An aircraft company has designed a plane that could be used for transatlantic flights. Complicating things is a spy ring after plans for a new type of bomber. This is a good B movie and fans of Peter Lorre will especially like it.
A radio broadcast is being done at the unveiling of the Wild Goose. The head of the company, John R Fleming (Ralph Morgan) introduces the pilot, Ace Martin (Brian Donlevy) and his co-pilot Joe Randall (Thomas Beck). Joe’s fiancee Ruth (Helen Wood) is also in the crowd. The plane is christened by Fleming’s wife who is there with John’s business partner Sidney. Also around is an eccentric who everyone refers to as their mascot. He’s nicknamed Colonel Gimpy (Peter Lorre). He walks around spouting nonsense and once in a while blows on his trumpet.
No one knows it but Gimpy is really Baron Rudolph Maximilian Tagger the head of a spy ring. He wants the plans for the secret DOX bomber and he enlists Ace to get them for him. The plans are in the file room of the company Ruth works for. Ace gives Joe a story about how he invented a special propeller but the company ripped him off. Joe is Ace’s roommate and considers Ace his best friend. He usually goes to meet Ruth at the company and one night when she leaves for a few minutes he steals the plans and brings them to Ace.
Meanwhile the Baron has to kill an operative for having a big mouth. His replacement, Operative #77 (J.Carrol Naish), arrives and is instructed to meet with Ace. He tells him he’s really a secret agent working for another country and offers Ace three times what the Baron offered. Can’t turn that down. Ace meets him on a deserted road and before the exchange is made Ace sees two people sitting in #77’s car. He doesn’t know that one of them is the man he knows as Gimpy. Ace shoots #77 and takes off.
Fleming goes home and the butler says there’s a note from his wife. It says she’s left him for his business partner and she’s headed for her sister’s in Paris and will file for divorce. He makes a quick call to Ace and says they’ll be leaving at midnight and not to let anyone aside from Joe to know about it.
At the airport they make a hasty exit. While airborne Ace notices a heavy weight in the tail section. Out comes Gimpy complete with trumpet. No one knows his real identity. The plane is flying to Berlin and that’s where he wants to go.They don’t know where they are thanks to the bad weather. Then during a storm the gas cap comes loose. Ace says he’ll go out on the wing to fix it.
Back home Ruth has been taken to the war department for questioning. She’s told that Joe has been tricked into stealing the plans. She goes on the radio and tells Joe what’s going on. Ace doesn’t hear because he’s still on the wing. Joe gets mad and tries to toss him off. The others tell him that’s not a good idea.
Ace climbs back in and Joe attacks him. Steam shoots out of the console and hits Ace in the eyes. They’re forced to land in the Atlantic with little hope of rescue. By this time Gimpy has revealed his true identity.
It all leads to a hokey ending but Lorre makes this movie fun and worth checking out.
Brian Donlevy-Peter Lorre
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