Captains of the Clouds is one of the earliest War films after the United States entered World War II which tells the tragic tale of Canadian rugged bush pilots who bring their flying experience to the Royal Canadian Air Force. Screen icon James Cagney stars with many screen legends including Alan Hale, Dennis Morgan, George Tobias, and Reginald Denny.
In this picture James Cagney (White Heat, Picture Snatcher, City of Conquest) stars as the ruthless Canadian pilot Brian McLean. He constantly steals jobs from his rival pilots, which include Johnny Dutton (Dennis Morgan, In This Our Life), Tiny Murphy (Alan Hale, The Man in the Iron Mask, The Sea Hawk), Blimp Lebec (George Tobias, Mildred Pierce, The Glenn Miller Story), and British expatriate Scrounger Harris (Reginald Gardiner, Back Street, Black Widow). To get on the good side of his fellow pilots, McLean offers an opportunity to earn a large amount of money. While they accept and do the job, earning $4,000 apiece, he marries Johnny’s girlfriend, Emily Foster (Brenda Marshall, Background to Danger) which spoils everything. After beating up McLean at a hotel, Johnny walks out feeling betrayed and distraught. After listening to Churchill’s famous “Blood, Sweat and tears” radio address he and some other pilots decide to join the Royal Canadian Air Force. Once they join the RCAF, McLean’s superior officer always turns out to Johnny wherever he is assigned.
I thought Captains of the Clouds was decent, with the first half to me being the best part and most interesting, with Cagney playing his usual type of character as if he was in a gangster film, but when it became a World War II propaganda film, everything seemed to slow down. Cagney’s antics didn’t quite fit in the latter half of the film. Still, the acting is top-notch as expected, and the cinematography by Wilfred M. Cline and Sol Polito is excellent, capturing breathtaking Canadian locations. Michael Curtiz direction is fluid and gets a lot of mileage from the cast, but he’s done better films in my opinion.
Warner Archive has fully restored Captains of the Clouds with a 4K scan of the original Technicolor nitrate negatives, revealing a remarkable amount of fine detail and vivid colors that are true to the three-strip source used. The colors are exceptional, with rich greens and deep blues be it from the ocean, sky, or even James Cagney’s blue suit. Interiors looks fantastic too, with rich textures and a great deal of depth. The foggy night scenes are also clear without compression issues. No DNR or other artificial enhancements appear to have been used. Warner has done a magnificent job restoring the film!
The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix is also satisfying. Dialogue and action sounds are clear, sounding dynamic, with background effects that are balanced to perfection and blend well the powerful score by Max Steiner and the title song by Harold Arlen. English subtitles are available.
The Warner Archive Blu-ray also has some extras. Included is a 1942 Newsreel with James Cagney delivery a two-minute speech to support the war.
There is a short called “Rocky Mountain Big Game” that is narrated by Knox Manning and shows off the Canadian Rockies.
Two classic Merrie Melody cartoons are also part of the package. What’s Cooking, Doc? and Hold the Lion, Please, starring Bugs Bunny. Both are ported over from the Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection
A theatrical trailer is the last of the extras.
War film enthusiasts and James Cagney completists will most definitely enjoy this release of Captains of the Clouds. The film’s audio and video are as flawless as it comes to go with a few cool extras to make this the holy grail of Blu-ray releases! Highly recommended!
Captains of the Clouds
Director- Michael Curtiz
Cast- James Cagney, Brenda Marshall, Dennis Morgan
Country of Origin- United States
Distributor – Warner Archive/Warner Home Video
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date –4/2/2022