Flying Devils (1933)

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Flying Devils is a 1933 American Pre-Code action film dealing with aviation. The film was directed by former Hollywood agent Russell Birdwell and photographed by film noir cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca. The screenplay was written by Byron Morgan and Louis Stevens, based on an original story by Stevens. In an unusual move, Bruce Cabot was the star, with perennial "good guy" Ralph Bellamy playing the villain in a love triangle involving Arline Judge and Eric Linden. Although considered a "B" feature, audiences enjoyed the aerial scenes, which helped elevate the feature to a minor box-office hit.

Production

David O Selznick brought in Merian C. Cooper, first as a writer, then associate producer and finally as executive producer, relying on him to get RKO back on its feet and in the black. Cooper, best remembered for masterminding the production of King Kong, was also an aviator. It was natural for RKO to feature a slate of air-minded pictures once Cooper was in charge.

Producer David Lewis he did not like the original story of Russell Birdwell but was attracted to the setting. He said he borrowed much of the story from Sidney Howard's They Knew What They Wanted. Lewis cast from RKO contract players, saying "I didn’t know enough to go out and try to get better ones.... I really went shopping off the shelf, Bellamy was the only real actor and proved it. Frank

Heron kept saying, “It’s the worst cast I ever heard of, justworst! Jesus, God, who the hell would look at it?” All knew at that point was that I could get the job done. It was that simple. I could start with nothing and end up with a picture. The idea of quality had not yet entered my head."

Lewis wanted Howard Shumate, who he had worked with on Tom Keene Westerns, to write the script but Cooper refused and wanted more prestigious writers.

Primarily shot in a backlot, Flying Devils overcame some of the limitations of the low-budget film format. Principal photography was begun in April 1933, using the RKO set at the Russell Brothers Ranch at Triunfo, with additional filming at Mines Field and Van Nuys, California. The aircraft used were a mix of Standard J-1, Stearman C-3R, Travel Air 2000 and 4000 stalwarts, the typical movie armada of the time.

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