Parachute Jumper (1933) User Reviews (29)

There's not that much parachute jumping...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 15 November 2015]

... but there is just about every precode device under the sun included. Bill Keller (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) and Toodles Cooper (Frank McHugh) are Marine pilots in Nicaragua, and when they are finished with one particular mission get drunk, go AWOL, and soon thereafter their term of service ends. It's not explained how they managed the assumed honorable discharges, but then I don't know what the U.S. was doing in Nicaragua in 1933 either. They then answer an ad for pilots in the paper, only to find that the company has gone bust. They can't find jobs of any type anywhere. They do have a roof over their head for now, but sitting on a park bench they meet Alabama (Bette Davis) a homeless and hungry out of work stenographer. Bill asks Alabama to share their quarters with them, strictly on the up and up. She can tidy up the place in return for a place to stay.

Here is where one of the big myths of this film come in. I've heard and even read people say that Alabama and Bill are sleeping in the same bed, with his feet where her head is and vice versa. Not even in the precode era could they get away with that. It is Toodles and Bill who are sleeping in that position in the same bed. Alabama is on the couch.

In their quest for survival Bill does do one stunt wing-walking parachute jump, lands on the train tracks and almost gets hit by a train. The trio also encounter a gun moll (Claire Dodd) who passes herself off as Park Avenue high society with a taste for good looking chauffeurs (Bill) and in a case of unfortunate timing, the jealous gangster behind the moll. He catches his girl and Bill in an embrace. Instead of killing him, which the gangster intended to do, he winds up hiring Bill as a bodyguard and to do some rum running across the Canadian border.

The film is basically about how the little people survived the Depression with a bunch of gangsters and thrills thrown in for good measure. Don't really look for a big dose of Bette Davis in this one, this is mainly Fairbanks' film.

When first hired by the gangster, Bill is asked if he is afraid of the law. Bill replies "The law we all laugh at?". Bill, like many hungry people laugh at the law that does not protect them from starving in the 30's, and he doesn't mind running liquor or using a gun to protect the gangster, but he differentiates between that and narcotics (he thought it was liquor he was running) and setting up people to be shot down execution style with it being made to look like self defense. In other words, Bill finds that the law is one thing, but his own conscience is quite another.

When the gangster decides to set Bill up to take a fall for his syndicate, will Bill find a way out? If so how? Watch and find out.

Nothing really special happens in this film, it is just more fun unique entertainment Depression era style in a way that only Warner Brothers managed to be able to do it. It also showcased three people whose circumstances Depression audiences could relate to, if not their rather thrilling adventures. The idea is that Alabama, Bill, and Toodles may be down, but they are not out.

No, it wasn't PSYCHO which featured the first toilet flush - it was this.

[1930s_Time_Machine · 5/10 · 21 July 2023]

Hardly a classic but great fun - infectious fun. Doug Fairbanks and Frank McHugh seem to enjoy themselves so much, you can't help but smile along with them. From reading this picture's scenario, you'd never guess but it's a lovely upbeat picture essentially just about a couple of guys making the best out of life despite of The Depression. These two aren't going to let anything as trivial as mass unemployment and poverty get them down!

Can I be a bit more specific than describing it just as 'fun' - what type of film is this? Other than saying a romance - action adventure - gangster - aviation - comedy - social drama - love triangle and anything else you can think of..... the easiest description is a '1930s Warner Brothers picture.' Although they seem to be making the script up as they go along, it's actually well written, witty and quite cohesive inasmuch that whatever story it feels like being at the time, it's always about the unflappable optimism of these two likeable guys.

This cinematic equivalent of 'a greatest hits compilation album' is both completely forgettable yet also instantly familiar. It's like meeting an old friend, having a great time with them but not actually being too sure who it actually is.

Man of All Trades

[movingpicturegal · 5/10 · 22 May 2006]

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.

