This high budget MGM movie from 1929 stars Mr Ben Hur himself, Ramon Navarrow, himself, a cross btw Robert Taylor and Ty Power. Here he has the Tom Cruise role of Maverick. In the Val Kilmer role we have Ralph Graves and the girl is Anita Page who would soon have her own blockbuster with the Broadway melody. Highly exciting aerial sequences are undercut by an underwritten and paint by the numbers, extremely broad strokes plot. Some of the sequences seeem like documentaries, though they should play more like set pieces eg the T-1000 morphing in T-2, bullet-time in the Matrix. You are giving the audience something they haven't seen, like they've never seen it. The movie never gives you that feeling or the necessary iconographic images that are usually associated in this genre. This is definitely a movie dialogue would have made better, for there is sound, through, music in the background, sounds of the planes etc but not enough to give the scenes the necessary gravitas to support a story about six friends and their friendship through naval and aerial school. he aviator movie would go on to be a popular genre in the earlie thirties Hollywood with all the studios throwing in their hats. Most weren't good but had a certain gravitas because of dialogue. Facial expressions just don't do the job here. Overall, not the best movie, but luscious cinematography and slightly above average direction, with fine performances all around from the cast slightly compensate but not enough.
Review of The Flying Fleet
