by Hans J. Wollstein
review
Rediscovered in the early '90s under the re-release titles of Pilot X and Mysterious Bombardier, this hastily produced but by-and-large well-made thriller/whodunit plays almost like a serial. In fact, all the serial trappings are here, including strange gismos, plenty of stock footage, far-fetched conclusions, and red herrings aplenty. There is also a surprising discussion of the after-effects of combat and Bernard McConville's screenplay is quite literate in places. On the debit side, the acting is typical of independently produced thrillers with plenty of flubbed lines and melodramatic gesturing. Such detriments notwithstanding, Death in the Air remains one of the best examples of low-budget filmmaking in the mid-'30s.
