After now having seen two movies titled "Flight," it looks like Denzel Washington's "Flight" (2012) is a clear winner. I watched "Flight" (1929) on the strength of director Frank Capra who directed "Lady for a Day" and "It's a Beautiful Life," two undeniable classics.
No one hits a homerun every at bat.
This was one frustrating movie. The moment I saw two guys in love with the same girl I rolled my eyes. "Here we go again. Hollywood's favorite conflict. The love triangle." Since both men were in the Marines I figured one of them had to die. That is the easiest solution.
The two men in question were Panama Williams (Jack Holt) and Lefty Phelps (Ralph Graves). The woman was Elinor Baring (Lila Lee). Panama was a sergeant in the Marines while Lefty was a private. Panama had met Lefty after his infamous wrong way run in football which cost his team the game. It was such a big deal that it made the Los Angeles newspapers (maybe it was the Rose Bowl). Panama was such a gentleman towards Lefty at his worst moment that Lefty joined the Marines too.
Panama knew Elinor first, but he was too yellow to say anything to her outside of idle chit chat. Lefty had no idea Panama was into Elinor when he asked her out. She accepted Lefty's invitation and the two fell in love. Later in the movie Panama (Jack Holt) and Lefty (Ralph Graves) found out that they were in love with the same woman though she only loved one of them.
The movie was already sputtering along when something totally implausible happened.
Panama and Lefty were deployed to Nicaragua to stamp out a rebellion led by General Lobo. While on a mission Lefty's plane crashed, but that's not the half of it.
Lefty was the gunner in the plane and Steve Roberts (Harold Goodwin) was the pilot. The plane NOSEDIVED from the sky from no less than a thousand feet, hit the ground propeller first, and stayed largely intact. What's more, both occupants lived!
Are you kidding me?
Even IF (a huge planet-sized IF) the plane somehow remained intact, there's NO WAY both men are surviving the crash. The plane may be made of metal, but they're not. The sheer force of impact once the plane hit the ground would've killed them.
I can't stand when movies insult my intelligence like that. You think we're that dumb, or do you think your movie is so good we'd overlook these extremely large absurdities?
Once the plane crashed I knew it was just setting up for some superhero BS. A platoon, battalion, or whatever you call it, went out in search of Steve and Lefty only to fail. When they called off the search it left Elinor with one play: go beg Panama to search.
You see, Panama had recused himself from the search because he thought Lefty stole Elinor from him. Little did he know, Elinor was never his. Elinor had begged him once before to go search for Lefty but got nowhere. When the search was called off she figured she'd try begging him again. Sure, a whole group of capable men searched for him, but I guess she believed Panama had some supernatural abilities no one else had. Or maybe she knew that only Panama would care enough to continue searching for Lefty. Or maybe she knew Panama would do anything she asked if she framed it right. In either case it was a move to get her sweetheart back regardless of what happened.
It goes without saying that Panama found Lefty and brought him back safely. It reminded me of "Dirigible" (1931) even though it was released after "Flight" (1929). Hey, we don't watch movies in order. I wasn't too fond of either movie though Dirigible was a bit better.
Free on YouTube.
No one hits a homerun every at bat.
This was one frustrating movie. The moment I saw two guys in love with the same girl I rolled my eyes. "Here we go again. Hollywood's favorite conflict. The love triangle." Since both men were in the Marines I figured one of them had to die. That is the easiest solution.
The two men in question were Panama Williams (Jack Holt) and Lefty Phelps (Ralph Graves). The woman was Elinor Baring (Lila Lee). Panama was a sergeant in the Marines while Lefty was a private. Panama had met Lefty after his infamous wrong way run in football which cost his team the game. It was such a big deal that it made the Los Angeles newspapers (maybe it was the Rose Bowl). Panama was such a gentleman towards Lefty at his worst moment that Lefty joined the Marines too.
Panama knew Elinor first, but he was too yellow to say anything to her outside of idle chit chat. Lefty had no idea Panama was into Elinor when he asked her out. She accepted Lefty's invitation and the two fell in love. Later in the movie Panama (Jack Holt) and Lefty (Ralph Graves) found out that they were in love with the same woman though she only loved one of them.
The movie was already sputtering along when something totally implausible happened.
Panama and Lefty were deployed to Nicaragua to stamp out a rebellion led by General Lobo. While on a mission Lefty's plane crashed, but that's not the half of it.
Lefty was the gunner in the plane and Steve Roberts (Harold Goodwin) was the pilot. The plane NOSEDIVED from the sky from no less than a thousand feet, hit the ground propeller first, and stayed largely intact. What's more, both occupants lived!
Are you kidding me?
Even IF (a huge planet-sized IF) the plane somehow remained intact, there's NO WAY both men are surviving the crash. The plane may be made of metal, but they're not. The sheer force of impact once the plane hit the ground would've killed them.
I can't stand when movies insult my intelligence like that. You think we're that dumb, or do you think your movie is so good we'd overlook these extremely large absurdities?
Once the plane crashed I knew it was just setting up for some superhero BS. A platoon, battalion, or whatever you call it, went out in search of Steve and Lefty only to fail. When they called off the search it left Elinor with one play: go beg Panama to search.
You see, Panama had recused himself from the search because he thought Lefty stole Elinor from him. Little did he know, Elinor was never his. Elinor had begged him once before to go search for Lefty but got nowhere. When the search was called off she figured she'd try begging him again. Sure, a whole group of capable men searched for him, but I guess she believed Panama had some supernatural abilities no one else had. Or maybe she knew that only Panama would care enough to continue searching for Lefty. Or maybe she knew Panama would do anything she asked if she framed it right. In either case it was a move to get her sweetheart back regardless of what happened.
It goes without saying that Panama found Lefty and brought him back safely. It reminded me of "Dirigible" (1931) even though it was released after "Flight" (1929). Hey, we don't watch movies in order. I wasn't too fond of either movie though Dirigible was a bit better.
Free on YouTube.