Central Airport

Wednesday, October 26 at 7:30 PM — The Auditorium at NEIU — 3701 W Bryn Mawr Ave
Tickets: $10 at the door

CENTRAL AIRPORT
Directed by William A. Wellman • 1933
At first blush, Central Airport seems like it’ll be a tarmac Grand Hotel, with a multitude of characters converging upon a single vibrant setting. But, in fact, the tumultuous first reel — an airplane has gone missing! — is soon revealed as an elaborate prologue to a sharp, focused character study that, like many of the finest pre-Code films, grafts Old Testament conflict onto a snazzy story of modern life. Richard Barthelmess plays Jim Blaine, the flier whose plane went missing. Since his carelessness probably killed some passengers, Jim’s days as a commercial pilot are kaput, but the dream lives: Jim’s pencil-mustached kid brother Neil (Tom Brown) leaves his job as a bank teller to race against the clouds. Jim eventually links up with parachute queen Jill Collins (Sally Eilers) after he helps her out of a tree and joins her traveling air circus act. They start renting two adjoining hotel rooms and leaving the door wide open, but Jim just can’t commit, leaving Jill to idly fantasize about using a cigar wrapper as her wedding ring. After an act of uncharacteristic selflessness lands Jim in the hospital, Neil swoops in to steal his brother’s girl. A heartbroken Jim starts selling his sky-pirate services to the highest bidder, becoming a leftist general in China and, in a proto-Reagan touch, losing an eye while putting down a revolution in Nicaragua. Wings may have been William Wellman’s breakthrough, but Central Airport is the more mature aviation picture, suffused with adult sexuality and earthbound melancholy. (KW)
72 min • Warner Bros. • 35mm from Library of Congress, permission Swank
Preceded by: Popeye the Sailor in “I Never Changes My Altitude” (Fleischer Studios, 1937) – 16mm – 6 min