Flight

Flight (1929)

The First All-Talking Air Drama!

Two Marine pilots in love with the same girl are assigned a mission to find a notorious bandit in Nicaragua. This early talkie from director Frank Capra, released in 1929, stars Jack Holt, Ralph Graves and Lila Lee.

Date of release
1929-09-14
TMDB
6.6 / 10 (9)
Runtime
1h 56m
Genres
Adventure, Action
Director
Frank Capra

Casting

Interesting facts

Flight is a 1929 American pre-Code adventure and aviation film directed by Frank Capra. The film stars Jack Holt, Lila Lee and Ralph Graves, who also came up with the story, for which Capra wrote the dialogue. Dedicated to the United States Marine Corps, the production was greatly aided by their full cooperation.

Production

At the time of production, Jack Holt's career with Columbia Pictures was as a leading man. Capra specifically asked for him to star as the laconic pilot and with the acquiescence of studio head Harry Cohn, his role in Flight was emblematic of the studio's reliance on the popular and profitable action film.

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. The initial flying sequence depicts the landing and taxi of an FB-1 fighter, with Holt stepping from the cockpit. {

The flight training sequences were staged using Consolidated NY-1B trainers based at San Diego. Nine Marine Corps Curtiss OC-2 aircraft from Marine Attack Squadron 231 (VMA-231) were featured in the aerial combat sequences. The squadron, along with VO-10M (Marine Observation Squadron 10), also prominently appeared in Devil Dogs of the Air (1935).

A total of 28 aircraft were at Capra's disposal and with the benefit of using actual aircraft, Capra did not have to rely on "process shots" or special effects which was the standard of the day, although dangerous crash scenes and a mass night takeoff were staged using studio miniatures.

Capra also shot on location in La Mesa and Fallbrook, California, used for the Nicaragua scenes. Although a fictional treatment, the military action depicted in Nicaragua was based on the Battle of Ocotal on July 16, 1927, when the Marines battled hundreds of Sandinista rebels. Importing fire ants for the swamp scene became controversial as the ants were capable of biting through the actors' clothing.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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