Above the Clouds (1934)

Synopsis
Few studios ground out as many aviation melodramas as Columbia. In Above the Clouds, Robert Armstrong stars as Scoop Adams, an ace newsreel cameraman whose love affair with the bottle all but destroys him professionally. Scoop manages to get his photographer pal Dick (Richard Cromwell) fired as well, but he promises to restore Dick's reputation, some way or another. He gets his chance while covering a dirigible wreck (some three years before the Hindenburg), saving the day for both Dick and himself. The outcome of the plot hinges on a telephoto lens, a relatively new device in 1934. Dorothy Wilson hangs around in the obligatory but hardly necessary role of the love interest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide