[2] The film stars Jack Holt, Lila Lee and Ralph Graves, who also came up with the story, for which Capra wrote the dialogue.

[4]College football player Lefty Phelps (Ralph Graves) causes his school to lose the big game when he gets disoriented after a tackle and runs the wrong way.

On his first attempt at solo flight, however, Lefty is taunted about the football game by fellow recruit Steve Roberts (Harold Goodwin), and cannot take off, resulting in a crash.

When the "Flying Devils" squadron is sent to quell bandit attacks by the notorious General Lobo in Nicaragua, Panama arranges for Lefty to accompany him as his mechanic.

Lefty kills the attacking bandits, takes off, and brings the pair back, putting on an impressive flying display over the base that includes safely landing the aircraft after it loses a wheel.

[6][Note 2] Receiving full cooperation from the Marine Corps, including the use of facilities and personnel at Naval Base San Diego and NAS North Island, provided the authentic settings Capra required.

[Note 5] The opening scene where the football star takes off in the wrong direction was based on Capra's recalling a notable incident he witnessed, along with Columbia studio boss Harry Cohn, during the 1929 Rose Bowl when Roy Riegels was tackled by his own team after picking up a fumble and running toward his own goal line.

[11] Typical of the reviews was the one appearing in The New York Times: "During those all too brief moments when the producer skips away from melodramatic flubdub, tedious romantic passages and slapstick comedy and turns to scenes of airplanes in formation and flying stunts, 'Flight,' a talking film presented last night by Columbia Pictures Corporation at the George M. Cohan and dedicated to the United States Marines, is well worth watching.

[13] Largely forgotten today, Flight is representative of Capra's early period and fits in well with the silent Submarine (1928) and later Dirigible (1931) as a trio of military-themed productions.