Parachute Jumper

source: Parachute Jumper

source: Parachute Jumper

Three people down on their luck help each other out during the throes of the Depression. Bill Keller and Toodles Cooper are in the Army, stationed in Nicaragua. Their plane is shot own and they are presumed dead... then they are found very much alive and drunk in a cantina. This gets them kicked out of the military and back on the mean streets of New York. Bill meets pretty Patricia "Alabama" Brent. Bette's fake accent wavers in and out through the entire movie, which is annoying. Bill invites her to stay on the sofa in the little flat he and Toodles have rented. He takes a few various jobs here an there--including one parachute jump, which is how the movie got its name, I suppose.... Bill is anxious to take a job, any job to keep a roof over their heads, so he hires on as a bodyguard to gangster Leo Carillo. Toodles unknowingly flies drug runs to and from Canada for Carillo and Alabama is hired on as the thug's secretary. None of them are quite aware of how far reaching their boss's criminal activities are, until it is almost too late.

PARACHUTE JUMPER (Warner Brothers, 1933) directed by Alfred E. Green, based on a original story by Rian James, stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr. In one of his final films for the studio under his original contract. Basically a Fairbanks programmer, this production is better known more as an early movie featuring future film star, Bette Davis. For their only collaboration together, Fairbanks and another contract player, Frank McHugh, play a couple of Marine flyers who become victims of unemployment, seeking ew jobs during those hard times during the Great Depression. Following the opening credits to the underscoring Marine theme of "To the Shores of Tripoli," the story begins with newspaper clippings regarding Bandits Shooting Down U. S. Marine Plane in Nicaragua. Next scene introduces Marine flyers of Bill Keller (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) and his pal, Tootles Cooper (Frank McHugh), having a grand time at a bar with several women. Moments later they are found and arrested by the air patrol, shortly dismissed from duty. Coming to New York City, Bill and Tootles answer an ad to work for the Universal Air Transport Company, only to find it an empty office currently out of business. Living in an apartment where Bill and Tootles are behind on their rent, and two months and having no job prospects, Bill, with only a fifty cent piece to his name, sitting on a park bench in Central Park, is approached by Patricia Brent, better known as Alabama (Bette Davis), an unemployed stenographer from the South. He soon treats her top breakfast and invites her to room with him and Tootles in their apartment. During the course of the story, Bill acquires a job as a parachute jumper, chauffer for Mrs. Newberry (Claire Dodd), a mistress to gangster, Kurt Weber (Leo Carrillo). After Weber finds Bill alone with Mrs. Newberry, rather than dealing with him, Bill is hired as Weber's bodyguard as well as becoming pilot, along with Toodles, to, unknowingly, fly narcotics to and from Canada. Weber also hires Alabama as his personal stenographer. It would be a matter of time before they realize Weber's profession, with difficulty breaking away from his crooked activities. Others in the cast include: Harold Huber (Steve Donovan); Sheila Terry (The Secretary); Thomas E. Jackson (Lieutenant Coffey); and George Pat Collins (Tom Crawley). Look quickly for familiar faces in uncredited roles as Walter Brennan (The Counter Man); Nat Pendleton (The Traffic Cop); Dewey Robinson and George Chandler in smaller roles. Regardless of its title, there is very little parachute jumping for this production. At 72 minutes, it's acceptable viewing mainly due to its well-pacing, fine performances and some pre-code situations, namely Frank McHugh using his middle finger on a passing driver refusing to give him a ride. Scenes for PARACHUTE JUMPER involving Davis and Carrillo were later clipped into another Bette Davis classic, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (Warner Brothers, 1962). Not as memorable as some other Warner Brothers programmers of the 1930s, PARACHUTE JUMPER is of main interest to film scholars watching both Fairbanks prior to his adventure movies and Davis shortly before her two time Academy Award best actress wins by the end of the decade. Never distributed on video cassette, PARACHUTE JUMPER is often broadcast on Turner Classic Movies cable channel and available on the DVD format from the Warner Brothers archive collection. (**)

