Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

verbusen I caught this on Turner Classic Movies USA, I think they ran it on a Saturday like a matinee. I really enjoyed it from the action WB type logo reminded me of the Looney Tunes WB intro from the same time as well as their Westerns! From the first scene you realize that although this is a shorter "B" film, it is not a poverty row film such as from a Monograph studio with cartoon pictures or painted city-scape title cards, this is using really cool real planes from the 1930s straight from the intro. For that reason alone plane buffs should really like this film as it takes you inside a Ford Tri-Motor and there are some great shots of late 1920s Travel Air Speedwings biplanes that really dance in the air! Those biplanes were the same models used in the legendary films Wings, and The Dawn Patrol! Trivia, the plane on the boss's desk is the next generation of passenger planes, I am guessing a Boeing 247 which looks a lot more modern than the Fords used in the film. Fans of Lyle Talbot from his days with low budget sci-fi like Plan 9 From Outer Space will be surprised, I thought he was really entertaining in a lead role here. Ann Dvorak is also a good leading lady even though this is a B film, so I can't see why people would hate this so much unless they are not old film fans. No stereotype black characters (like in a lot of B films) also helps the film maintain interest in the present day. According to it's Wikipedia page the aerial shots were done by aviation film cameraman pioneer Elmer Dyer and you can tell they are different than the standard models used in many B films back then. The wiki page also said footage from this film was spliced and used in two other films (so it must be decent). All in all, it was a great watch, I even liked the comic relief! As B movies from the 1930s go, I rate Murder in the Clouds an excellent 8 of 10.

mark.waltz This slightly boring espionage thriller is short on both length and thrills but saved by several flying sequences where the murder of a scientist on his way to Washington D.C. is shown in flashback and later a chase sequence involving the good guys and the villains. The plot is as twisted as crash wreckage and the performance by leading hero Lyle Talbot so ineffectual that you long for either James Cagney or even George Brent in the lead. The unique looking Ann Dvorak is both feisty and sweet as the stewardess heroine girlfriend, but the lack of chemistry between the two is obvious. With the technical achievements overwhelming the acting and the script, I have to mark this as a disappointment.

xerses13 Quicky 'B' picture (61") featuring now 2nd tier Stars of WARNER BROTHERS (W.B.). Lyle Talbot and Ann Dvorak were first rate Stars in the early days of the Sound-Era at the W.B. By 1934 they had fallen out of favor with Jack Warner, head of production at the Studio. Mr. Talbot because of his involvement with the Actors Labor movement. Ms. Dvorak because She felt over-used in trite material, complained too much and would not play casting-couch politics.MURDER IN THE CLOUDS (1934) is another of those Aerial Adventures all the studios cranked out, with RKO leading the pack. This time a new 'secret explosive' must be shipped by air too our Government. What is needed is crack pilot 'Three-Star' Lyle Talbot. '3'Star is waylaid by enemy agents, the explosive stolen and Judy Wagner's (Dvorak) Brother is killed along with the Government Agents. Have no fear, with the help of Wings Mahoney (George Cooper) taking time off from 'comedy relief' both the explosive and Judy are rescued. The Villains meeting their just rewards.Talbot's '3'Star is the typical overbearing ASS that was passed off as a 'hero' in that era. All of his irresponsible actions are forgotten and glossed over in the last reel. Dvorak only needs to look good and hit her mark, which She has no problem in doing. The Villains, Gordon 'Weasel' Westcott and ever dependable Russell Hicks are particularly ruthless. The murder of the Agents and Judy's Brother is merciless and as cold-blooded as you can imagine, told in flash-back. The film shows up on TCM and can be picked up either through www.oldies.com or at your local flee-market. Where I got my copy.

calvinnme This is a 7 if compared with other hour-long B features of the day, not when compared with the A features of the same time period. There are plot holes big enough for ace pilot 3-star (Lyle Talbot) to fly his plane through, but that's OK, because the pace is brisk and the film is full of action. I won't list all of the questions that the characters - not to mention the screenplay writer - should have been asking, because I'd give too much away.Suffice it to say that pilot Bob 'Three Star' Halsey gets himself grounded for hot-shotting in the air near the airport where he is based. His boss would love to fire him, but both the boss and Three Star know he's too good a pilot for him to lose him to another airline. Of course Halsey has a girl, Judy Wagner (Ann Dvorak), and Judy has a brother who is also a pilot based out of the airport. Up to now Judy has been having to share Bob with his love of the air, but along comes an espionage plot centering around an important invention needed by the military that is to be transported by the airline that soon changes everything.There are some great aerial scenes here, and although the laws of reason - and sometimes physics as well as the limitations of human eyesight - are being violated left and right, it turns out to be fun although somewhat formulaic without being corny.