AIR MAIL

USA | 1932 | DCP | 84 min.
Director: John Ford
Cast: Pat O’Brien, Ralph Bellamy, Gloria Stuart
Talented-but-reckless airman Duke Talbot (O’Brien) runs off with the wife of a freshly-deceased fellow pilot, forcing the even-tempered Mike Miller (Bellamy) to finish the downed pilot’s mail route. When Miller’s plane crashes into a mountain during the job, Talbot must decide whether to use his daredevil aviation skills to save his injured comrade. Ford’s stirring yarn combines a Hawks-ian ardor for male camaraderie and professionalism with an undercurrent of moody darkness, accentuated by the Expressionist-influenced cinematography of Karl Freund (frequent cinematographer of Ford favorite F.W. Murnau) (MC). This screening will be the world premiere of a new 4K DCP restoration from Universal Pictures, followed by a special in-person discussion with John Ford At Work author Lea Jacobs.