Grade: C
Synopsis: A man (Pat O’Brien) sets out to create the first air-trade route from San Francisco to China.
China Clipper is a fictitious story, that begins with Charles Lindbergh’s homecoming parade in New York (almost exactly where The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) ends) and follows O’Brien’s character as he sacrifices everything in his obsessive pursuit of bigger and bigger commercial air trade routes.
The script by Frank Wead (who would later be the subject of John Ford’s The Wings of Eagles (1957)) crams a lot of story into a tight 88 minute running time and eschews many of the usual Hollywood trappings.
The cast is workable. Pat O’Brien is fine in the lead, and Beverly Roberts grows on you as the film goes on, but the film really comes alive when Humphrey Bogart shows up. Though he’s only a supporting player, Bogie still manages to steal all of his scenes and helps carry the third act.
Bottom Line: A tight little movie about the obsession, and imagination, that ushered in commercial air-trade.
