The morning after watching this, my wife and I sat at the kitchen table discussing it, and found we had nothing to talk about but Mantan Moreland. The plot is pretty much a series of contrivances to hang situations on, and the inevitable solution of the "who killed..." mystery doesn't seem to be the driving force. It's all about Mantan. I have seen him as comedy relief in a dozen movies, and he always steals every scene he is in, but I have never seen him dominate like this. He makes everyone else into his straight man, and constantly subverts and deflates authority figures. Every time someone says "I've got an idea," or "I've been thinking," he's on the spot with his "UH-OH!" There is nothing cowardly (as it often appears in his Charlie Chan roles) about his fierce common- sense determination to move away from trouble, not toward it. He sometimes seems like the only one who is not dangerously foolish. Mantan and Frankie Darro work together really well here and, though modern sensibilities may be jarred by Darro donning blackface to try to get them a radio job as a comedy duo, they come across as peers and friends, not boss and lackey as so often occurs in films of this era. The highest point is Mantan's dance scene - inserted into the story for no reason but its sheer entertainment value - in which he is so suave, smooth, cool, cute, and downright huggable it's difficult not to exclaim in delight. The movie plugs along gamely in the moments when Mantan is not on screen, and provides some pretty fair musical numbers, but he is the real shining light in this production.
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ONenslo23 September 2005
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Terrell-429 January 2008Up in the Air, a quickie 1940 B movie cranked out on a tight budget and on an even tighter shooting schedule, is worth viewing at least once. It's representative of all those cheap bread-and-butter movies the studios churned out designed to fill the lower bill of America's movie houses. If you don't have some familiarity with these films you just won't understand what a lot of Hollywood was about before and, to a degree, right after WWII. For every Clark Gable, Rita Hayworth and John Ford, there were thousands of journeymen, men and women, directing, writing, acting in and making possible all these movies. The movie, only 61 minutes long, is a comedy murder mystery which was a popular staple back then. This time the formula also calls for songs. There are three original ones and, like the movie, they're not bad. It stars a long forgotten actor named Frankie Darrow, who was big stuff in the B movie business back in the mid-Thirties through the mid-Forties. Darrow was a small, lean guy who got his start as a child actor. His big years were spent playing jockeys and high school students. At 5' 3" and when tastes changed right after WWII, Darrow was quickly left behind after he returned from the Navy. By 1950, when he was 33, he was only getting bit parts. He and a partner finally bought a bar in Hollywood, a bad move. Darrow became a serious alcoholic, but at least a relatively good-natured one. Except for occasional movie and television bits, he was washed up. If you admire Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet, Darrow was one of two men hired to take turns being inside Robby to make him move. That's show biz, kids.
One other interesting thing to note. This is one of seven films Darrow made between 1939 and 1941 in which he always plays a young man named Frankie and always partners with a buddy named Jeff. The two invariably get mixed up in mystery, with Frankie determined to solve the crime and Jeff reluctantly backing him up. The interesting thing is that Jeff in these seven movies always is played by Mantan Moreland. Although Moreland does his trademark eye-popping, it's not as exaggerated as it usually was. There's almost none of the foot- shuffling and chitlin dialect that Hollywood made its black actors use. Except for one, thankfully brief (but funny) comedy routine Darrow and Moreland do as Rastus and Mose with Darrow in blackface (but which Moreland dominates), the Jeff character is, for Hollywood of the period, unusually color blind.
With Up in the Air, Darrow plays Frankie Ryan, an energetic and confident young man employed as a page at Amalgamated Broadcasting Company. His ambition is to snag a comedy spot on one of its radio shows. He meets Anne Mason (Marjorie Reynolds), newly hired as a lobby greeter who wants to be a singer. Wouldn't you know it, Rita Wilson, the snooty and well-known singer on one of Amalgamated's top shows, takes a bullet in the heart during a rehearsal. Frankie is determined to find the killer, promote Anne into the singing slot, and at least get a comedy try-out chance with Jeff in front of the producers. Frankie is the kind of inexhaustibly active fellow who always snaps his fingers when he gets an idea, then charges out of the room, or down the hall, or up the stairs, or through a doorway. Eventually, sometimes with the help of the police and sometimes not, Frankie, with Jeff close behind, makes the killer come forth. There are no great surprises. The acting is competent and the movie moves quickly through its 61 minutes. Up in the Air isn't a waste of time exactly, but it helps if you do a little reading about Darrow and Hollywood's B-movie factories.
