Contrabandistas del aire

The film begins with some criminals transporting illegal aliens into the US from Mexico. However, this is NOT the typical group of illegals--many are criminals and those running the business are evil scum. This becomes apparent when the plane is almost captured by a Secret Service agent. How he and the rest of the passengers were done away with in an early scene was truly horrifying and shocked me.

Later, airline pilot Ronald Reagan is approached by the Secret Service and asked to join. The problem is, they need to ruin his clean reputation so that the mob will believe he is their kind of person, so government frames Reagan and sends him for a short stint in prison--after which time he makes contact with the crooks and infiltrates the gang.

This was an obvious B-movie from Warner Brothers due to the style of film (emphasizing action and a very fast pace), the fact that the movie is filled with unknown actors (even star Ronald Reagan was a definite newcomer to the screen) and its short length (at just over one hour). Often, over the years' "B" has come to mean bad or second-rate, though this movie is pretty good considering that it was meant to be a lesser film in a double-feature. Sure, you can't compare it to the very best films of the time, but this breezy little film is a good showcase for Reagan and helps to hide his relatively wooden screen persona. I liked Reagan but gotta admit he wasn't the most charismatic actor of his age. About the only other negatives are common in B's and these are plot holes--little inconsistencies or logical errors that were never effectively dealt with, such as how easy it was for Reagan's cover to get blown--but what do you expect for 63 minutes?!