There's not much to say about this little known movie except what's been said before: Bette Davis, when not treated like one of the guys, was given the ingenue roles she came to detest with a passion because they gave her little to do but look pretty, enunciate her lines, and do no more. As "Alabama", there is nothing she can do here but play second fiddle to Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. as he soars into the skies and smuggles drugs. Of their acquaintance, Fairbanks is reported to have tweaked Davis in a private area -- her chest -- and told her to ice them so they could be erect as his (then) wife Joan Crawford. Whether this happened before or during the filming of this movie I can't say, but it had to have sparked some dissatisfaction within the insecure Davis who already envied the glamour within Crawford, and it's a double irony that in later years this would be one of the clips used to describe just how bad Davis character Baby Jane had been when out-growing her cnild-star status. In any case, PARACHUTE JUMPER is just another bad Warner Bros. movie, short, to the point, with by-the-number performances and a vague HELLS ANGELS' feel.

Bill (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) and Toodles (Frank McHugh) have trouble finding work during the Great Depression. They hook up with 'Alabama' (Bette Davis) and get involved with gangsters and drugs. Bette said this was her worst movie but honestly it's not that bad. Fairbanks is charming, McHugh is amusing and Bette is as good as she could be. It's not a great movie at all but it's a fun pre-Code film. Also there are some amazing aerial stunts and (for a B movie) impressive special effects. Also I was surprised to see McHugh give the finger to a motorist who drives by him when he needs a lift! So it's worth watching at least once. For the record Fairbanks hated it too.

Love Bette Davis, and 'Parachute Jumper' is another film where she was my main reason for seeing it in the first place with no prior knowledge of it before. My recommended for you section and wanting to see all of her films and performances (up to this point had seen most but not all) are to thank for that. Liked the idea of the story and was interested too in seeing how Davis and the always watchable Douglas Fairbanks Jr would fare working together. They fare very well together indeed, and 'Parachute Jumper' is a very enjoyable and well done film. It's an early Davis film and role and although she did go on to better things this is a long way from being a waste of her massive amount of talent. Fairbanks is similarly well served, if not at his best. 'Parachute Jumper' may have been made quickly and not on the highest of budgets, but manages to have more enjoyment and entertainment value than some expensively made productions, old and now. Sure 'Parachute Jumper' is not perfect. The story can be messy at times and tries to do too much, shifting uneasily between them quickly which gave a jumpy feel. Wouldn't have said no to Davis having more to do. Occasionally the camera lacks finesse but that is more forgivable. However, 'Parachute Jumper' really doesn't look too bad for a quickie, some have looked much worse. Some nice shots here that clearly had a ball capturing the stunts and airwork. No wonder as the stunts and airwork are never less than astounding and the best of them jaw dropping. Alfred Green does a very nice job directing, keeping things moving and allowing the cast to have fun, which they do. 'Parachute Jumper's' script is one of its major assets, its sparkling wit is just infectious and some of it is surprisingly daring, being made before the code was enforced (likewise with censorship), meaning more flexibility and risks. The film moves at a fast clip, and well as the great chemistry of the cast it's its boldly honest look at the Depression, no sugar-coating here, and the pre-code material. Fairbanks and Davis are immensely charming and look as if they were having fun, Davis also is at her most adorable. Fairbanks and an amusing Frank McHugh work well too. All in all, very enjoyable. 7/10

Army flyboys Bill Keller (Doug Fairbanks Jr.) and Toodles Cooper (Frank McHugh) ditch their plane in Central America and party until they are rescued and drummed out of the service. Keller meets "Alabama" ( Bette Davis ) a girl in similar straits in the park and she agrees to move in with them. Keller finds work as a chauffeur but quits for a bigger payday as a mobster flunkie. Domestic problems ensue however when the now romantically linked Alabama goes to work for his gangster boss. As much a comedy as melodrama this poverty row quickie doesn't shy away from the desperate times they live in as it follows three out of work victims of the depression into harms way. Keller is objectified and dehumanized by a well heeled society dame while Alabama is not averse to emphasizing her charm to get work. The boys are soon flying again but this time moving liquor, drugs and shooting down revenue agent's planes. With the liberties offered by pre-code standards, underrated director Al Green as he does so well in Baby Face and Side Streets provides some provocative compositions not only to spice up Jumper but also to define character and times. Not as controversial or as well structured as either of the above mentioned but a nifty enough curiosity piece of the times.

