Popular reviews

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  Review by Jesse Snoddon ★★★½

  "How many waffles can you eat Mr. Lane?" "How many have you got?"

  Famous airplane racer and stunt pilot Jim Lane (Clark Gable) has a problem with booze and the party life style that comes with being a minor celebrity. His long time best friend Gunner (Spencer Tracy) hasn't made any headway in slowing Jim's self destructive tendencies despite his best efforts. Everything changes one day when Jim's plane makes an emergency landing on Ann's farmland. The two fall in love and marry, but Jim's struggles don't disappear. 

  The film is a little on the slow side but damn it's a good example of how a great cast can elevate things. It's no surprise that Gable's limitless affable charm goes…

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  Review by Rick Burin ★★★★½

  Test Pilot is the epitome, if not the apogee, of Old Hollywood excellence, a slick but weighty entertainment with several remarkable facets, and the full weight of the MGM dream factory behind it.

  First, consider its pedigree: its scriptwriters included Howard Hawks and former aviator Frank "Spig" Wead, the personable stars - Clark Gable and Myrna Loy - had just been voted the King and Queen of Hollywood in the biggest poll of its kind ever conducted, there was a meaty role for dramatic heavyweight Spencer Tracy, about to land his second consecutive Oscar, and the direction came from skilful filmmaker and unequivocal "man's man" Victor Fleming - who specialised in rough, tough pictures, but would shoot most of The…

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  Review by Taylor Leverage ★★½

  Thank goodness for those old-timey test pilots. If it weren't for them, American Airlines couldn't charge me $600 for a three-hour flight in a seat the size of a geometry textbook and half as comfortable.

  It's your classic story: boy starts off on coast-to-coast speed record attempt, boy crashes in backyard of girl's home in Kansas, girl falls for boy, boy falls for girl. Pretty standard stuff. The story is focused on the relationship between Clark Gable's daredevil pilot Jim Lane and his sweetheart Ann (Myrna Loy), with friend Gunner (Spencer Tracy) in the background; there's genuine love between all three, but Jim's lack of a sense of self-preservation and flighty attitude constantly strain the trio's finances, tempers, and sanity.…

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  Review by Brian Saur ★★★★½ 2

  A favorite of mine and also Myrna Loy's favorite of all her films. Hoping for a DVD release soon.

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  Review by kmeaston ★★★½

  Victor Fleming manages to direct an action epic filled with impressive flying stunts without killing or injuring any cast or crewmembers.

  Meanwhile, Howard Hughes mutters to himself something about not giving it your all.

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  Review by Jillian Michelle ★★★★½

  How can three people have so much chemistry together I-

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  Review by PUNQ ★★★ 1

  Great cast and a average Hollywood style romance story with some nice aerial scenes thrown in. One thing that did stand out was Myrna Loy as the devoted girl. She basically put Clark Gable in his place. While boys will be boys, she could bring them down to earth like no other. A really good role for her! The third wheel was Spencer Tracy. He did a lot with very little. Not a role he'd be remembered for, but highly efficient as the buddy helping out trying to tame wild pilot Gable. No doubt that it's the star power that makes this memorable.

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  Review by 𝑨𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂 ★★★★

  oh gosh, it made me wanna watch Myrna Loy's entire filmography !! <3

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  Review by Todd Hill ★★★½

  Remember when there were movie stars? We don't have to go back anywhere near this far to find them, but this Best Picture nominee is a real reminder of the difference real movie stars could make on a film that otherwise would've been maybe just OK.

  This aviation adventure film catches Clark Gable, as the hard-drinking, hard-living title character, in pretty much his last role before he simply played Clark Gable on screen (beginning with "Gone With the Wind" a year later). It finds Spencer Tracy just as his film career was starting to peak, a peak I've always associated with the pictures he starred in with Katharine Hepburn, fair or not (but probably mostly fair). He's the pilot's faithful…

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  Review by TajLV ★★★½

  Part of my 5 Directors x 5 Unseen Films (22) challenge.

  Here's a romantic aviation drama from director Victor Fleming with an all-star cast: Clark Gable as hot-shot pilot Jim Lane; Spencer Tracy as his best friend, mechanic Gunner Morris; Lionel Barrymore as the owner of the aviation company that employs them both, Mr. Drake; and Myrna Loy as Jim's love interest, Ann "Thursday" Barton. Jim meets Ann when his attempt to break the transcontinental speed record fails and he has to put down on her farm in rural Kansas.

  While waiting for Gunner to arrive and replace his aircraft's fuel pump, Jim takes Ann to a baseball game and a movie, and then for a flight above Wichita Airport.…

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  Review by frances ★★★ 1

  so those guys were lovers, right? oh man the bit with the chewing gum absolutely broke me. sure i’m not the biggest fan of Clark Gable (in fact i’m a hater) but the man’s got onscreen talent i can’t deny. doesn’t stop him from getting thoroughly outshined by Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy though. concerned wife & long-suffering best friend is always going to be a fantastic duo, but the casting department really knocked it out of the park with this stroke of genius. i just really enjoy looking at Myrna Loy. she has such an interesting face. same with Spencer Tracy. he does this thing with his forehead that always fascinates me. it’s automatically a good film when i get…

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  Review by Andrew Black ★★★★★ 2

  Aviation as artistry, and behold the tragedy of the aviator.

  Jim Lane isn't after fame, cash, booze or women. He's lost on the ground, so those are just sedatives to make him forget he's there. All he cares about is taming the wild country of the sky, and the addiction to the thrill of his adventurous work takes its toll on his humanity. He knows what's coming to him. He doesn't care. He needs to be up there. To hell with whatever happens on the ground, because he only lives - and only dies - when he's flying.

  Jim will only ever change - and therefore avoid his fate - if he can find peace with living. And that is…