Tail Spin
WOMEN AIR RACES...Ripping the skies asunder with blinding speed.
Trixie is a female pilot looking to win a big race to advance her career. During one race, however, her plane becomes damaged, and she needs help to repair it. She meets a Navy pilot named "Tex" Price and tries to gain his aid. Tex soon meets another pilot, Gerry, a novice who seeks to win an important upcoming race. Tex, concerned for Gerry's safety, tries to convince her not to race. But Gerry, now a rival of Trixie's, is determined to fly.
Status
Released
Original Language
EN
Budget
—
Revenue
—
Release Date
February 19, 1939
Popularity
0
Director
Roy Del Ruth
Writer
Frank Wead
Producer
Darryl F. Zanuck
Where to Watch
Cast
Alice Faye
Trixie Lee
Constance Bennett
Gerry Lester
Nancy Kelly
Lois Allen
Joan Davis
Babe Dugan
Charles Farrell
Bud
Jane Wyman
Alabama
Kane Richmond
Lieutenant Dick 'Tex' Price
Wally Vernon
Chick
Joan Valerie
Sunny
Harry Davenport
T.P. Lester
Edward Norris
Speed Allen
J. Anthony Hughes
Al Moore
Mary Gordon
Mrs. Lee
Robert Allen
Charlie
Irving Bacon
Storekeeper (Uncredited)
Helen Brown
Gerry's Nurse (Uncredited)
William B. Davidson
Sales Manager (Uncredited)
Fern Emmett
Matilda, Gerry's Maid (Uncredited)
Jonathan Hale
Racing Official Starter (Uncredited)
Sam Hayes
Announcer (Uncredited)
Gallery
Reviews
CinemaSerf
Alice Faye tries really hard here as "Trixie" who begs, blags and borrows in order to take part in the "Powder Puff" air race across the USA - the prize is a whopping great $100,000! Her main competitor is the wealthy "Gerry" (pronounced "Gary" - Constance Bennett). What now ensues is a rather procedural rivalry drama peppered with a rather melancholy song from Faye and some really quite good aerial photography. The film itself is nothing at all to write home about. The writing is bland and most of the sound stage stuff set against back-projected scenarios just looks cheap. Joan Davis ("Babe") is enthusiastic enough, providing some light-hearted input but for the most part this is really quite a disappointing rendering of what could have been a much better, more exciting, film. The gorgeous silent film star Charles Farrell ("Street Angel" (1928) and "City Girl" (1930) are great films) chips in now and again, and that helps significantly, but not enough to get this off the ground. Watchable, but forgettable.
