.<ref name="Articles"/>

===Box office===
According to MGM records, ''Test Pilot'' earned $2,431,000 in the U.S. and $1,472,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $967,000.<ref name="Mannix"/>

==Academy Award nominations==
''Test Pilot'' was nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] at the [[11th Academy Awards]], while Wead was nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Story|Best Story]], and [[Tom Held]] for [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]].

==See also==
* [[Lionel Barrymore filmography]]

==References==

===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=N}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
* Dolan, Edward F. Jr. ''Hollywood Goes to War''. London: Bison Books, 1985. {{ISBN|0-86124-229-7}}.
* Hanson, Patricia King, ed. ''The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1931-1940''. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1993. {{ISBN|0-520-07908-6}}.
* Hardwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Buff's Guide to Aviation Movies". ''Air Progress Aviation'', Vol. 7, No. 1, Spring 1983.
* Orriss, Bruce. ''When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Aviation Film Classics of World War II''. Hawthorne, California: Aero Associates Inc., 1984. {{ISBN|0-9613088-0-X}}.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Test Pilot}}
* {{TCMDb title|838}}
* {{IMDb title|0030848}}
* {{AFI film|4071}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|1035806_test_pilot}}

{{Victor Fleming}}

[[Category:1938 films]]
[[Category:1938 drama films]]
[[Category:1930s American films]]
[[Category:1930s buddy films]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American aviation films]]
[[Category:American buddy drama films]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]]
[[Category:Films about test pilots]]
[[Category:Films directed by Victor Fleming]]
[[Category:Films scored by Franz Waxman]]
[[Category:English-language buddy films]]