Fast and Fun Pre-Code with a Middle Finger

[Michael_Elliott · 15 December 2013]

Parachute Jumper (1933)

*** (out of 4)

Fun pre-code from Vitaphone about pilot/friends Bill (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) and Toodles (Frank McHugh) who finds work hard to come by once they're back in the real world. They take in a woman (Bette Davis) also in a bad situation but all three eventually find work for a businessman who just happens to be bringing illegal alcohol into the States via planes. PARACHUTE JUMPER is everything you'd want from a "B" movie of this era. It features some laughs, some romance and some great action scenes. It contains a wonderful cast. It also has some amazing stunt work that can only be found in films of this era. Best of all are some pre-code moments including the highlight of the film when McHugh is trying to hitchhike by the guy doesn't stop so McHugh just stands there giving him the middle finger!!! This is certainly a film that classic movie fans are going to love for all of these reasons. It runs a very fast-paced 71-minutes and there's really no downtime to be found because everything is just happening so fast. Fairbanks, Jr. and McHugh are both in fine form delivering the type of performances that you'd expect. Davis also gets to play a sweet Southern lady but also brings out some fire at times. The supporting players include a nice, sexy role for Claire Dodd and Leo Carrillo plays the gangster. Some of the best moments happen early on during some very dangerous stunt work where a man has to climb on the wing of one plane and then walk onto the wings of another. Even today these scenes make you hold your breathe. PARACHUTE JUMPER has pretty much been forgotten over the years but fans of the "Golden Age" pre-code should enjoy it.

An interesting pre-Code curio

[gbill-74877 · 6/10 · 16 June 2023]

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.

Flying in the depression

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 1 May 2019]

Love Bette Davis, and 'Parachute Jumper' is another film where she was my main reason for seeing it in the first place with no prior knowledge of it before. My recommended for you section and wanting to see all of her films and performances (up to this point had seen most but not all) are to thank for that. Liked the idea of the story and was interested too in seeing how Davis and the always watchable Douglas Fairbanks Jr would fare working together.

They fare very well together indeed, and 'Parachute Jumper' is a very enjoyable and well done film. It's an early Davis film and role and although she did go on to better things this is a long way from being a waste of her massive amount of talent. Fairbanks is similarly well served, if not at his best. 'Parachute Jumper' may have been made quickly and not on the highest of budgets, but manages to have more enjoyment and entertainment value than some expensively made productions, old and now.

Sure 'Parachute Jumper' is not perfect. The story can be messy at times and tries to do too much, shifting uneasily between them quickly which gave a jumpy feel.

Wouldn't have said no to Davis having more to do. Occasionally the camera lacks finesse but that is more forgivable.

However, 'Parachute Jumper' really doesn't look too bad for a quickie, some have looked much worse. Some nice shots here that clearly had a ball capturing the stunts and airwork. No wonder as the stunts and airwork are never less than astounding and the best of them jaw dropping. Alfred Green does a very nice job directing, keeping things moving and allowing the cast to have fun, which they do.

'Parachute Jumper's' script is one of its major assets, its sparkling wit is just infectious and some of it is surprisingly daring, being made before the code was enforced (likewise with censorship), meaning more flexibility and risks. The film moves at a fast clip, and well as the great chemistry of the cast it's its boldly honest look at the Depression, no sugar-coating here, and the pre-code material. Fairbanks and Davis are immensely charming and look as if they were having fun, Davis also is at her most adorable. Fairbanks and an amusing Frank McHugh work well too.

All in all, very enjoyable. 7/10

depression film

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 15 August 2013]

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Frank McHugh, and Bette Davis star in "Parachute Jumper," a 1933 film.

Fairbanks and McHugh are two ex-Marines who can't find work. It's the Depression, after all. Fairbanks meets a blond named Alabama (Davis) who is way down on her luck, and, after they share lunch, she agrees to move in with Fairbanks and McHugh on a platonic basis.

Fairbanks first works as a parachute jumper, then a chauffeur for a randy woman who likes her chauffeurs buff; through her, he meets a smuggler (Duncan Reynaldo) and winds up transporting illegal goods.

