The film industry was attracted
to aviation as early as silent films and it is no surprise that Wings (1927) was the first Best
Picture Academy Award. Having a cameraman in the bi-planes must
have been an interesting though high-risk occupation. Giving
audiences a bird’s eye view was certainly thrilling at this time.
The Grosset and Dunlap first edition novelization by John Monk Saunders
gave readers an escape, to say the least. The photo-illustrated
endpapers are a bonus on this popular photoplay edition. Richard
Arlen and Buddy Rogers both enamored with Clara Bow take their
competition to wartime France as aviators. Critic observations
have revealed that the hairstyle and clothes fashion wardrobe for Miss
Bow was only seen circa 1927 and not during the story timeframe of
1916-1917.
Early dust jackets depicting airplane flight are sought after for the
historical origins of aviation, the depiction of World War One air
action, and now film scenes further enhanced through interior
stills. This is evidenced in the selection of titles portrayed in
the banner above. Take note of Dirigible
(1931) which preceded the Hindenberg disaster in 1937.
Gary Cooper was busy acting in Hollywood aviation with flying action in
The Legion of the Condemned, Lilac Time (both 1928), and Wings, all Grosset and Dunlap First
Edition photoplays. Lilac
Time was also published earlier in a magazine format
within the September 1928 issue of Screen
Book (published by Novel Magazine) in its entirety with many
more stills. The early issues of this film magazine
have full novel-length presentations, often with rotogravure stills.
Doubleday Doran published a boy’s series by Thomson Burtis. There
are five titles with an aviation enthusiast named Russ Farrell from
1924-1929. The 1929 serial film Russ
Farrell, Aviator allowed all five titles to include a
frontispiece still of actor Reed Howes, though one appears to be a
long-distance flight scene.
Other examples of great movie tie-ins include the following: I
Wanted Wings (1941), Air
Force (1943), Command
Decision (1948), Twelve
O'Clock High (1949), The
High and the Mighty (1954), The
Dam Busters (1955), Wings of
the Eagle (1957), 633
Squadron (1964), Those
Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), and The Blue Max (1966).
Flight of the Phoenix (1966) is
an example of the flying risks, as famed stunt pilot Paul Mantz was
killed while filming the crash of the “Phoenix”.
A final note of appreciation for the filming of The
Narrow Margin by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster. This
historical narrative was titled Battle
of Britain when released in 1969. Great Britain’s Royal
Air Force was able to repel the German Luftwaffe and prevent Hitler’s
plan to invade. Production crews managed to find 100 vintage
aircraft, some becoming equipped for filming. An all-star cast of
British actors recreated the action (Sir Laurence Olivier, Michael
Caine, Robert Shaw, Trevor Howard, Michael Redgrave, Christopher
Plummer, etc.), and book publishers gave us several tie-ins. Most
included some commentary on the complexities of filming this venture.