About those three songs. Unlike the movie, they're worth experiencing more than once. "Doin' the Congo," written by Edward Kay, Lew Porter and Johnny Lange, is a very nice Latin rhythm number. "Somehow or Other" and "By the Looks of Things," written by Kay and Harry Tobias, are light swing numbers. "By the Looks of Things," especially, is a song that is much better than it needed to be. Marjorie Reynolds sings all three. -
B-movie star Frankie Darro and everyone's favorite bug-eyed comic relief Mantan Moreland made several murder mystery comedies together around 1940 (with some other more-or-less recurring cast members, including Tristram Coffin) for Monogram Pictures. In this one, the guys work at a radio station (Frankie as a bell-boy as usual) when they get mixed up in the murder of the station's popular, but problematic singing star, Rita Wilson (played by Lorna Gray) who is shot during a rehearsal. As usual, the police detective who handles the case is quite arrogant and incompetent, but he ends up working together quite fine with Frankie. And Mantan. Who, while doing his regular scared-of-everything act, is definitely much more than a mandatory comic relief here: he gets top billing, proves again that he is an excellent comedian and also takes part in the detective work quite effectively and in general, his role is more similar to what we usually see from Lou Abbott. So even the people who are extra-sensitive about the racial stereotypes of classic Hollywood are safe with this one. And talking about Abbott and Costello: they actually did their own version of the "murder mystery at the radio station" theme two years later in Who Done It? (1942), while Monogram remade the story in 1945 as There Goes Kelly.
Up In The Air has a little bit of everything: mystery, action, comedy, musical and the mixture works pretty well, but as the hour-long entry has several musical numbers, comedy acts and even a dance performance by Mantan, you can imagine how thin the plot is. But it is actually nothing more than a tool to keep the story going and to hold the movie together and at that, it does a pretty fine job and makes this a rather enjoyable little time-passer, complete with car chase, Frankie and Mantan's black face comedy act and a mysterious singing cowboy. -
earlytalkie27 November 2012Here is yet another example of the Monogram product. Frankie Darro, Mantan Moreland and Marjorie Reynolds are top-starred in this modest yet enjoyable programmer centered around the murder of an obnoxious radio singer. The songs are pleasant enough and the mystery diverting. Modern viewers may cringe at a routine which puts Darro in blackface opposite Moreland in a sketch Moreland performed with another actor in the past. It is funny though, and the whole production runs 61 minutes and passes the time pleasantly enough. This came on one of those Mill Creek compilation sets and the quality is pretty good for a public-domain picture.
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kidboots3 April 2009Frankie Darro did pretty well for a child actor. Starting off in the silents, he appeared in "The Public Enemy" (1931) and was the star of William Wellman's heart wrenching tale of the depression "The Wild Boys of the Road" (1933). By the mid 30s he had his own series at Conn Pictures Corp and by the late 30s he was teamed with Mantan Moreland for a Monogram series of comedy mysteries with plenty of music and up and coming female talent. He was once co-starred with Gale Storm in "Let's Go Collegiate" (1941) but usually it was with the very pretty Marjorie Reynolds.
Frankie (Frankie Darro) is a page at the local radio station. He has an eye for the ladies and he spies pretty receptionist Ann (Marjorie Reynolds) who yearns to be a singer. He "arranges" an audition and finds she really has a voice - she sings "By the Look of Things" and really swings it. By the song's end she realises that Frankie is not a big wig but a lowly page.
Meanwhile the station's top singer Rita (Lorna Grey) throws one tantrum too many and the station is on the look out for a new talent. Not before Rita begins a sultry rendition of "Doin' the Conga" - suddenly the lights go out, a shot rings out and when the lights go on - Rita is found dead!!!
Mantan Moreland is always great and here he is Jeff, Frankie's amiable sidekick. He does a soft shoe shuffle to "By the Look of Things" only to be told that it won't go down on radio!!!
The suspects mount - a suspicious cowboy, Tex (Gordon Jones), drops into the broadcast - Rita seems scared of him - he disappears in all the commotion. Frankie has overheard Farrell (Tristram Coffin) having words with Rita before the broadcast - he says he will help Ann with her career if Frankie doesn't mention the fight to the police. Frankie (in blackface) and Jeff audition for the comedy spot on the radio, when they decide to show Hastings (Dick Elliot) the manager, they find Tex Barton dead!!!