Parachute Jumper (1933) *** (out of 4) Fun pre-code from Vitaphone about pilot/friends Bill (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) and Toodles (Frank McHugh) who finds work hard to come by once they're back in the real world. They take in a woman (Bette Davis) also in a bad situation but all three eventually find work for a businessman who just happens to be bringing illegal alcohol into the States via planes. PARACHUTE JUMPER is everything you'd want from a "B" movie of this era. It features some laughs, some romance and some great action scenes. It contains a wonderful cast. It also has some amazing stunt work that can only be found in films of this era. Best of all are some pre-code moments including the highlight of the film when McHugh is trying to hitchhike by the guy doesn't stop so McHugh just stands there giving him the middle finger!!! This is certainly a film that classic movie fans are going to love for all of these reasons. It runs a very fast-paced 71-minutes and there's really no downtime to be found because everything is just happening so fast. Fairbanks, Jr. and McHugh are both in fine form delivering the type of performances that you'd expect. Davis also gets to play a sweet Southern lady but also brings out some fire at times. The supporting players include a nice, sexy role for Claire Dodd and Leo Carrillo plays the gangster. Some of the best moments happen early on during some very dangerous stunt work where a man has to climb on the wing of one plane and then walk onto the wings of another. Even today these scenes make you hold your breathe. PARACHUTE JUMPER has pretty much been forgotten over the years but fans of the "Golden Age" pre-code should enjoy it.

Bad scripts, bad directors, bad stories. Bad, bad, bad. That's what Bette Davis fought against in 1937 when she had too much of these B films that she knew were unworthy of her talents. In 1962, Warner Brothers allowed a clip of this to be inserted into "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", taking Davis's character out of context in a way of showing how much an actress Jane Hudson was not in her film "that never even got released in the United States". In all fairness, Davis is not playing a role any differently than the types that Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell or Alice White were playing in the rushed out programmers at the time, but I can see how she got frustrated, wanting the more prestigious films that were going to either Ruth Chatterton or Kay Francis when they were rivals for "Queen of the Lot" before Bette rose after winning her first Oscar to take over that title. The top billed star is Douglas Fairbanks Jr., playing a pilot who ends up working for mobster Leo Carrillo after briefly working as a chauffeur for Carrillo's flirtatious mistress (Claire Dodd) who simply disappears out of this film after unsuccessfully trying to seduce Fairbanks. The film is set up as a bit of a light comedy with Fairbanks and his pal Frank McHugh taking in the destitute Bette Davis as a roommate, pretty bold even in the era of pre-code, because the insinuations of sexual tension between Davis and Fairbanks becomes obvious. The innuendos of the sexually free Dodd make the jealous Davis certain that hanky panky is going on. When Carrillo comes across Dodd and Fairbanks together, he quickly loses his temper but recovers when he sees how Dodd was using him, but finds usage for Fairbanks in smuggling dope by air, something that Fairbanks is completely unaware of, although he becomes suspicious of his boss's intentions when Davis is hired as a stenographer in his office. While amusing in spots, this is still weak as far as story and writing go, and Davis's southern accent is not as convincing as it was in the previous year's "Cabin in the Cotton". Dodd, in her few scenes, makes the most of her character, pretty much playing the same type of role that Davis had in that film. But it is Fairbanks and Carrillo who get the best moments, overcoming the shallowness of the script, and instilling some heat, especially when a hit on one of Carrillo's enemies is set up to look like self defense. So I wouldn't call this the disaster of Davis's early career as she would claim it to be, but it would still be a few years before Warner Brothers would have confidence in her gifts to give her the types of roles she truly deserved.