blanche-2 Devil Dogs of the Air is a typical Warner Brothers film with a typical Warner Brothers cast, not that that's a bad thing at all. The movie stars Jimmy Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Margaret Lindsay, and Frank McHugh.Cagney plays a cocky flier, Tommy, whose friend Brannigan (O'Brien) encourages him to enlist in Marine flying school.The first thing he does is fall for Brannigan's girlfriend Betty (Lindsay) who can't stand him. We all know what that means. It turns out that Tommy is a remarkable flier and, though the friendship between the two men seems to suffer, everybody has to admit that Tommy knows what he's doing. And he keeps going after Betty.Predictable, but the good cast brings it up a level as do the flying sequences. The planes look like what the Wright Brothers invented, and they do some amazing things.If you're an airplane fan, you will enjoy this, though you might mix it up with some of Warners other flying films. But it has the US Navy dirigible, the early planes as I mentioned, and some fabulous stunts. I have to one day count up how many films Cagney, O'Brien and McHugh made together. I know McHugh and Cagney made 11, and that all three were friends. They worked together very well.

MartinHafer Jimmy Cagney plays (what else) a brash young flier who is convinced by his buddy, Pat O'Brien, to enlist in the US Marine flying school. Once there, he initially makes a nuisance of himself and even tries to horn in on O'Brien's girl--creating a lot of tension. The trouble is that Cagney is so talented and amazing as a flier that everyone but O'Brien soon forgets his initially brash ways. Will the friendship fizzle for good, will Cagney and O'Brien both prove themselves and rise above it all AND who will cute Margaret Lindsay fall for by the end? You'll just need to tune in to forget.While I will admit that the plot of this film is highly reminiscent of many Warner Brothers and Jimmy Cagney films (such as CAPTAINS OF THE CLOUDS), it also is quite entertaining and very exciting to airplane buffs like myself. Because of this, I liked it quite a bit and another person could easily dismiss it as "just a piece of fluff"--which, at times, it unfortunately is. However, watching the great aerial stunts, seeing the US Navy dirigible, ships and early airplanes was quite a thrill for me and really kept my attention. In many ways, it's a great companion piece to a film he made shortly before this, HERE COMES THE NAVY. Not surprisingly, the plots are somewhat similar, but HERE COMES THE NAVY offers even more amazing scenes--dirigibles in closeup scenes as well as being set aboard the ill-fated USS Arizona (which was destroyed at Pearl Harbor less than a decade later).So, for aerial buffs, I'd give this an 8. For the rest, a 6. Splitting the difference, a 7 seems appropriate.

Jim Tritten Predictable and formula story that has been re-used by virtually the same cast. I personally ignored the story (partially due to the over-acting by Jimmy Cagney) and concentrated on the historic shots of early Marine Corps aviation and the Fleet Marine Force preparing for amphibious operations before there were Higgins Boats. Some really great flying shots. Who cares who got the girl! A must for aviation enthusiasts.

jann-6 Personally I'm not with Maltin at all on this one. This is a comedy and a darn funny one. Cagney is as electrified as ever, and O'Brien and Lindsay play their parts to the hilt as well. Personally I was slightly bored by the flying scenes, but if you like that sort of thing, you've got that in this movie as well. On a scale of one to five, I give it three and a half.