Okay movie, enlivened by the three leads. It's fun to see Bette Davis so young, as a petite and pretty ingénue. Warners would wonder what to do with her for a few more years.

keeping it moving

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 19 April 2023]

Marine pilots Bill Keller (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) and Toodles Cooper (Frank McHugh) are shot down by bandits over Nicaragua. A desperate search party is launched, but they find the two pilots partying at a bar. After departing the military, their private flying jobs fall through. To save money, they share an apartment with fellow unemployed Patricia 'Alabama' Brent (Bette Davis). Bill performs a parachute stunt and gets hired by a rich couple as their driver. Later, he becomes a bodyguard to bootlegger Kurt Weber and starts flying with Toodles to smuggle booze from Canada.

The first act goes by so fast. It has too much plot when it should really concentrate on Bill and Alabama. They need a better meet-cute. The movie needs to build the characters rather than pile on the plot points. They don't use Bette Davis enough although she probably wasn't The Bette Davis back then. The movie just keeps going and the plot never stops. It's also good to see some of these big names. As for the flying sequences, I don't like the filming of the cockpits. It looks weak and the action is not compelling.

every minute entertaining

[ecaulfield · 9/10 · 20 May 2001]

Parachute Jumper is a prime example of the energetic, quick-witted fare Warner Brothers was known for in the early 30's. This film showcases all three players: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., a blonde, southern-accented Bette Davis, and Frank McHugh, but it really spotlights Fairbanks's suave and humorous side. Struggling through the depression in New York City is softened by the three characters' warm and jovial relationship with each other. They handle almost any situation with their one-liners and loyalty. Plenty of double entendres are targeted at love and authority. Fairbanks, Jr. especially handles his role with breezy panache. He deserved more material like this. I'll be watching this lighthearted film with intelligent dialogue and human characters again.

Pre-code Depression Story touches on desperate victims.

[st-shot · 6/10 · 1 January 2014]

Army flyboys Bill Keller (Doug Fairbanks Jr.) and Toodles Cooper (Frank McHugh) ditch their plane in Central America and party until they are rescued and drummed out of the service. Keller meets "Alabama" ( Bette Davis ) a girl in similar straits in the park and she agrees to move in with them. Keller finds work as a chauffeur but quits for a bigger payday as a mobster flunkie. Domestic problems ensue however when the now romantically linked Alabama goes to work for his gangster boss.

As much a comedy as melodrama this poverty row quickie doesn't shy away from the desperate times they live in as it follows three out of work victims of the depression into harms way. Keller is objectified and dehumanized by a well heeled society dame while Alabama is not averse to emphasizing her charm to get work. The boys are soon flying again but this time moving liquor, drugs and shooting down revenue agent's planes.

With the liberties offered by pre-code standards, underrated director Al Green as he does so well in Baby Face and Side Streets provides some provocative compositions not only to spice up Jumper but also to define character and times. Not as controversial or as well structured as either of the above mentioned but a nifty enough curiosity piece of the times.

Doug Jr. Runs Drugs

[Bucs1960 · 4/10 · 19 May 2006]

Well, here is another of those quickies that the studio forced upon Bette Davis although this one is not quite as bad as some of her other efforts during this time (Fog Over Frisco, The Big Shakedown).

This time she is paired with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and they are a rather attractive couple.....but as usual Bette does not have much to do here except use a phony Southern accent and sport that platinum hair. The story concerns two flyers (Doug Jr. and Frank McHugh) who go to work for gangster Leo Carillo (before his days as Pancho, sidekick to the Cisco Kid) and get involved with running drugs. The story and dialogue are surprisingly modern as are the living arrangement of the three main characters. But the film still comes across as one of those throw-aways that were on the lower half of the double bill at the local Bijou. Bette deserved better than this. It's worth watching just for the ambiance of the early '30s and the rather honest appraisal of the Depression and its effects.

Depression Makes Gangsters

[Maleejandra · 8/10 · 20 August 2006]

This pre-code movie stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Bette Davis as two victims of the Depression. It starts out with Bill (Fairbanks) and Toodles (Frank McHugh) being thrown out of the military for gallivanting with women when they should have been reporting back to a base. It is the wrong time to be discharged though; it is very hard to find work even as ex-pilots. Bill meets up with a beautiful stenographer named Patricia (Bette Davis) and the group teams up to find work and take care of each other. Slowly, they get involved in seedier and seedier jobs as their stomachs rumble and find themselves entangled in a dope ring.

