This film is bonkers. We have dodgy acting, completely unreal situations, a fantasy airplane and a ludicrous solution to the final predicament. The story doesn't matter so much as the enjoyable way it is told. This film is fun.
Anna Lee (Jennie) is picked up by a gangster lawyer who wants to leave New York and his life of defending criminals. He feels sorry for Anna who is a starving, out-of-work chorus girl and invites her back to his place (oh yeah, I know your game). Anyway, he gets visited by some heavies and gang leader Francis L Sullivan (Brant) makes sure he never gets to finish the book he was reading. Anna becomes the next target as she has seen them. We follow her travel back to England across the ocean where she is set-up for some jail time, realizes the wrong man has been arrested for the murder in New York, and makes it back to New York by mail plane to hopefully secure his freedom.
Anna Lee is pretty but also pretty bad at acting. There is no way she is an out-of-work chorus girl, more like a high-end fashion designer. She speaks with an outrageously posh accent - words like 'happen' are pronounced 'heppen' and at times, she gushes out her dialogue as if she were an enthusiastic child of 7. You're a grown woman! When we meet her mother, Drusilla Wills, well, what is that all about!! No way are these 2 characters related!! This is part of the film's charm - nothing makes sense.
The plane has to be seen to be believed. It's like a luxury cruise ship with apartments, dining rom and bar and at one point I said "hold on, I think I've just seen police inspector John Loder (Jim) smoking a cigarette outside!" Cue the next scene when doors are opened, just as on a cruise ship, that give you access to the deck area - an outside space. On a plane! If this isn't crazy enough, wait till you see what John Loder has to do to save the passengers as the cruise ship airplane hurtles towards the sea.
I must mention the brat of a child that is Desmond Tester (Arnold) who is a violin playing prodigy who says he hates music. He's actually alright and makes some funny observations along the way.
It's a memorable film and I wish planes like this existed today.
