Tail Spin

"Tail Spin" from 1939 is about a group of women pilots in competition. The film stars Alice Faye, Constance Bennett, Nancy Kelly, Joan Davis, Jane Wyman, Charles Farrell, and Kane Richmond.

Faye is a waitress, saving to pay for needed parts for her plane and to get to the competition. The Powder Puff Competition pays $100,000, good prize money even today! She's joined by friends and one outlier - Gerry Lester, who for some reason has her first name pronounced Gary (Bennett), a wealthy woman with a super-fast plane. Needless to say, everyone resents her.

You can see one of the subplots coming a mile away.

There isn't much to this film except a lot of planes in the air. Alice sings, "Are You in the Mood for Mischief?" Nancy Kelly has a very overwrought role - she was a good actress, but there wasn't much she could do with this part, given her dialogue and the way she was photographed (in closeup wearing a wistful look).

Davis is there for the comedy, and she's fun.

Love Alice, love Constance, love all of them, but for me this wasn't much of a film.