A clip from this film was used in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? to show off "Jane's" bad acting, but Davis does well in this movie. She's great at delivering snappy lines and proving that you don't have to be dumb to be beautiful. Fairbanks is the same way, nice to look at but good to listen to as well. McHugh adds flair to the film with his distinct personality which makes him perfect for the best friend part.

This film is fast paced and enjoyable, perfect for a slow day.

The Flying Marines

[lugonian · 7/10 · 20 December 2020]

PARACHUTE JUMPER (Warner Brothers, 1933) directed by Alfred E. Green, based on a original story by Rian James, stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr. In one of his final films for the studio under his original contract. Basically a Fairbanks programmer, this production is better known more as an early movie featuring future film star, Bette Davis. For their only collaboration together, Fairbanks and another contract player, Frank McHugh, play a couple of Marine flyers who become victims of unemployment, seeking ew jobs during those hard times during the Great Depression.

Following the opening credits to the underscoring Marine theme of "To the Shores of Tripoli," the story begins with newspaper clippings regarding Bandits Shooting Down U. S. Marine Plane in Nicaragua. Next scene introduces Marine flyers of Bill Keller (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) and his pal, Tootles Cooper (Frank McHugh), having a grand time at a bar with several women. Moments later they are found and arrested by the air patrol, shortly dismissed from duty. Coming to New York City, Bill and Tootles answer an ad to work for the Universal Air Transport Company, only to find it an empty office currently out of business. Living in an apartment where Bill and Tootles are behind on their rent, and two months and having no job prospects, Bill, with only a fifty cent piece to his name, sitting on a park bench in Central Park, is approached by Patricia Brent, better known as Alabama (Bette Davis), an unemployed stenographer from the South. He soon treats her top breakfast and invites her to room with him and Tootles in their apartment. During the course of the story, Bill acquires a job as a parachute jumper, chauffer for Mrs. Newberry (Claire Dodd), a mistress to gangster, Kurt Weber (Leo Carrillo). After Weber finds Bill alone with Mrs. Newberry, rather than dealing with him, Bill is hired as Weber's bodyguard as well as becoming pilot, along with Toodles, to, unknowingly, fly narcotics to and from Canada. Weber also hires Alabama as his personal stenographer. It would be a matter of time before they realize Weber's profession, with difficulty breaking away from his crooked activities. Others in the cast include: Harold Huber (Steve Donovan); Sheila Terry (The Secretary); Thomas E. Jackson (Lieutenant Coffey); and George Pat Collins (Tom Crawley). Look quickly for familiar faces in uncredited roles as Walter Brennan (The Counter Man); Nat Pendleton (The Traffic Cop); Dewey Robinson and George Chandler in smaller roles.

Regardless of its title, there is very little parachute jumping for this production. At 72 minutes, it's acceptable viewing mainly due to its well-pacing, fine performances and some pre-code situations, namely Frank McHugh using his middle finger on a passing driver refusing to give him a ride. Scenes for PARACHUTE JUMPER involving Davis and Carrillo were later clipped into another Bette Davis classic, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (Warner Brothers, 1962). Not as memorable as some other Warner Brothers programmers of the 1930s, PARACHUTE JUMPER is of main interest to film scholars watching both Fairbanks prior to his adventure movies and Davis shortly before her two time Academy Award best actress wins by the end of the decade.

Never distributed on video cassette, PARACHUTE JUMPER is often broadcast on Turner Classic Movies cable channel and available on the DVD format from the Warner Brothers archive collection. (**)

Doug Hits The Silk

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 3 July 2007]

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Frank McHugh are a pair of newly discharged Marine fliers who can't find work in Depression era New York. Fairbanks meets similarly situated Bette Davis and the three of them move in together for economy sake only.

