Con men Calvin Churchill (Jack Benny) and Clip McGurk (Ted Healy) know how to fix a horserace or boxing match but can they get themselves out of their current fix? Calvin wants to go straight and win back his estranged wife (Una Merkel) but first the two sharpies must dodge a dogged IRS agent (Nat Pendleton) and bilk a bunch of aviation investors out of the backing boodle for a balloon excursion into the stratosphere. With so many characters trying to put one over on the others, there's hot air aplenty, but abundant laughs as Benny and Healy partner perfectly in comedic confidence. By 1935, Benny already ruled the air without a balloon: His wildly popular radio show had millions of weekly listeners, and would continue to do so for the next two decades. But nothing can compare with the sight of addled aviators Benny and Healy trying to navigate their lighter-than-air contraption while plugging their sponsors and entertaining an ornery eagle hitching a ride. It's in the Air delivers a happy -- and wonderfully wacky -- landing.
R**.
Remember JACK BENNY? This is a 1935 "so-so" balloon comedy.
Unless you still have a Beta-/VHS-VCR machine hooked up to a glass-picture-tube TV, you probably never heard of Jack Benny, and his man-servant: Rochester.Well, anyway, Jack Benny lived to be eighty, and was popular during radio's hey-day; he was in a 1930 movie, and transitioned from 1940's movies to radio, then television in the '50s.This, then, is an early Benny-vehicle. RECOMMENDED [*IF you are a fan*]!IF you are NOT a Jack Benny fan, you'll find this to be a two-and-one-half star "snooze-fest".
J**L
A Nice Escapist Depression Comedy
This film, made quickly in 1935, featured quite a few talented comedians in a nice bit of fluff. The great Jack Benny was at the top of the radio polls, and trying to equal that in film. The audiences of the day were looking for fun, escape, and a bit of glamour: and here it is. I was particularly glad to find this on Amazon because I thought it was lost. Good work Amazon!
D**L
but fun through and through
Sometimes silly, but fun through and through.
Trustpilot
3 weeks ago
1 month ago