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7/10
Wonderful Titles and Stunts
Maliejandra2 January 2021
The Flying Fool has many title cards, but the more the merrier because famous and talented title writer Ralph Spence is to blame for half the fun of the movie. Not only are the cards beautifully illustrated, they're laugh out loud funny. He calls one character a hard-boiled egg that was yellow in the middle. The other draw is stuntman Dick Grace who walks atop moving vehicles as he races to get to the church on time and performs aerial stunts including leaping from an airplane and walking on the wings. These were the days when these things could not be faked. He was lucky and lived into his senior years.

Wanda Hawley wears a beautiful drop waisted wedding gown and an unfortunate veil with huge poufs on either side of her head, making her look like an opera singer who slept off a hangover in her costume. Gaston Glass plays the opportunistic best man who leaps at the chance to marry Hawley even though she repeatedly tells him it would only be to spite Grace.

The Grapevine release is just shy of 40 minutes. I imagine it is missing footage but it plays nicely anyway. It has a beautiful organ score that really takes you back to the era.
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9/10
Stuntfull, fast-paced, really wacky comedy!
JohnHowardReid8 December 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Richard Grace (Donald Daring), Wanda Hawley (Lorain, the bride), Gaston Glass (Jack Bryan, the "best man"), Dick Sutherland (the skipper of Donald's yacht), Mary Land (the bride's mother), Dorothy Vernon (Mrs Gibbs), Eddie Harris (Phinneas Gibbs, a crossword puzzle addict), Milburn Moranti.

Director: FRANK S. MATTISON. Adapted from the story "The Ace and the Queen" by Putnam Hoover. Titles: Ralph Spence. Photography: Bert Longnecker, Gus Boswell. Art director: Milton Fowler. A Sunset Production presented by Anthony J. Xydias.

Not copyright 1925 by Sunset Productions. Released through Aywon Film Corp.: 3 September 1925. 5 reels. 4,870 feet

SYNOPSIS: "Love is intoxication and marriage is the hangover."

COMMENT: This movie survives in its cutdown Kodascope version in which the role played by Milburn Morante (or Moranti – the actor used both spellings throughout his career) has possibly disappeared. I confess I don't know what he looks like – a man with 379 acting credits and I've no idea what he looks like! Incredible! (But you would think he'd have a photograph in Quinlan or McClure, along with the Burt Mustins of this world!) Anyway, this is a really wonderful movie – fast-paced, funny, highly original, with great stunts and some delightfully inimitable characters. My favorite is Eddie Harris' crossword fanatic, but our daft but daring hero and our sulky, moody heroine are not far behind. And let's not forget the impeccable villain of the piece, Gaston Glass. Once Sarah Bernhardt's leading man, super-handsome Glass had a big career in silent movies, but, oddly, despite his super-impressive stage background, he was soon reduced to walk-ons in talkies. Nevertheless, he had the game beaten in 1936 when he switched to production manager (or unit manager or production unit manager). Getting back to Flying Fool, our hero's captain, Dick Sutherland, has but an ephemeral role in this version, but what a face! As for our inventive director, Frank S, Mattison, he retired in 1929 after making his first full talkie – and who would blame him! All told, as I've said this is a wonderful movie and available in a first-class, really beautiful copy (not a mark on it, except of course in the stock library aerial shots) from Alpha.
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