Sky Bandits (1940)

Director:

Ralph Staub

Writers:

Edward Halperin (screenplay) and
Laurie York Erskine (novel)

Release Date:

7 July 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Renfrew Of The Royal Mounted Hunts The Mad Inventor Of A Mystery-Murder Machine!

Plot:

Sgt. Renfrew and Constable Kelly go aloft to search for a plane missing with a shipment of gold from the Yukon Mine Company...

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Remake | Renfrew Of The Mounties | Based On Novel

Cast

James Newill	...	Sergeant Renfrew
Louise Stanley	...	Madeleine Lewis
Dewey Robinson	...	Dinwiddie
William Pawley	...	Morgan (as Bill Pawley)
Joe De Stefani	...	Prof. Burton Lewis (as Joseph Stefani)
Jim Farley	...	Inspector Warner, RCMP
Dave O'Brien	...	Constable Kelly
Karl Hackett	...	Henchman Hawthorne
Ted Adams	...	Henchman Gary
Dwight Frye	...	Speavy
Jack Clifford	...	Whispering Smith
Bob Terry	...	Henchman Hutchins
Kenne Duncan	...	Henchman Brownie (as Ken Duncan)
Eddie Fetherston	...	Buzz Murphy (as Eddie Featherston)

Runtime:

62 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Criterion Pictures Corp.

Movie Connections:

Follows Fighting Mad (1939)

Soundtrack:

Mounted Men

Well used plot is given new life and plenty of laughs as the Mounties battle gold hijackers

One of the last Renfrew of the Mounties films starring James Newill is a fun Mounties meet sci-fi mix.

The plot concerns a gang of hijackers shooting down gold planes in the great wilds of Canada. Renfrew and his buddy Constable Kelly have been assigned to try and find out what is happening to the planes which are disappearing with no trace. Renfrew's boss suspects that the pilots are stealing the shipments and flying them over the border. Renfrew thinks that something more sinister is transpiring. Renfrew is of course right and soon he has locked horns with the gang of bad guys who have moved from using bullets to bring the planes down, to using a ray that burns out the plane's engine.

This is grand Saturday afternoon style adventure. Nominally a western without the cowboys this film is an action packed romp from start to finish as horses are often used to get from place to place. Actually the western connection is even closer with this being the second remake of Tim McCoys Ghost Patrol (Its also far superior to that earlier film).

This is a great movie with many things going for it.I like that everyone in this film is a character of some sort and manages to make an impression on you as being an individual at some point in the film. The wise cracks are funny. The action is well done. Its also great to see Dwight Frye playing the extremely tightly wound inventor of the engine stopping ray.

If the film has any real flaw is that Renfrew bursts into song about three times too often. The songs actually aren't bad, they are good in a corny sort of way, they just stop the action from moving for the two or three minutes that they are sung. Keep the remote handy and you'll be okay.

Definitely worth a bag of popcorn and an hour of your time.