Ann gets another chance and really puts over "Somehow or Other" - "mmmm not bad" - a radio technician sums her up. Frankie thinks he has solved the mystery. He thinks Gladys Wharton, a girl that Tex was previously involved with, is really Ann, because he found Ann's picture in Tex's belongings. It is pretty plain that Rita is really Gladys. Rita and Tex had a singing act at a Cheyenne radio station but left due to a shooting scandal. Frankie finds this all out by sending a wire - he is just about to find out the executive's name in the scandal when the line goes dead.
Who did it???? I didn't guess and I thought it was one of Darro's and Moreland's better pairings - even though Frankie didn't do any stunts!!! Darro and Moreland had an easy rapport and a great friendship that really comes through the film. The film ends with Marjoie Reynolds singing "Doin' The Conga" and really giving it her all.
Recommended. -
A slick quickie vehicle for Frankie Darro (whose double act in blackface with Manton Moreland earned it a stern disclaimer on Talking Pictures this morning) as a bellboy and aspiring gag writer at a radio station where foxy diva Adrian Booth (in her days as singer Lorna Grey) gets almost casually bumped off, thus paving the way for a young Marjorie Reynolds to fill her shoes while a pair of gormless cops flounder hopelessly in their hapless attempts solve the case as the corpses pile up. No prizes for guessing who actually solves the case.
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wes-connors5 April 2011On location in Hollywood, "Amalgamated Broadcasting Company" (ABC Radio) page Frankie Darro (as Frankie Ryan) is attracted to the station's attractive new receptionist, aspiring songstress Marjorie Reynolds (as Anne Mason). Ms. Reynolds sings "By the Looks of Things" very sweetly. With help from cowardly janitor pal Mantan Moreland (as Jeff Jefferson), Mr. Darro decides to help Reynolds become a radio singing star. Then, the station's snotty songstress Lorna Gray (as Rita Wilson) is murdered...
First suspected is cowboy singer Gordon Jones (as Tex Barton), who was then notable as the star of "The Green Hornet" serial. Just when you think you've heard them all, "Tex" calls Mr. Moreland "banjo eyes" (an apt description). Also, watch for Darro to appear in "black-face" for a routine with Moreland (which must have looked swell on the radio). The bit is handled inoffensively, by the way. Howard Bretherton and the troupe manage the vehicle fairly, with Darro and Moreland contributing their usual.
**** Up in the Air (9/9/40) Howard Bretherton ~ Frankie Darro, Mantan Moreland, Marjorie Reynolds, Gordon Jones -
The diminutive Frankie Darro made eight films with Manlan Moreland--making their pairing one of the most unusual in screen history. Unfortunately, however, most of their films were pretty ordinary or sub-par B-movies with little to recommend them today. But, unlike the rest, this film is actually pretty enjoyable and holds up pretty well.
When I watched "Up in the Air", I felt I'd seen it before--and I had. This film was remade only five years later as "There Goes Kelly". In addition, variations on this plot were made by Abbott & Costello and others--including Claude Rains. So, for old movie buffs, it's likely that you'll have seen something like it as well.
The film begins like all Darro/Moreland films--Darro is a very eager and rather hyper young man who has dreams of being so much more. Although employed as a page at a radio network, he has dreams of being an executive or even a detective. So, when an obnoxious diva is killing there, Darro immediately springs into action to try to solve the crime. And, being a B-movie, he actually DOES! It's all enjoyable and works out well except for one problem. About midway through the film, Darro and Moreland recreate a skit made famous in vaudeville by Ben Carter and Moreland. And, since Carter and Moreland were black men, Darro dons black-face and does a routine that is highly reminiscent of Moran and Mack or the original Amos 'n Andy! Seeing this white guy in black makeup is just cringe-worthy and sad. -
Marjorie Reyolds has one pleasing song ("By The Look Of Things"), and Mantan Moreland has one delightful scene where he dances - surprisingly well! Other than that, "Up In The Air" comes straight off the mystery-comedy assembly line (the cut-rate production department). The lead, Frankie Darro, is a non-entity, and at the end the killer seems to be chosen at random (no clues are given to the viewer). ** out of 4.
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bkoganbing29 July 2014Frankie Darro as a studio page boy and Mantan Moreland as a janitor team up to solve a murder in Up In The Air. Singer Lorna Gray is shot to death during a rehearsal when the lights go out and a gun goes off. It's up to Frankie and Mantan to solve the crime especially since the cops are a pair of thickheaded detectives.
