''Flying Romeos'' is a 1928 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

directed by

Mervyn LeRoy Mervyn LeRoy (; October 15, 1900 – September 13, 1987) was an American film director and producer. During the 1930s, he was one of the two great practitioners of economical and effective film directing at Warner Bros., Warner Brothers studios, ...

and written by John McDermott, Sidney Lazarus, Gene Towne and John W. Conway.Erickson, Hal
"Review: 'Flying Romeos' (1928) – Mervyn LeRoy."
''AllMovie'', 2019. Retrieved: July 2, 2019. The film stars the comedy team of Charles Murray and

George Sidney George Sidney (October 4, 1916May 5, 2002) was an American film director and producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His work includes cult classics '' Bye Bye Birdie'' (1963) and '' Viva Las Vegas'' (1964). With an extensive back ...

, stars of

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

's popular "

The Cohens and Kellys ''The Cohens and Kellys'' is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Harry A. Pollard and starring Charles Murray, George Sidney, Kate Price, and Jason Robards Sr. The film is the first of the ''Cohens and Kellys'' film serials. The ...

" comedies, moonlighting at

First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...

. Other sidekicks included

Fritzi Ridgeway Fritzi Ridgeway (April 8, 1898 – March 29, 1961), sometimes credited as Fritzie Ridgeway, was an American silent film actress, vaudeville performer, and hotelier. Although she starred in numerous films, she is perhaps best known for her work ...

, Lester Bernard, Duke Martin,

James Bradbury Jr. James Horatio Bradbury Jr. (October 5, 1894 – June 21, 1936)"United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPZB-H9F8 : 3 September 2021), James Horatio Bradb ...

and

Belle Mitchell Belle Mitchell (September 24, 1889 – February 12, 1979) was an American stage and film actress. She appeared in more than 100 films between 1915 and 1978. She was born in Croswell, Michigan and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Parti ...

. ''Flying Romeos'' was released on February 26, 1928, by First National Pictures, typically a

B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

studio.

Plot

Barbers Cohen (

) and Cohan ( Charles Murray) both love Minnie (

), their young manicurist, who has a fondness for aviators. Duly, the pair of hapless middle-aged lovers sign up for flying lessons and accidentally find themselves performing some wild stunts in an aircraft. The owner of the "Spirit of Goldberg" (Lester Bernard) is impressed with the skills of these two tyros. He persuades the duo to make a long ocean flight. The flight leads to more aerial mayhem, especially when the "real" pilot (Duke Martin) turns out to be a lunatic. On their triumphant return, Cohen and Cohan sadly find their manicurist had married a pilot.

Cast

* Charles Murray as Cohan *

as Cohen *

as Minnie * Lester Bernard as Goldberg * Duke Martin as The Aviator *

as The Nut *

as Mrs. Goldberg

Production

Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo, in ''Aviation in the Cinema'' (1985) characterized ''The Flying Romeos'' as an early "talkie" that was a comedy vehicle for two noted film comedians with a heavy reliance on

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

aerial antics.

Reception

The contemporary film review of ''The Flying Romeos'' by

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', noted, "The fun in this piece really starts when Messrs. Cohen and Cohan are tested for the air flights across the Pacific. ... The other truly laughable episode is where the friendly enemies are once more up in the air, the machine being steered by a man who happens to have spent the latter part of his life in a lunatic asylum." Aviation film historian James M. Farmer in ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1984), had a similar reaction, saying that ''Flying Romeos'' "... provides an excellent series of opportunities for some outrageous aerial thrills."Farmer 1984, p. 309.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1st ed.). Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: TAB Books 1984. . * Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. . * Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies''. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links

* * {{Mervyn LeRoy 1928 films American aviation films 1920s English-language films English-language adventure comedy films 1920s adventure comedy films First National Pictures films Films directed by Mervyn LeRoy American silent feature films American black-and-white films 1928 comedy films 1920s American films Silent American adventure comedy films 1928 adventure films