The Flying Fool is a 1929 American aviation-themed film produced and distributed by Pathé Exchange as both a silent film and sound film just as Hollywood was transitioning to filming with sound.Paris 1995, p. 65."Silent Era:'The Flying Fool'." Progressive Silent Film List (Silentera.com), 2019. Retrieved: July 3, 2019. Tay Garnett directed and William Boyd, Russell Gleason and Marie Prevost starred."Detail view: 'The Flying Fool'." Afi.com, 2019. Retrieved: July 3, 2019.
Plot After an World War I aerial battle over French lines, Bill Taylor is honoured as an ace. After the war, he continues flying as a barnstormer, known as the "Flying Fool". His kid-brother, Jimmy, is one of his crew. Jimmy falls in love with a nightclub singer, Pat Riley. His older-brother worries that Jimmy may be involved with the wrong kind of girl.
Bill decides to check on Pat out and he finds she is a sweet and home-loving daughter working to provide for her mother. To his surprise, he also falls for her, and this upsets Jimmy.
Both brothers take to their aircraft to decide which of them will win Pat. After a thrilling air "battle," Bill and Jimmy land safely. Pat decides she loves Bill, and Jimmy transfers his affections to another pretty girl.
Cast
William Boyd as Bill Taylor Marie Prevost as Pat Riley Tom O'Brien as Tom Dugan Russell Gleason as Jimmy Taylor Kate Bruce as Mrs. Riley, Pat's Mother Dan Wolheim as Airport Manager Dorothy Ward as Mae Hopper
Music The theme song for the film was entitled "If I Had My Way Music" which was composed by George Green and George Waggner. It is sung by Marie Prevost in the film. Also featured on the soundtrack is the sound "I'm That Way About Baby (And She's That Way About Me)" by George Green and George Waggner. This second song is sung by The Biltmore Trio in the film.
Production According to her journal entry for 1929, aviatrix Pancho Barnes flew in The Flying Fool.Spark, Nick. "Journal entry: 1929." legendofpanchobarnes.com, August 12, 2015. Noted stunt pilot Frank Clarke along with his friends, Leon Nomis, Roy Wilson and Dick Rinaldi, also flew in the film.Wynne 1987, p. 133.Santoir, Christian. "Review: 'The Flying Fool'." Aeromovies, April 5, 2012. Retrieved: July 3, 2019.
The shooting locale was the Metropolitan Airport in Los Angeles where two Travel Air 4000 aircraft (one painted white with "The Flying Fool" on its fuselage) were flown.
Reception Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo, in Aviation in the Cinema (1985) noted The Flying Fool was an "all dialogue" (another catch phrase for a sound film or "talkie". He also wrote, "noted cameraman Arthur Miller lensed the film."Pendo 1985, p. 10.
Aviation film historian James Farmer in Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation (1984) considered The Flying Fool, an example of a film that benefitted from "... excellent aerial sequences."Farmer 1984, p. 308.
See also List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)
References Notes
Citations
Bibliography
Farmer, James H. Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation (1st ed.). Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: TAB Books 1984. . Paris, Michael. From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. . Pendo, Stephen. Aviation in the Cinema. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. .
External links
The Flying Fool available for free download at Internet Archive