The Air Circus
| The Air Circus | |
|---|---|
 Lobby card | |
| Directed by |
Howard Hawks Lewis Seiler |
| Written by |
Norman Z. McLeod Seton I. Miller |
| Distributed by | Fox Film Corporation |
Release dates | September 1, 1928[1] |
Running time | 118 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Air Circus is a 1928 American feature film directed by Howard Hawks and the first of his aviation films.[2]
The plot concerns two students (Arthur Lake and David Rollins), encountering an accomplished aviator (Sue Carol) in flight school and learning to fly.
The Air Circus is Hawks' seventh feature, and the first with sound dialog. The film was completely finished as a silent when the studio commissioned dialog from screenwriter F. Hugh Herbert and assigned Lewis Seiler to insert 15 minutes of talking footage, which Hawks considered "mawkish".[3]
Reception
The Air Circus received generally positive reviews from critics. Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times called it "a jolly, wholesome and refreshingly human picture", praising David Rollins' acting as "wonderfully natural."[4] Film Daily said the film was well-acted with "a bang-up youth cast from all angles" and a "thrill finish."[5] Oliver Claxton of The New Yorker wrote that the talking sequence was "the most unfortunate scene", but that the rest of the film "should amuse you in a quiet way."[6] Variety was more modest in its praise, writing, "Expert direction has managed to make a fairly interesting lightweight number out of a script that holds nothing but background and a plot that doesn't exist."[7]
Preservation status
Various sources classify it as lost.[2][8][9] However, Hal Erickson states the silent version "was rescued from oblivion in the early 1970s".[10]
Cast
- Arthur Lake as Speed Doolittle
- Sue Carol as Sue Manning
- David Rollins as Buddy Blake
- Louise Dresser as Mrs. Blake
- Heinie Conklin as Jerry McSwiggin
- Charles Delaney as Charles Manning
- Earl Robinson as Lt. Blake
- Virginia Cherrill as Extra (uncredited)
References
- ↑ "The Broadway Parade". Film Daily. New York City: 2. September 10, 1928.
- 1 2 "The Air Circus". silentera.com.
- ↑ Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood, Todd McCarthy, p. 94
- ↑ Hall, Mordaunt (September 3, 1928). "Movie Review: The Air Circus". The New York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
- ↑ "The Air Circus". Film Daily. New York City: 8. September 9, 1928.
- ↑ Claxton, Oliver (September 15, 1928). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker: 90.
- ↑ "The Air Circus". Variety. New York: 14. September 5, 1928.
- ↑ The Air Circus at Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files: Fox Films: 1928
- ↑ The Great Stars, Lost Films Wanted
- ↑ The Air Circus at AllMovie
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Air Circus. |
