Parachute Jumper

1933

Action / Crime / Drama

6
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 17%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 17%
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 1396 1.4K

friendship chauffeur smuggling (contraband) gangster bodyguard great depression

Plot summary

An Air Force washout and his buddy room with a pretty young lady. Desperate for jobs during the Depression, they finally land employment with the mob.

Director

Alfred E. Green Photo
Alfred E. Green

Top cast

George Chandler Photo
George Chandler as Chauffeur
Frank Hagney Photo
Frank Hagney as Marine
Bette Davis Photo
Bette Davis as Patricia 'Alabama' Brent
Thomas E. Jackson Photo
Thomas E. Jackson as Detective Lt. Coffey
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
667.95 MB
1280*934
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
59.94 fps
1 hr 12 min
Seeds ...
1.21 GB
1480*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
59.94 fps
1 hr 12 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by gbill-74877 6 / 10

An interesting pre-Code curio

This pre-Code film is as all over the map as Bette Davis's awful attempt at a southern accent. It has elements of comedy, romance, aerial stunt work, and the cynical disillusionment that sprung from the Depression. While far from perfect in any of those areas, there's a certain appeal to the grab bag Alfred E. Green packed in to 72 minutes, and I have to say, it never got boring.If you hadn't seen the release date and were wondering if the film was pre-Code or not, that's put to rest in the very first shot, an extended close-up of a "Nicaraguan" woman's butt swinging back and forth to tropical music. Despite Davis's character remaining "respectable" after she begins living with her male friends (Douglas Fairbanks Jr. And Frank McHugh), there are some other fun little pre-Code bits sprinkled in, including some random things like a toilet flush and a middle finger being extended. My favorite was a rich lady (Claire Dodd) having her new chauffeur (Fairbanks) turn around once more so that she can unabashedly ogle him up and down.The other high point for me was the way disillusionment over the time period crept in to the script, but never kept the film from playing as light entertainment. The young couple steal a wrapped-up fish from an alley cat, and condiments from a diner. She resorts to flirting to get a job, likening what she said as no more meaningful than promises politicians make. Behind the closed door of the office of the Society for Enforcement of Prohibition, we find a guy drinking. Lastly, we get this exchange between Fairbanks and a prospective employer, morals going out the window out of necessity:"Do you care what you do?" "If I get paid, I work." "Do you object to cracking, or I should say, denting the law a little here and there?" "What law?" "The one we all laugh at."Unfortunately, for all of these little bits and some interesting biplane stunts, the film as a whole doesn't come together. Perhaps the biggest issue was that Davis's character wasn't given a lot of sizzle to her personality, and the romance with Fairbanks felt a little tacked on. It's also one of the worst performances I think I've seen from her, and I love her older films, like Three on a Match (1932) and Ex-Lady (1933). Aside from the accent, she seems unsteady, and at one point even flubs a line, saying "typewriter massages" instead of "typewriter messages." Meanwhile, the plot meanders randomly, and not enough is made out of the entanglement with organized crime to be completely satisfying. An interesting curio though.
Reviewed by movingpicturegal 5 / 10

Man of All Trades

About two ex-Marine pilots, Bill and Toodles (Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Frank McHugh), who move into a small apartment together in New York City but can't seem to find work. Bill soon meets up with a blonde in the park by the name of "Alabama" (Bette Davis), and, believe it or not, she agrees to move in with him after one lunch out together where they bond as they steal a bottle of ketchup and sundries from the café, and then steal a fish from a cat. Bill and Toodles end up sleeping head to foot in the same bed, while Alabama settles in on the couch. Bill soon starts earning dough for the trio, first by making a $75 parachute jump (right above the railroad tracks!), then becoming chauffeur for a wealthy blonde who picks her chauffeur by his physique rather than driving ability, and then he ends up as bodyguard/lackey for a mobster who "imports" booze and dope from Canada.This film is pretty so-so, it sorts of switches gear from one thing to the next and just doesn't really seem to know what direction it wants to go in - just when you think the story is going one way, that ends, and on to something else. Even the title "Parachute Jumper" seems a bit odd, considering the parachute jumping is not the main focus of this film. Bette Davis is very cute in this, with platinum blonde hair and sassy Southern accent, she's very fun to watch and saves the film from being a complete bomb. Doug Fairbanks Jr. is just sort of bland throughout.
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