Air Mail is a 1932 American PreCode adventure film directed by John Ford, based on a story by Dale Van Every and Frank Spig Wead. The film stars Ralph Bellamy, Pat OBrien and Gloria Stuart. A copy is preserved in the Library of Congress.
Duke is a good pilot, but his bravado and affair with Irene Lilian Bond, wife of fellow pilot Dizzy Wilkins Russell Hopton, has the potential to cause irreparable damage to the tightly knit group of aviators. When Dizzy crashes and dies in a blinding snow storm, Mike is forced to take over the last leg of his flight, even though doctors have told him that his vision has deteriorated. When he also crashes during a blizzard, his distress call reveals that he is still alive, but trapped in an inaccessible mountain valley. Duke considers the rescue as a challenge, commandeering an aircraft and flying to the remote valley. He lands roughly, damaging his aircraft, but manages to fly out with Mike on board. As they reach Desert Airport, Duke knows he cannot land safely so he pushes Mike out before he crashlands. As the ground crew pull him out of the wreck, Duke is badly injured, but alive.Air Mail was primarily filmed at Universal Studios stages and back lots. A special stage was built to film miniature scenes where a gantry was constructed above the stage to allow models to fly over a large miniature set. Note ........
Source: Wikipedia