''The Flying Mail'' is a 1926 American silent

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by Noel M. Smith. The film stars Al Wilson, Joseph W. Girard and Kathleen Myers. ''The Flying Mail'' was one of a series of films that showcased the exploits of the air mail service.

Plot

Following a party, Sherry Gillespie ( Al Wilson), a U. S. Mail flyer, awakes to find himself in a strange apartment and is shown evidence by Cleo Roberts (

Carmelita Geraghty Carmelita Geraghty (March 21, 1901 – July 7, 1966) was an American silent-film actress and painter. Early life The daughter of screenwriter Tom Geraghty, she was the sister of writers Maurice and Gerald Geraghty. Her father wrote scenario ...

) that they were married the previous evening. Bart Sheldon (

Harry von Meter Harry von Meter (March 20, 1871 – June 2, 1956; sometimes credited as Harry van Meter) was an American actor of stage and silent film. He starred in about 200 films in the period from 1912 through 1929. He retired from acting just as sound fi ...

), the leader of a gang, plots with a henchman to fly Sherry's aircraft and cautions Cleo not to let the pilot escape. When Sherry escapes, however, and returns to the flying field, he is suspended by his employer. His estranged fiancée Alice () Kathleen Myers is heartbroken when learning about Cleo, who is scheming with Sheldon to obtain part of an inheritance that Sherry is to receive if he earns $10,000 in a year. Following a series of fast complications, Sherry decides to clear his name. He tracks down the gang, and swinging from a motorcycle to a rope ladder, he mounts the villain's aircraft wing and fights hand-to-hand with Sheldon. He and Sheldon parachute to the ground. When the gang leader is arrested, Sherry is finally vindicated in the eyes of his fiancée and his employer.

Cast

* Al Wilson as Sherry Gillespie * Joseph W. Girard as Martin Hardwick * Kathleen Myers as Alice Hardwick *

as Cleo Roberts *

as Bart Sheldon *

Eddie Gribbon Eddie Gribbon (January 3, 1890 – September 29, 1965) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films from the 1910s to the 1950s. Gribbon began working in Mack Sennett films in 1916 and continued through the 1920s. He usuall ...

as 'Gluefoot' Jones * Frank Tomick as Tom Corrigan

Production

Al Wilson was not only the star of ''The Flying Mail'' but also flew as a "stunt pilot" in the film. After Wilson became a flying instructor and a short period as manager of the Mercury Aviation Company, founded by one of his students,

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

, Wilson became more and more skilled in performing stunts, including wing-walking, and left the company to become a professional stunt pilot, specializing in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

films. Production started on ''The Flying Mail'' in 1925 at the

Antelope Valley The Antelope Valley is a valley primarily located in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States and the southeast portion of Kern County, California, Kern County, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. It is situated ...

, north of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Wilson had Frank Tomick, another pilot/actor in one of the supporting roles, fly the "pickup" aircraft for Wilson's stunts. Wilson worked together with stuntmen like Frank Clarke and Wally Timm and also for film companies, including

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

. After numerous appearances in stunt roles, he started his career as an actor in 1923 with the serial ''

The Eagle's Talons ''The Eagle's Talons'' is a 1923 American film serial directed by Duke Worne. The film is considered to be lost. Cast * Fred Thomson Frederick Clifton Thomson (February 26, 1890 – December 25, 1928) was an American silent film cowbo ...

''.Wynne 1987, pp. 5–17. Wilson produced his own movies until 1927, when he went back to work with Universal.

Reception

Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo, in ''Aviation in the Cinema'' (1985) said ''The Flying Mail'' was only one of a long list of aviation films that showcased Wilson's talents. He alternately wrote, acted and flew in a career that "spanned more than 10 years, and he acted in more films than any other professional pilot."Pendo 1985, pp. 7–8, 11. In ''The Flying Mail'', Pendo noted the aerial stunts featured Wilson who "jumped from a motorcycle to a ladder suspended from a plane, fought a hand-to-hand battle on the plane's wing, and made a two-man, one-parachute drop – all, as a title in the film clearly stated, with no double or trick photography."Pendo 1985, p. 62.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Munden, Kenneth White. ''The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1997. . * 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

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flying Mail, The 1926 films 1920s action films Films directed by Noel M. Smith American silent feature films Associated Exhibitors films American black-and-white films 1920s English-language films 1920s American films Silent American action films English-language action films