Bombay Clipper

I was expecting another B potboiler from Universal but I was pleasantly surprised. I always appreciate being pleasantly surprised. This picture has a lot of plot and a script that was well thought out. The website says it was an original screenplay and it makes you wonder what a bigger studio could have done with this one.

William Gargan is a reporter in the far east who is always on the lookout for a hot scoop. Irene Hervey is his fiancé who keeps getting left at the altar. He hears about a jewelry shipment and feels it would be an important story. So do the 'bad guys'. The hook to this story is that you can never tell which are the 'good guys' and which are the 'bad guys'. Much of the story takes place on an airliner carrying the shipment of jewels. It is an absorbing and an interesting movie which ought to be seen by more people than apparently have seen it.

Two thoughts; Irene Hervey is gorgeous - wonder why she didn't have a bigger career. She was married to Allan Jones, who had the right idea. Second, this could have been a more 'important' movie if more money were spent on the production. Some of the sets seem as if they could have fallen over and necessitated retakes of some scenes.

I saw it at Cinevent, Columbus, O., 5/12, but I don't know how you can see it, since it's not available in any format. Maybe it will show up on TCM.