I have to say the film does have some funny moments. It also has some offensive ones. Both Darro and Moreland are aspiring radio artists and they've worked up a comedy sketch not unlike the act Moreland did in nightclubs with Ben Carter. But putting Darro in blackface was downright disrespectful. Later on in one of the Charlie Chan films Moreland does do that act with Carter and you should catch it if possible.
As it turns out Gray has quite a past and it's her past that's the key to solving her murder and that of Gordon Jones who wants to be a cowboy singer and get on the air.
For a Monogram Picture, not bad, but we sure didn't need the blackface. -
dbborroughs25 April 2004Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland made several movie together in the 1930's and 40's where they were pretty much on equal footing with each other despite everything that was going on around them. They were the stereotypical buddies of the buddy film. Normally that wouldn't mean much except that Darro was white and Moreland was black and in every other film of their time no one could be as they were unless they both were white.
Race has absolutely nothing to do with the plot of Up in the Air, which concerns a series of murders at a radio station. I mention the fact notion of race simply because the script for this movie was used two or three more times with out nary a change for white co-stars.
The fact that the script was re-used is also an very good indication that the film is a very good one. No its not flawless, there are little bumps here and there and a couple of jumps in logic, but as excuse for murder and silliness in the typical Hollywood style one need not look much farther than this film. -
rmax3048235 November 2014A short, comic murder mystery at a radio station, with a couple of songs thrown in, presented at a speed that can only be measured in Mach numbers.
It's strictly functional. At one point, Frankie Darro, the diminutive hero and page boy, blows a line but just corrects himself and dashes on. Two lady singers are featured, both looking pretty good.
The direction, like the acting, is effectively rudimentary. If five people are going to be in the scene, two of them arguing, the five actors are lined up next to one another like troops at attention. The jokes are applied with such blunt force they could be hammering nails.
But the movie does have Mantan Moreland at his glorious best. Oh, how un-politically correct it all seems now. Darro dresses up in black face and he and Moreland do an Amos and Andy number trying to get on a radio show. A singing cowboy calls him "Banjo Eyes." The police lieutenant calls every suspect by name except Moreland, who become "the porter there." Moreland, on the other hand, addresses everyone as "Mistuh Frankie" or whatever. Speaking of eyes, his seems to be on springs. They pop out just before he becomes frightened and flees the scene, which is about every other five minutes.
What a time of innocence. Except for Moreland, I can't think of many other reasons to bother watching what is a routine B movie about the solution of a murder. -
dougdoepke4 February 2020Plot- a radio singer is murdered amid a room full of radio executives. The investigating cops thrash around leaving the real insight to the studio page-boy and his jokester buddy.
Bouncy programmer from low-budget Monogram. Pairing live-wire Darro with sparky negro Moreland was a bold touch. Together they turn a ho-hum whodunit into a fast paced romp with snappy lines and easy-going humor. Moreland does his patented big-eyed shtick and racialized humor that may offend some modern audiences. Still, he's treated more as Darro's pal than as comic relief in a movie that's more like a buddy flick than a mystery. In fact, Moreland's got more of a featured role than his usual down-the-list supporting role. I wouldn't be surprised that Monogram had a more permanent pairing in mind here.
The rest of the cast goes through its paces in professional style, though director Bretherton adds neither atmosphere nor nuance, which may, nevertheless, have been intended to spotlight the two leads. At the same time, the winsome Reynolds captivates with an adorable stage presence I could have stood more of. My only gripe is that I was expecting scenes in a broadcasting studio showing the radio technology of the day. Unfortunately, there are none, only stage performances. Nonetheless, that's along with some revealingly live street scenes from Hollywood Blvd., circa 1940.
All in all, it's quick hour of 40's amusement, with a cross-racial buddy pairing unusual for its time. -
Leofwine_draca23 March 2017UP IN THE AIR is a slight comic murder mystery about a singer who is murdered while singing live on the radio in a popular studio. A couple of characters who happened to be in the area at the time decide to investigate with typically bumbling consequences.
The youthful Frankie Darro is the hero of the piece; he's a diminutive chap but sparkling with energy and thus proving to be a more than adequate protagonist. The script is fairly episodic but there are some good jokes littered throughout the narrative and at just an hour in length this film doesn't really have the time to outstay its welcome. Some songs are included to enliven things and pad out the running time. The biggest asset is the great Mantan Moreland, who bags all of the funniest lines and reaction shots. Be warned, a blackface interlude may be off-putting for sensitive viewers. -
boblipton22 May 2017This comedy-mystery has a goodly amount of energy. Mantan Moreland offers his befuddled comedy, Marjorie Reynolds sings two songs surprisingly well (for those of us who remember her more for suffering the revolting developments on THE LIFE OF RILEY) and everyone on hand does a good job, given the constrained budgets that Monogram Studios offered for their B movies.
