Murder in the Air

1940 "A Battle Aboard a Doomed Dirigible!"
5.5| 0h55m| NR| en
Details

Enemy agents are everywhere and they are sabotaging all important war deliveries. The body of a hobo found in a train wreck had a money belt with $50,000 and a tattoo of a circle and arrow. This is a tattoo for saboteurs for hire and Brass must impersonate the dead man to find out what his orders are. As Steve Coe, he meets with the band of enemy agents in California and everything goes well until the wife of the dead 'Hobo' shows up. Luckily, Gabby is able to save Brass and Brass learns what is his assignment. He is to board the USN airship 'Mason', which is testing the super secret Inertia Projector, and destroy the airship.

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Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.
Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
Michael_Elliott Murder in the Air (1940) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Fourth and final film in Warner's Brass Bancroft series with Ronald Reagan in the lead. This time out enemy agents are destroying various sites and now they have their eyes on destroying the entire country. Reagan goes undercover and gets inside the gang to try and stop them before more damage is done. This is probably the second best in the series (behind the third film) and fans of "B" movies will certainly have enough here to keep them entertained. The film, running just 55-minutes, makes for some nice entertainment because it throws pretty much everything in except for the kitchen sink but then again that might have ended up on the cutting room floor. The entire movie goes at a very fast pace and it leads up to a very good ending set on a Dirigible, which of course has to crash into the ocean. I wish this sequence would have gone on longer but what's here is nice. Reagan is very comfortable in the role and manages to turn in his best performance of the series. His tough act is a lot more believable here than in the previous three films and Eddie Foy, Jr. is back for comic relief. John Litel and James Stephenson co-star.
wes-connors After spies and saboteurs wreck havoc across the United States, Federal agent Ronald Reagan (as Brass Bancroft) and comic sidekick Eddie Foy Jr. (as Gabby Watters) go undercover to investigate. Secret Service head John Litel (as Saxby) gives Mr. Reagan the identity of dead spy "Steve Swenko". Reagan seeks James Stephenson (as Joe Garvey), who is being investigated for "Un-American Activities". Reagan has to deal with detectives pulling off his shirt to strip search him. Then, he must handle beautiful blonde Lya Lys (as Hilda Riker); the wife of the man he is supposed to be impersonating orders Reagan, "Talk fast and give the right answer!" Eventually, the plot leads Reagan to board "The U.S. Dirigible 'Mason'" - apparently, so that filmmakers can edit in some exciting footage of a Hindenburg-type airship. Reagan, now undercover as seaman "Steve Coe", is ordered to destroy the airship "Mason" because it carries a new U.S. Defense weapon called the "Inertia Projector". This weapon, according to the script, "makes the United States invincible in war." Who, and what, will survive "Murder in the Air"? This is a patchwork movie for the future President.*** Murder in the Air (1940) Lewis Seiler ~ Ronald Reagan, Eddie Foy Jr., John Litel
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.
theowinthrop President Ronald Reagan has been accused of being a second rate actor, mostly due to his appearance in BEDTIME FOR BONZO. However he actually appeared (albeit in many supporting roles) in respectable, even good films. Early in his career he was earmarked for some type of stardom by the "Brass Bancroft" films.I have never seen any of these "Brass Bancroft" Secret Agent films made by Reagan in the late 1930s, but this one has always intrigued me. Supposedly the destruction of the Naval Airship Mason is actually based on some footage of the destruction (in 1935) of the last Naval Zeppelin "U.S.S. Macon" which was lost in the Pacific Ocean at Big Sur. I'm not expecting anything along the lines of the film of the Hindenburg Crash, or of the Challenger explosion, but it would be curious to see it.