In the meantime Doug gets a job as a chauffeur to Claire Dodd, moll to gangster Leo Carrillo. Carrillo takes a liking to Doug when he catches him with Dodd and Fairbanks shows some coolness under fire. He starts Doug working for him now in his business.

This looks like a film again meant for James Cagney with possibly Edward G. Robinson as the gangster. Still Fairbanks does carry off the part.

Bette Davis hated this film with good reason. She's in a part that either Glenda Farrell or Joan Blondell would normally be doing. She affects a nice southern drawl as befits her character of Alabama. I guess it was a learning experience because she put away the drawl and brought it out again for greater effectiveness in Jezebel.

Even with such good players, the film is definitely one of Warner Brothers B products and does kind of fray around the edges.

great script and an astounding stunt; B-movie gem

[Sleepy-17 · 15 May 2003]

I agree with the other reviewer, but there's more to this movie than Doug Fairbanks. John Francis Larkin's script shines with realistic characters and great one-liners. When Fairbanks approaches the destitute, sleeping Bette Davis on the couch in his flat in the middle of the night for sex, she wakes and screams angrily "I might have known this would happen" in defense of her chastity.

For an inexpensive movie, the stunts are great: the airwork is astounding, even though there's a cheating cut-away to work around the sheer impossibility of jumping between two extremely unstable biplanes. Then later there's an amazing shot of a parachuter on the train tracks that's a real stunner.

Sure the story's routine, but Frank McHugh's voice when he sings an old Irish ballad is authentic and comely. Leo Carillo (Hey Pancho! Hey Cisco!) plays the head gangster with style, and Davis is wonderful as always. This is definitely one of director Alfred Green's best efforts and well worth your time.

Loved it

[ringthing · 7/10 · 30 December 2020]

Nothing new to add except that I love this movie for its realistic view of the Depression. It's like a time capsule albeit filled with capers of a more serious nature. Fairbanks is breezy and gorgeous to look at as is Bette Davis although her southern accent is a bit of a head scratcher and McHugh is great as always.

Not Much Parachute Jumping In This Movie....

[journeygal · 6/10 · 10 November 2019]

Three people down on their luck help each other out during the throes of the Depression. Bill Keller and Toodles Cooper are in the Army, stationed in Nicaragua. Their plane is shot own and they are presumed dead... then they are found very much alive and drunk in a cantina. This gets them kicked out of the military and back on the mean streets of New York. Bill meets pretty Patricia "Alabama" Brent. Bette's fake accent wavers in and out through the entire movie, which is annoying. Bill invites her to stay on the sofa in the little flat he and Toodles have rented. He takes a few various jobs here an there--including one parachute jump, which is how the movie got its name, I suppose.... Bill is anxious to take a job, any job to keep a roof over their heads, so he hires on as a bodyguard to gangster Leo Carillo. Toodles unknowingly flies drug runs to and from Canada for Carillo and Alabama is hired on as the thug's secretary. None of them are quite aware of how far reaching their boss's criminal activities are, until it is almost too late.

Wild Boys Of The Air

[boblipton · 7/10 · 14 April 2023]

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. And Frank McHugh muster out of the Marines flying corps, hook up with Bette Davis, and starve. A series of events lead them to work for bootlegger Leo Carrillo.

There are movies that you don't enjoy as much as their excellence would call for. There are some tossed off and are an awful lot of fun. Miss Davis thought director Alfred Green's sense of humor was "infantile" and this was her worst movie; Fairbanks thought Miss Davis had no sense of humor (an assessment I agree with when it comes to performances). One big issue with this movie is the lack of a clear plotline, as the three bounce hither and yon, seemingly at random. That, however, seems right for me in the depths of the Depression. People were scrambling, grabbing at whatever came along, and at Warner Brothers, anyway, some movies reflected that. Wellman's WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD was a tragic version. This is a lighter one. With Claire Dodd, Harold Huber, Thomas Jackson, Leon Ames, and Walter Brennan.

SEX! DOPE SMUGGLING!! NICARUAGA!!!

