EarDelightBase Waste of Money.

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

MartinHafer As I watched this film, my wife sat nearby and made MANY comments about why she hated this movie. Among the many things she said about the film, words like subtle and entertaining were NOT among them! And, in hindsight, she was right--this is an awfully bad film.Originally, "Flying High" was a stage production put on by George White. Much of the staginess remains--along with some bizarro song and dance numbers where no audience could have possibly seen the choreography. Like so many films of the day, there are lots of Busby Berkeley-style overhead shots--and they are all pretty ridiculous. Only two years later, RKO also made an airplane theme musical, "Flying Down to Rio" and although it's also totally ridiculous, these over the top dance numbers were fun. In "Flying High" they become a bit tedious.The plot is slight. Sport (Pat O'Brien) has built an 'aerocopter' (an early type of helicopter) and is trying to get the money to market it. So, in a last-ditch effort, he gets his subhuman friend, Rusty (Bert Lahr) to romance Patsy (Charlotte Greenwood) because she has some money to invest. Unfortunately, all of Sport's contributions to the plot are minor and the main focus on the film is on Lahr and Greenwood. I say unfortunately because Lahr is simply awful most of the time--making nonsense noises like Curly from the Three Stooges and over-acting incredibly. Greenwood comes off a bit better as the man-crazy spinster--but they aren't the least bit interesting as a couple. Combine this with the god-awful use of rear projection in the amazingly unfunny 'funny' finale and you've got a film that is just tedious in every way. By the way, the only interesting thing about this film is its pre- code sensibilities. In the doctor skit there is some risqué language and later, there are some double-entendres about sex in some of the scenes with Greenwood and Lahr. This doesn't necessarily make the film good...but at least it is interesting to hear words like asinine and narcotics--words you simply wouldn't have heard in films post mid- 1934.

bkoganbing For those who only associate Bert Lahr with The Wizard Of Oz this film from MGM gives one a chance to see him repeating his role on Broadway from one of the many shows he starred in. Lahr other than The Wizard Of Oz was far more a success on Broadway than on the big screen.Flying High ran for 355 performances on Broadway during the 1930-31 season and on Broadway Lahr's co-star was Kate Smith. Lahr's barbs whether they came in the script or were ad-libbed for the performance about fat girls caused some wounding to Kate. It was here she decided that radio would be her best medium of expression.Rawboned Charlotte Greenwood of the Bruce Lee like kicks in her dancing takes Kate's role and she's looking for a husband and she'd like to settle a dowry on him. Lahr becomes the object of her attentions. And Lahr needs the money in order to help his partner and friend Pat O'Brien promote the aero-copter that Lahr's invented. DeSylva, Brown and Henderson wrote the Broadway score which was completely chucked for the film with new songs by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. I was disappointed not to hear items like Without Love and Thank Your Father on the screen. Nothing memorable came from Fields and McHugh. Busby Berkeley did the choreography and there is a definite hint as to what would be coming in the way gaudy numbers like in his Warner Brothers period.Pat O'Brien played Bud Abbott in this film, but Lahr's comedy style was more like Curly Howard than Lou Costello. During the Thirties, O'Brien was a fast talking promoter of something even if it was himself until he slowed down the pace to a crawl when he played a priest. O'Brien was new on the big screen himself after playing Hildy Johnson in The Front Page.Flying High didn't quite weather the transfer from the Broadway stage to the big screen. Still it's a chance to see a Broadway hit with its original star and that's rare enough for the era this film came out in.

Lone_Prospector As a huge fan of pre-codes, I was disappointed with FLYING HIGH. Bert Lahr's performance was way over the top. Yes, as other reviewers have noted, Bert's 'act' pretty much foreshadows his role of a lifetime as the Cowardly Lion in THE WIZARD OF OZ. But still, I did not find him funny at all. He was rather annoying actually.Pat O'Brien is great in the straight man role and Charlotte Greenwood is her usual awkward self. Even these decent performances can't save this one.As far as controversial pre-code scenes, I found the 'It'll Be the First Time for Me' duet to be one of the most suggestive pieces of film around.One last thing. Is it just me, or does Bert Lahr's schtick seem patterned after Curly Howard of the Three Stooges? It feels at times like Bert is doing a spot on impersonation of Curly. I used to think that Bert as the Cowardly Lion flat out stole Curly's routine. But given that FLYING HIGH was released before Curly, Moe, et al. made it big, now I wonder who copied who.

Ron Oliver A slightly unscrupulous promoter hopes to be FLYING HIGH after selling stock in a half-crazed inventor's aerocopter.The rather bizarre humor of comic Bert Lahr is showcased in this fast-moving little comedy. Rather an acquired taste, Lahr's antics will either delight or depress the viewer, who should not be expecting to see an early version of the Cowardly Lion. Lahr's style of humor might be best described as moronic and those who enjoy laughing at the feebleminded should find him quite amusing.What helps to ameliorate Lahr's antics is his teaming for much of the film with the great Charlotte Greenwood, who excelled in deadpan physical comedy. With her long legs and horsy features, Greenwood makes her man-crazy character into a real source of fun. Whether it's chasing Lahr around an airport, enduring a riotous Wedding Morning, or flailing about in his contraption thousands of feet in the air, Miss Greenwood never fails to pack in the laughs.Pat O'Brien seems rather uncomfortable as Lahr's straight man and his romantic scenes with spunky Kathryn Crawford are somewhat less than enthralling. Charles Winninger catches the viewer's attention as a naughty, pre-Code doctor interested in examining a bevy of young aviatrixes. Cherubic Guy Kibbee & stately Hedda Hopper do credit to their short screen time as Miss Crawford's parents.Movie mavens will recognize an uncredited Clarence Wilson as Greenwood's bad-tempered lunch counter boss.Busby Berkeley has provided some fairly decent dance sequences whose sole motivation seems to be to reveal as much feminine flesh as possible, but the overhead kaleidoscopic shots are pleasant harbingers of the classic work he would perform a few years later at Warner's.Lahr's aerocopter, which may or may not be technically feasible, is based on the gyrocopter or Autogiro, both of which actually did fly but have now been almost completely superseded by the helicopter.