AllMovie

Flight for Freedom is not a great movie, but it is a pretty good movie, especially for a film a large part of the purpose of which was purely propagandistic. Although Freedom takes place several years before America entered World War II, part of its aim was to help maintain U.S. support for the war by creating a thinly veiled Amelia Earhart biography, complete with pure supposition as to what really happened when the famed aviatrix mysteriously disappeared. In fact, the theory advanced by Freedom is one that had a great deal of support during the 1930s and 1940s, although it is largely discounted now. If it were nothing but propaganda, Freedom would have limited dramatic appeal, but the main character at its center is appealing enough to stand on its own. Some of the screenplay's dramatics get a little ham-handed, and the romantic aspect is frustrating; it's good when it's going, but it doesn't go often enough. Fortunately, Rosalind Russell is on hand to sweep away any weak spots in the script. She knows exactly how to fly a vehicle like this, and unlike Earhart, there's never any doubt as to where she's going or what's on her mind. There's able support from Fred MacMurray and Herbert Marshall, but this is Russell's film all the way.