ThiefHott Too much of everything

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

captaincook1776 Watched all four of the Secret Agent movies. Every one was fun. Does Hollyweird even have an inkling of what that word means? Fun with dialogue, plot, clean language, no bathroom humor, and no nudity. Going to the movies used to be worth the money. There was support of our great nation and no stupid correctness. It was patriotism and the movies used to make the viewer more positive after the viewing. What a concept. B-Movies were and are better than so called A movies. Ronald was very handsome. Eddie Foy, Jr. was enjoyable as the sidekick. The story actually had a beginning, middle, and end. There was a conflict to be resolved.

Michael Morrison "B" as in "basic" and "B" as in "Brass Bancroft," this B-movie series was fairly typical of the fare turned out by studios, partly to give training and a build-up to new actors or directors or writers, and partly just to pump out product to fill the bills at theaters."B" movie didn't mean "bad": It just meant lower -- or low -- budget.Even in his obituaries, less-than-knowledgeable, or less-than-honest, writers kept calling Ronald Reagan "a B movie actor," continuing to carp probably because they didn't agree with what they understood his political philosophy to be. (For people who don't know the history, let me add this word: Being anti-communist was an unforgivable sin in many segments of the media, including even motion pictures.) Many, if not most, actors began their careers making B movies. Reagan graduated to A features, apparently right after making "Murder in the Air." And his performance in this film was one reason: He was likable, good looking (though kinda skinny without his shirt), and believable in the action scenes.John Litel was a superlative actor, keeping busy for nearly 40 years, and giving good performances always.Others in the cast did a good job, some were even great, but most stayed unknown and viewers today might, mistakenly, judge a film by the names connected thereto.Instead, they should suspend their disbelief, remember the context, and sit back and enjoy.

MartinHafer Starting with SECRET SERVICE OF THE AIR (1938), Ronald Reagan made four B-movie series film with the character of "Brass Bancroft". I have seen all but SMASHING THE MONEY RING. The first film, despite its very low budget and modest pretense, was an exceptional film for the genre. The second, CODE OF THE SECRET SERVICE was just awful--with an extremely poorly written script that wasn't worthy of the franchise. This final film, MURDER IN THE AIR, isn't quite as good as the first film but it sure comes close--making a nice conclusion to this series.Reagan is given a special assignment to infiltrate a mob of spies who are seeking to destroy American. Oddly, like in his other films, the exact countries involved never are alluded to, though in this one Communists are mentioned. These evil rats have a big plan, but Reagan and the rest of his fellow agents have no idea what it will be. Fortunately, one of the spies is accidentally killed and Reagan assumes his identity. I'd rather not discuss exactly what happens next, as it might spoil the surprise, but I was excited to see that the film was set partially on board a US Navy dirigible and the scene involving it crashing was pretty exciting.All in all, this is not a film that you'll long remember--it's a B-film through and through. But for a B, it's an excellent one and stand above the crowd of many B series films.

fedya-1 Ronald Reagan the actor is often panned, largely in my opinion because of his politics. Those who would denigrate his acting career should watch a movie like "Murder in the Air". It was designed as a B-movie, and barely reaches that level. But the reasons for that are not Reagan's fault. Reagan is saddled with a threadbare plot about saboteurs wanting to destroy a government weapon, and he's a T-man who has to infiltrate the ring. This is bad enough, but the climax is set aboard a dirigible, which, three years after the explosion of the Hindenburg, is wholly unrealistic. Worse, Reagan's cast alongside a bunch of near-nobodies (Lya Lys??); and, with a running time of only 55 minutes, there's not much time for a good story to develop. But Reagan tries his best, and succeeds in making the movie reasonably watchable.