Parachute Jumper (1933)

An ex-Marine pilot (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) and his pal (Frank McHugh) are down on their luck. They hook up with an unemployed stenographer (Bette Davis), who moves in with them. Things look up when he gets a job as bodyguard to a bootlegger (Leo Carrillo) but unknown to him, the bootlegger is also involved in the narcotics trade. Based on the short story SOME CALL IT LOVE by Rian James and directed by Alfred E. Green (THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY). A perfect example of the kind of potboiler that Warners was putting Bette Davis in until her career was rescued by OF HUMAN BONDAGE. She ranked the film among her worst and Fairbanks hated it too. Is it that bad? I've seen worse, much worse. It's a fast moving hour and 12 minutes and it's always a pleasure seeing Davis, even when she's wasted as "the girl" as she is here. With Claire Dodd, Walter Brennan, Harold Huber and Nat Pendleton.