Dirigble (1931)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Frank Capra directed this disaster flick about a hot shot pilot (Ralph Graves) who tries a daring expedition to the South Pole but ends up crashing. Back at home his wife (Fay Wray) is having an affair with his best friend (Jack Holt) but when news gets back to them about the crash the friend decides to go after him. Capra, Holt and Graves teamed up for Flight two years earlier and this film has some of the same greatness as well as some of the same weaknesses. The great stuff deals with all the action and some of it is among the best stuff I've ever seen. I'm going to guess that a lot of miniatures were used but they look terrific and come off very realistic. There's one brilliant sequence where a blimp gets caught up in a tropical storm and slowly begins to break apart. However, the love triangle thing is really, really boring and very unrealistic. Holt and Graves are good in their parts but Wray comes off pretty weak but this is due mostly to her part being poorly written. In the end the film is still worth seeing for the amazing action scenes.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Frank Capra directed this disaster flick about a hot shot pilot (Ralph Graves) who tries a daring expedition to the South Pole but ends up crashing. Back at home his wife (Fay Wray) is having an affair with his best friend (Jack Holt) but when news gets back to them about the crash the friend decides to go after him. Capra, Holt and Graves teamed up for Flight two years earlier and this film has some of the same greatness as well as some of the same weaknesses. The great stuff deals with all the action and some of it is among the best stuff I've ever seen. I'm going to guess that a lot of miniatures were used but they look terrific and come off very realistic. There's one brilliant sequence where a blimp gets caught up in a tropical storm and slowly begins to break apart. However, the love triangle thing is really, really boring and very unrealistic. Holt and Graves are good in their parts but Wray comes off pretty weak but this is due mostly to her part being poorly written. In the end the film is still worth seeing for the amazing action scenes.