The Flying Fool

USA 1929
produced by
Pathé
directed by Tay Garnett
starring William Boyd, Marie Prevost, Russell Gleason, Tom O'Brien, James Gleason, Kate Bruce, Earl Burtnett, Budd Fine, Al Thompson, Dorothy Ward, Dan Wolheim
story by Elliott J. Clawson, screenplay by Tay Garnett, James Gleason

review by
Mike Haberfelner

Bill (William Boyd), top fighter pilot in World War I who now does aerial shows, learns that his kid brother Jimmy (Russell Gleason), whom he virtually raised on his own, has a sweetheart, nightclub singer Patsy (Marie Prevost). But even though Bill himself is a ladies' man, he doesn't want his brother to pick up the wrong kind of woman, so he decides to check her out ... and before you know it, the two are in love.

Jimmy, when he learns that Patsy has someone else (though he does not learn that this someone else is his own brother), wants to skip town. It is only then that Bill realizes he has made a mistake, and he tells Patsy off, expecting her to run right into the arms of Jimmy.

But Jimmy finds Patsy in tears, and it is only now that he learns about what sacrifice his brother has made for him, so he decides to give up on Patsy for his brother's sake ... but then it's almost too late, since Bill has already gone up into the air in a defective plane, probably an unconscious attempt to kill himself, so Jimmy takes another plane and goes after his brother to tell him everything is alright before he does anything stupid ... but up in the air, one of the wings of Jimmy's plane breaks, sending the plane crashing to the ground ... fortunately Jimmy bailed out on time.

The film ends with Patsy in Bill's arms, and out of nowhere, a girl for Jimmy appears, too.

Some of the aerial stunts in this film, done in those wonderful vintage planes, are nothing short of breathtaking. Unfortunately the rest of the film is not: The main story (about a man stealing his brother's love then giving her up for his brother's sake) has very little to do with airplanes as it is, and the aerial stunts seem rather out of place in this very pedestrian romance. Furthermore, this being an early sound film, nobody really seems to know how to handle the new medium, so the sound quality is bad, the dialogue lacks proper pacing and many silent pauses slow down the film considerably.

So apart from the flying scenes, it's not worth watching.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned)

The links below will take you just there!!!

Find The Flying Fool at the amazons ...   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.de Looking for imports? Find The Flying Fool here ...   eThaiCD.com Your shop for all things Thai Something naughty? (Must be over 18 to go there!)   find The Flying Fool at adultvideouniverse.com

Thanks for watching !!!