Flying Blind

Flying Blind is a 1941 American action and comedy film directed by Frank McDonald and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was the second movie from Pine-Thomas Productions. That company's first three films formed an unofficial "aviation trilogy"; all starred Richard Arlen. Plot After being fired for taking the blame for his co-pilot's incompetence, airline pilot Jim Clark (Richard Arlen) starts his own airline, Honeymoon Air, flying for weddings and divorces between Los Angeles and Las Vegas/Reno. He brings stewardess Shirley Brooks (Jean Parker) with him as a partner. Jim is in love with Shirley, but has not asked her yet because of all the work in starting the new business. Shirley mistakes this for a lack of interest. Tired of waiting, she becomes engaged to another pilot, Bob Fuller (Dick Purcell). Jim is upset and arranges for Bob to go to Hackensack, New Jersey, for a phoney job just to get him out of the way and prevent Shirley from marrying him. Next, Jim and Shirley fly to Las Vegas with two newlywed couples: Veronica (Marie Wilson) and Chester Gimble (Grady Sutton), and Danila (Kay Sutton) and Eric Karolek (Nils Asther) (in reality, a spy named Colonel Boro). Joining them is their mechanic, Riley (Eddie Quillan), who is expecting to become a father any day. Jim is unaware that the Karolek couple are spies who work for Rocky Drake (Roger Pryor), attempting to steal a transformer used for a top-secret XB-62 bomber prototype. While the others are off celebrating, Drake meets his contact, gets the transformer and kills the man delivering it. Drake talks his way onto Jim's aircraft, flying back to Los Angeles. When Jim learns from the tower that Drake is wanted, he tries to turn the aircraft back to turn him in to the police, but Drake forces him to continue. They fight over control of the aircraft. Shirley, not realizing it is for real, gives Drake's gun to Eric Karolek, who forces Jim to fly towards Mexico. On the way, the aircraft passes through a storm and starts shaking violently, causing an Allison V-12 engine block Drake brought aboard, to break loose, smashing instruments and engine controls inside the cockpit. Even with his engines shut down, Jim manages to land in the mountains.