The Flying Ace

A railroad detective turned WWI Ace returns to his job. His assignment today is to find out who stole the railroad's $25,000 payroll and kidnapped the company's paymaster at a small station near the swamps of Florida. Is it the station master? His pretty daughter? The mysteriously rich man who owns his own airplane? Whoever it is, the movie will feature fights, flights, daring rescues in mid-air and a comic policeman.

It would be a well written and performed programmer from a major Hollywood studio, and largely forgotten today. However, it isn't from one of the majors, it's from Norman Studios in Florida, and it features an all-Black cast. Certainly it wasn't the first feature-length race film; writer-producer-director Richard Norman had been producing them at his own studio at least since 1919. What's extraordinary about it, is that Norman was making films that stand up purely as entertainment. There's no message about the tiny world the Black people were crammed into, like Oscar Michaeux was fond of: just good, clean entertainment.

Or was there a message? We see Black railroad executives, and Black women wanting to fly planes, and Black flying aces.... wasn't this movie saying, in effect, that its audience was capable of all of these things?

Don't expect a lot of aerial dramatics despite the title, as this one is mostly a whodunit of a heist of railroad money, and a rather weak whodunit at that. The mystery is being investigated by both a local constable as well as a former railroad detective who has just recently returned from service in WWI, where he was a "flying ace" (Laurence Criner). There's another man who flies planes as well, someone who is frustrated by his unrequited love for the station manager's daughter, and we get a taste of his character when after having his marriage proposal turned down he says "Confound the perversity of woman. (sic) The next time I get her in that plane of mine, she'll say YES or get out and walk on a cloud." As there aren't a lot of possible characters in the cast who could be suspects we get the idea that he may have had something to do with it. It's not quite as simple as that and the ethyl chloride knockout spray was a nice little touch, but it would be hard to recommend the film based on the creaky mystery alone. Meanwhile, the scenes in the air are brief and clearly shot on the ground, without the benefit of a long shot or even stock footage, so the film is certainly lacking in the kind of production quality that you would see from the big Hollywood studios.

On the other hand, it's simply fantastic that a film made in 1926 featured an all-black cast without stereotypes, and with a variety of role models, not the least of were the aviators who inspired the young men who grew up to become Tuskegee Airmen (this according to TCM's fabulous Jacqueline Stewart). For a white director and studio head Richard E. Norman to show a heroic and intelligent black war pilot at a time when they weren't allowed to fly planes in the military, and wouldn't be until 1940, deserves credit for the statement it was making. And I have to say, if the story drags a bit for you despite the quick 65 minute runtime, stick around for the final reel, when the one-legged sidekick (Steve Reynolds) pedals his bicycle furiously in pursuit of the bad guys, busts out the gun he's concealed in his crutch, and then pursues them on foot. That was brilliant, and I really enjoyed this character. Lastly, Kathryn Boyd is a cutie as the station master's daughter, and the few close-ups she gets, one shedding a tear and others of her flirting with the hero at the end are wonderful.

It's definitely not the best silent film out there, but for what it represents and these characters, it's worth checking out.

This is generally a fine movie from Norman Studios. It makes one wonder about the potential quality of the studio's lost race films.

Unfortunately, some reviewers attempt to rate this film alongside contemporary Hollywood productions. That comparison is simply unfair. Hollywood had tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars. Filmmakers supplying product for Black theater audiences had about $1.95.

"The Flying Ace" is a good production given its meager budget. The actors are more than capable and the story is no worse than many Tom Mix westerns. The movie's production values are threadbare to be sure, but doggone it, the film does have real airplanes (okay, on the ground).

This is a excellent example of an enjoyable silent race film (note: Norman Studio's front office and film crews were white).

The film's restoration is gorgeous. Please, check it out.

The Flying Ace is available on a restoration 35mm print from The Library Of Congress to theaters equipped with dual projectors for changeover projection as no cutting or showings using a platter system are permitted. The film is about 62 minutes in length and is on three 20-minute reels. Enjoy!

Why the hero was made a "Flying Ace" I don't know. The only black American flyer in the Great War was never allowed into the U.S. forces and so flew for the French.

But, so what? The hero here looks both heroic and like a flyer, and he and his one-legged buddy get back home just in time to help solve a robbery.

The one-legger, playing a character known as Peg, is Steve "Peg" Reynolds and I think he steals the movie: Just watching him scurry around on his left leg and crutch is alone enough to make a viewer want to see this movie.

An introductory title card mentions all the players are "colored artists," and they truly are artists. Perhaps not great, still all are competent or better, all are worthy of more and better parts, and that they mostly didn't get more chances speaks badly of the motion picture business.

Florida was in competition for movie production with California for a while, and such big stars as Oliver Hardy began their careers there. So the players of "The Flying Ace" could and should have gone on to bigger and better billings, perhaps especially Kathryn Boyd.

She was cute, fun to watch just walk into and out of a scene, and visually charming. It was easy to understand why one of the villains was so taken with her, and that the hero decided to stay around to get to know her better.

That hero, Laurence (here "Lawrence") Criner, kept acting through 1950 and "The Jackie Robinson Story," racking up 27 credits. As the "Ace," he did most of his acting with his arm, but somehow still came across as a believable strong leading man.

(Ironic historical note: In one movie, his character was "Bull Connors," awfully close to "Bull Connor," the public safety commissioner of Birmingham, denounced for his acts against civil rights demonstrators, and later a Democrat member of the Alabama legislature.)

The production company, the Norman Film Manufacturing Company, was apparently Richard Norman, who wrote, produced, and directed "The Flying Ace," and I think he showed enough ability here, except for the static camera, he could have made many more movies. In fact, he could have taught a few lessons to Oscar Micheaux.

Since Mr. Micheaux seemed to be better at raising money for film production, and Mr. Norman was better at creating and producing moving pictures, they would probably have been a team we'd all be cheering these decades later.

"The Flying Ace" is not a great movie. It can never be considered a classic, but it is a fascinating bit of motion picture history. I recommend you watch it because it's a creation of a little-known production company, with little-known cast and crew, in a state barely known for movie production. It's a real horizon widener.