Given that it's Frankie Darro in the lead, though, the movie doesn't turn out well. He's an annoying smart aleck who drags Mr. Moreland into all sorts of unwanted danger and inveigles him into a comedy act in which they engage in cross-talk -- with Mr. Darro in blackface for a radio performance. In 1940 this made an acceptable second feature. Today, its time has passed long ago. -
If you can get past some of the racist jokes thrown out at the expense of radio studio janitor Mantan Moreland, you'll have a good time in this hour-long second feature with Frankie Darro as a studio page who helps solve the murders of a temperamental singer. Suspects are many as this rather untalented singer (Lorna Gray) is extremely obnoxious, threatening as many times as she can to station owner Dick Elliott that she can get another gig anytime she wants. She's already threatened to walk out when she agrees to go on, notices a cowboy (Gordon Jones) in the audience, and when the lights go out briefly, is shot dead. There's more murder, a dumb detective (Clyde Dilson), and plenty of banter between Darro and Moreland. Like "42nd Street's" Ruby Keeler, there's the brand new receptionist (Marjorie Reynolds) who goes on in her place.
The best material goes to Darro and Moreland, who even if thinking an eight-ball reference is meant for him or telling detective Dilson when Darro is caught in black face that his face doesn't rub off, comes off with his dignity intact. That is a testament to Moreland's talent that he can rise above comical material that depends on racist humor for laughs. While the songs aren't classic, they are fairly sweet, and the film never lags. -
JohnHowardReid30 January 2014One movie genre that a normal person might think off-limits to Poverty Row is the musical (because of the extra expense involved with orchestras and singers, not to mention songs and copyright clearances). Yet quite a few musicals made their appearance from time to time along the Row.
For this one, Monogram has ingeniously combined the songs and musical capers with a typical murder mystery. And who solves these radio killings that have stumped the keenest minds of the Los Angeles Police (Hollywood Division)? Why none other than dapper, personably brash Frankie Darro and his delightfully hesitant, broom-wielding sidekick, Mantan Moreland (soon to enrich the Charlie Chan series with his smile-a-minute, banjo-eyed presence).
Further enjoyment is provided by that really lovely girl, Marjorie Reynolds, as the one-step-into-fame heroine. Her voice is a real treat too. The support players do everything that's expected of them and Mr Bretherton's direction definitely rates a cut or two above the average. -
reymunpadilla14 August 2023The mystery is fairly dull. Predictable and uninteresting. Your tolerance for blackface and stereotypical comedy will decide how much you like the film.
Mantan Moreland was famously mocked in Spike Lee's Bamboozled. He and Stepinfetchit made their careers out of playing subservient characters, mocked by whites and the scripts as dumb, ignorant, lazy, all the stereotypes.
Here's where the debate is. Some see them as comically gifted enough to turn the stereotypes on their head, and even get away with mocking whites who believe them. Truth is, both of those happen in this film and others. A racist might even be dumb enough for the mockery to go over their head.
All of that subtlety goes out the window once the white lead dons blackface and mocks Mantan at length though. -
Prismark1017 April 2017Up in the Air is a breezy comedy mystery B movie from 1940, it was shot as a quickie. It even has some forgettable songs in it as well.
Rita Wilson is a radio star that gets shot during rehearsals. Frankie (Frankie Darro) is the ever optimistic bell boy, who plans to be a gag writer and also a star maker. He gets mixed up investigating the murder with Jeff the janitor (Mantan Moreland) as the police are too incompetent to investigate the crime properly.
Frankie and Jeff provide comic relief with Jeff always trying to avoid getting into trouble. Actor Mantan Moreland became famous for his black eye popping scary faced persona that was popular with cinema-goers at the time.
Despite the tomfoolery the film has a nice mystery to it. -
JoeytheBrit23 April 2020Rate, review, like + more...
Richard Cross's review published on Letterboxd:
"Is I where I think I is or am I where I hope I ain't?" asks Manton Moreland of the bulging eyes and comical double-takes. He plays wing man to an ok Frankie Darro in this dull murder thriller, and, like us, he's sadly where he hoped he ain't.