The Flying Ace

The Flying Ace (1926)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Capt. Billy Stokes (Laurence Criner) is a war hero and when he returns home he goes back to his detective job for the railroad. It's just in time because $25,000 in payroll has been stolen so he must try and figure out what happened even though it seems like it might have been an old man behind the crime.

THE FLYING ACE comes from the Normal Film Manufacturing Company and is an all black cast melodrama. Clocking in at just 65-minutes the film is certainly worth watching as an early example of a race film but there's no question that there are a few flaws to be found here. The biggest flaw is the fact that there are a few too many characters here and I can't help but eliminating one or two probably would have been beneficial to the film.

As far as the mystery itself goes, this here is actually pretty good and I thought director Richard E. Norman did a pretty good job keeping you interested in what's going on in regards to the story. The lead character is a very strong one as he's a war hero and I thought Criner did a very good job in the role. Kathryn Boyd plays the daughter to the man (George Colvin) accused of the crime. Boise De Legge also offers up a nice supporting performance.

THE FLYING ACE is certainly rather routine in ways and there's no question that it's not a masterpiece or even a very good film. With that said, considering the budget it was probably working with the film is certainly entertaining enough to make it worth watching.

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!

"The Flying Ace" is an interesting film, as it was made in Jacksonville, Florida using and all-black cast. It also seems like a movie serial, being divided up into parts as well as having all sorts of interesting cliffhangers like a traditional serial. What is most interesting, however, is that it's a good film...something you cannot really say about most black cinema of the 1920s through the 40s. This is NOT meant as an insult...just stating a fact. It was because the filmmakers had minimal budgets and no-name directors and actors that most of these films are pretty forgettable...but not "The Flying Ace"!

The story is about a small town where there is a robbery at the railroad station. Someone has gassed the station agent, attacked the guard and made off with the loot. And, it's all up to our brilliant hero, a railroad detective who has just returned from the war to figure out where all the loot is and who took it. But he also must, naturally, have a chase--though this one is aboard airplanes!

The airplane scenes worked BUT are pretty funny as it's pretty obvious that the planes never even leave the ground! This is actually smart directing by the economy-minded director. It's also interesting that the hero has a sidekick...a truly one-legged one who lost it in the war...a rare film reference to the cost of WWI. Overall, despite some occasional cheapo moments, the film is pretty exciting and worth seeing....especially for a silent.

By the way, I have no idea why but some of the actors seemed to have caked on the makeup--particularly the guy playing Finley. He looks almost ghost-like because the makeup is so light. Weird.

Much of 'The Flying Ace' is shot out of doors on attractive Floridian locations and generally well acted apart from the broad and unfunny comic relief supplied by Lyons Daniels as a dim-witted policeman wearing a uniform several sizes too large for him that he looks as if he's been sleeping in and wielding an enormous night-stick, and Steve Reynolds as a one-legged war buddy of the hero (interesting to see a veteran who's returned minus a limb, as so many actually did), whose crutch contains a long-barrelled gun out of which he spays bullets like a character in a spaghetti western. (Another exotic weapon employed is nitryl chloride squirted in a couple of peoples' faces that immediately knocks them out like the purple gas in an episode of 'Batman'.)

Unfortunately the identity of the villain is obvious from the word Go, and the budget simply can't begin to deliver the spectacle promised by the film's title and poster, with the result that the "action" at the climax has to be staged in a manner that resembles a one-reel short made a quarter of a century earlier.

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.