[jbacks3-1 · 8/10 · 6 April 2004]

This little pre-code gem packs a ton of elements (part Hell's Angels, part Public Enemy) into one nifty little movie. Bette Davis (who no one can disagree with, aged badly after she hit 30) looks absolutely hot here in her platinum blonde days. Doug Jr. plays an adequate lead, although his shoes could've been filled by almost anyone (Chester Morris or Dick Powell leaps to mind). What I liked most was Warner's being unafraid to make the Depression itself a co-star (unlike other studios like RKO and Paramount that glossed over the effects of current events). Practically all the fun here would be killed off by the Production Code within 18 minths... lots of sexual references, Doug has some very non-PC cracks (one to a homosexual male secretary in the closing moments) along with the dope smuggling angle. Look for Walter (I was born looking like I was 70) Brennan gumming his way through an uncredited part as a greasy spoon cook. If you're looking for a crackerjack example of a pre-code programmer, look no further than PARACHUTE JUMPER.

Routine.

[nycritic · 5/10 · 18 May 2006]

There's not much to say about this little known movie except what's been said before: Bette Davis, when not treated like one of the guys, was given the ingenue roles she came to detest with a passion because they gave her little to do but look pretty, enunciate her lines, and do no more. As "Alabama", there is nothing she can do here but play second fiddle to Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. as he soars into the skies and smuggles drugs. Of their acquaintance, Fairbanks is reported to have tweaked Davis in a private area -- her chest -- and told her to ice them so they could be erect as his (then) wife Joan Crawford. Whether this happened before or during the filming of this movie I can't say, but it had to have sparked some dissatisfaction within the insecure Davis who already envied the glamour within Crawford, and it's a double irony that in later years this would be one of the clips used to describe just how bad Davis character Baby Jane had been when out-growing her cnild-star status. In any case, PARACHUTE JUMPER is just another bad Warner Bros. movie, short, to the point, with by-the-number performances and a vague HELLS ANGELS' feel.

Thrilling, extremely fast-paced drama!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 22 April 2018]

Associate producer: Raymond Griffith. Executive producer: Daryl F. Zanuck.

Copyright 14 January 1933 by Warner Bros Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Strand: 25 January 1933. U.S. release: 27 January 1933. Australian release: June 1933. 8 reels. 73 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: Two unemployed pilots, Bill Kellett and Toodles (Fairbanks and McHugh), are looking for work. Bill lands a job as chauffeur for a racketeer's moll (Claire Dodd), who makes up to him. The mobster (Leo Carillo) catches them in an embrace but, impressed by Bill's coolness under fire, hires him as a bodyguard.

COMMENT: Bette Davis absolutely loathed this movie. That fact alone should be enough to recommend it to connoisseurs. Those of us who know Bette are well aware that the films she hates are confined to those in which she thinks her part was not big enough or important enough. That's certainly true enough in this case. Although billed third, after the junior Fairbanks and camera-hogging comic, Frank McHugh, Miss Davis actually comes in at number five so far as the plot is concerned.

But never mind Bette. Parachute Jumper more than fills the entertainment bill as a thrilling, extremely fast-paced drama with excellent stunt-work.

Leo Carillo gives one of his finest performances as a double-crossing racketeer, whilst Claire Dodd provides an equally superb study of her rich nymphomaniac. Frank McHugh has most of the witty dialogue and makes the best of it.

Breezily directed by Alfred E. Green, also at his best.

Nothing great but not bad

[preppy-3 · 5/10 · 12 April 2023]

Bill (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) and Toodles (Frank McHugh) have trouble finding work during the Great Depression. They hook up with 'Alabama' (Bette Davis) and get involved with gangsters and drugs.

Bette said this was her worst movie but honestly it's not that bad. Fairbanks is charming, McHugh is amusing and Bette is as good as she could be. It's not a great movie at all but it's a fun pre-Code film. Also there are some amazing aerial stunts and (for a B movie) impressive special effects. Also I was surprised to see McHugh give the finger to a motorist who drives by him when he needs a lift! So it's worth watching at least once. For the record Fairbanks hated it too.

