It's in the Air

1935 • NR • Series • Catalog pick

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.