Let's be realistic.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

. . . you would think that being buried alive would be the least of a TEST PILOT's concerns WHILE he's airborne. Yet, whether Spencer Tracy was in the air (as in this flick), on land (during the SAN FRANCISCO earthquake), or at sea (think CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS), poor Spence was seen as being as expendable as an Indian Pony in a John Wayne flick by the MGM film studio owning his contract in the 1930s. MGM's disclaimer at the beginning of TEST PILOT states that anything remotely resembling an actual airplane during this film is a figment of viewers' imaginations. Just as MGM would refuse to "give away" the Military "Secret" behind "Sherman's Neckties" the following year in its GONE WITH THE WIND debacle, this studio believed that Japanese Plotter Tojo could be lured into Sneak Attacking America IF the Roaring Lion folks ran a scroll stating that ALL of TEST PILOT's aerial action was just so much Hollywood trickery and that the U.S. Military had NO warplanes at its disposal. (Tojo, of course, swallowed MGM's bait hook, line, and Pacific Fleet sinker, making TEST PILOT the deadliest Real Life Disaster in Tinseltown History.)

I have watched old movies all my life. I can't say that I prefer a good old movie over a good new movie, but I do appreciate old films. Test Pilot is really kind of a strange animal though it has a high profile cast. It seems especially odd if you look at it with contemporary sensibilities. First, the Clark Gable character and the Myrna Loy character get married almost the minute they meet. Not even a kiss ahead of time. Then you have the Spencer Tracy character. If you think he might have a gay attraction for the Clark Gable character, well, you probably wouldn't be the first to wonder. But this is 1938 so the answer is; no, you are probably wrong. The archaic aircraft are great, if you are into that sort of thing, which I am. The B-17 seen in the movie was actually a pretty new airplane at that time and it became a workhorse in WWII. I am actually a little surprised to see it up there on the screen for that reason, after all, the film was made a year before WWII. But maybe that's just it: it was before WWII and no one suspected what was to come.I found the Gable-Loy romance kind of secondary to the other aspects of the film. To be honest, the romance might have been a bit too cheesy for me.

A film which gives one a sense of what it must have been like in the early days of aviation as pilots were employed to test airplanes to their breaking point, just prior to World War II. Directed by Victor Fleming and co-written by Howard Hawks, the film received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Editing, and Frank Wead's Original Story.Clark Gable plays the pilot, Spencer Tracy his friend and assistant. During a failed time and distance flight for his boss (Lionel Barrymore), Gable meets Myrna Loy when he lands in her father's field. Even though she's somewhat engaged to a local boy (played by Ted Pearson), he sweeps her off her feet and they hastily marry.Loy's character then learns of the hazards and the heartache of being a wife of such a daredevil, especially after another in her husband's profession (played by Louis Jean Heydt) is killed. The title character turns to drinking. Tracy, Loy, and even Barrymore, must then work together to help Gable's character mature and perhaps utilize his skills in another more stable way.Noted character actors Samuel Hinds, playing a General who wants the most from the planes, Marjorie Main, playing a landlord the penniless trio (Gable, Loy, and Tracy) convinces to let them live in her apartment on account, and Virginia Grey also appear.

I wish I could be as enthusiastic about "Test Pilot" as some of the other people on this board. It has a great, tried and true cast - Gable, Tracy, Myrna Loy, and Lionel Barrymore. Good flying sequences, and very suspenseful scenes at the end.The first hour is lighter, and the dialogue is sharp - Gable is a flier who lands in the Kansas backyard of Loy. It's love at first sight, and they get married. Gable's best friend, Gunner, doesn't approve at first, but changes his mind later. Loy soon realizes that the life of a flier wife is one of worry and fear every time he goes up in a plane. But she loves him too much to leave.It's a very predictable film, and seen in today's world, darn strange that Gunner just hangs around Gable and then Gable and Loy all the time and has no other life.I usually try to watch movies in their world, in this case, 1938, but I found it difficult here. The acting is good - Gable and Tracy were a good team, Gable and Loy were a good team, and Lionel Barrymore gives a nice, underplayed performance. Tracy gives the strongest performance. The film became very melodramatic and the dialogue not as sharp as the first part of it. A case of too many cooks maybe. I just couldn't get into it.