Lightweight Pre-Code Fun

[jimjo1216 · 28 August 2013]

PARACHUTE JUMPER (1933), famously singled out by Bette Davis as one of the awful films she was required to make in the early years of her Warner Bros. contract, certainly isn't anything substantial. But it's a surprisingly fun Pre-Code flick.

The movie is carried by its three stars: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Bette Davis, and Frank McHugh. Fairbanks in particular gives a winning, charismatic performance. Fairbanks and McHugh play a couple of ex-airmen who are desperate for work during the Great Depression. They're so broke that they take turns wearing one suit of clothes.

Fairbanks hops around from job to job, from aerial stuntman one day to chauffeur the next, ultimately getting mixed up with rum-running gangsters. (This is a Warner Bros. film, after all.) McHugh has less luck finding employment. Davis, playing an out-of-work stenographer called "Alabama", uses a Southern accent throughout. (Why not?) Fairbanks invites Davis to share the apartment he's got with McHugh, and the three become one little happy family, cheering each other on and scraping around to put food in their stomachs.

Fairbanks and McHugh play off each other well as the two buddies. Miss Davis is young and blonde and sweet and pretty, and fits in nicely with the boys. Her great acting triumphs were still to come, but she's always a pleasure to watch (even in films she despised).

There are a few Pre-Code touches that stand out to the trained observer. Firstly, the sound of a toilet flushing (before Hollywood was forced to ignore the very existence of toilets). There are also a couple of rather amusing (if homophobic) scenes where Fairbanks and McHugh joke around in "sissy" voices. And when a car passes by when Frank McHugh is thumbing for a ride, he gives the driver an entirely different hand gesture.

As far as 70-minute Pre-Code films go, PARACHUTE JUMPER is rather enjoyable. The story isn't very deep, but it's not exactly something you've seen before. Fairbanks, McHugh, and Davis seem to have a good time. There's biplanes and booze, gangsters and guns, good girls and shady dames, romance and wisecracks, and even some parachute jumping. The movie's got just about everything, and it's all rather fast-paced and light-hearted. A good time.

DEPRESSION ERA PALS TO THE END

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 26 September 2021]

A young and blonde(!) Bette Davis, dapper Douglas Fairbanks and wise-cracking Frank McHugh pal up and battle the Depression together, and it's one bumpy ride. The stars make the most of their roles together and you can tell they are having fun, which is the pre-requisite for a successful film. Years later, Davis poked fun at PARACHUTE JUMPER, if not for the curious title, but truth is that it's a very well mounted drama, peppered with some snappy dialogue and one liners that only the resourceful writers in the back room at Warner Brothers could cook up! And they did. An interesting footnote is that director Robert Aldrich used a clip from this film in WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE to showcase Davis' Jane character and her "bad acting". Davis may have had something to do with this as a way to get back at the studio for having her make the film in the first place, or the second place!! And be sure to play spot the familiar face in this one, and there are many fine actors present, including Walter Brennan in a bit part. Still a good companion for a lazy, hazy afternoon.... zzzzz.

Watch Frank McHugh give someone the finger!

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 25 May 2006]

I thought the above statement would get your attention! This is one of the most obviously pre-Code films made, as the characters in the movie are at times pretty amoral and Frank McHugh actually gives a guy the middle finger when the guy refuses to stop and give him a lift--the thumb becomes a middle finger and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw it! This is a pretty entertaining but extremely forgettable film (aside from the single-digit salute). It involves poor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Frank McHugh and Bette Davis all looking for work and eventually having to work for evil mobster Carillo because they are so desperate. The plot is very silly at times and full of action and violence--entertaining but not especially cerebral. The drug smuggling, violent murders, anti-homosexual remarks and all the other non-Hays Code material will keep your interest.

Once again, Bette Davis' role is awfully insignificant--and it was thanks to forgettable roles like this that Davis, unsuccessfully, tried to eventually break her contract with Warner Brothers.

Decent and only worth seeing for the earliest middle finger salute I've ever seen on film. Also, despite the title, there's very few scenes that are related to parachuting.