Wings of Adventure

Commercial aviator Dave Kent and his mechanic Skeets Smith are forced to make an emergency landing in Mexico where they fall into the hands of a notorious bandit known as La Panthera. The Americans attempt to rescue fellow prisoner Maria Valdez from a forced marriage to the desperado. Mistaken for La Panthera's gunmen, Dave and Skeets are arrested by the local authorities and sentenced to death.

This early talkie is a good showcase for Rex Lease, seen here in his prime, before being type cast as a cowboy. Silent-screen comic Clyde Cook provides laughs and Mexican starlet Armida makes an appealing leading lady for the handsome star. Director Richard Thorpe would soon be signed to a long-term contract by M-G-M, where he helmed Jailhouse Rock in 1957.

BONUS: "Little Mandarin," an episode of the 1952 "Terry and the Pirates" TV series.

Though one would never know it from the title, WINGS OF ADVENTURE is essentially a western. Rex Lease stars as aviator Dave Kent, who crash-lands in Mexico with his comedy-sidekick mechanic Skeets Smith (Clyde Cook). Here he is captured by a band of rebels, whose captain La Panthera is in love with heroine Maria (Armida). Begging Dave to rescue her from La Panthera's clutches, Maria leads our hero out of the bandit's headquarters, whereupon they board his repaired plane and fly off to the nearest U.S. Cavalry camp. This results in yet another crash, albeit one played for laughs by the ubiquitous Skeets Smith.