Aviator (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Aviator |
| Original title | Flight |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1929 |
| length | 110 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Frank Capra |
| script |
Ralph Graves , Frank Capra (dialogue) |
| production | Frank Capra / Harry Cohn for Columbia Pictures |
| camera |
Joseph Walker , Paul Perry , Elmer Dyer (aerial photographs) |
| cut |
Ben Pivar , Maurice Wright , Gene Milford |
| occupation | |
| |
Flieger ( English original title: Flight ) is an American adventure and war film from 1929, which is set during the US military intervention in Nicaragua 1926-1933 . The production was developed in close cooperation with the United States Marine Corps , and in 1930 it was performed in Germany .
action
Lefty Phelps loses a football game in college and, out of disappointment, joins the Marine Corps, where he receives flight training. He befriends his instructor, Sergeant "Panama" Williams. After an aircraft accident he is rescued from the burning wreck by “Panama” and has to be treated in a hospital. His pilot career is over.
In the hospital he falls in love with the nurse Elinor Murray. Finally his “Flying Devils” squadron is relocated to Nicaragua to fight the notorious bandit chief General “Lobo”. Nicaraguan President Ortega has asked the US for support. The squadron moved non-stop from their home base, Naval Air Station Pensacola , to Managua . "Panama" ensures that Lefty can accompany him as a mechanic. However, "Panama" is also in love with Elinor, which Lefty finds out by chance. There is an argument between the two, but Elinor declares himself for Lefty.
When a Marines outpost in Ocotal sends an emergency call, Lefty flies as a gunner at Corporal Roberts, who just makes fun of him. Your plane is shot down by the bandits and lands in a swamp. "Panama" refuses to help for personal reasons and calls in sick. When Elinor convinces him that Lefty never betrayed him, he changes his mind and flies off alone to save Lefty and Roberts. Roberts has since succumbed to his injuries; Lefty burns his body along with the plane. "Panama" manages to land, but he is shot at by the bandits led by "Lobos". Lefty kills the attacking bandits and starts with "Panama" in his plane for the return flight. He manages to land safely. Back in the USA, he was promoted to flight instructor, married Elinor and bought a new car for both of them.
Historical background, production history
Augusto César Sandino can easily be recognized in the bandit boss “Lobo” . The battle of Ocotal on July 16, 1927 served as a model for the support of the marines with the aircraft . The film producers thus adopted the stereotype of the insurgents as bandits that prevailed in parts of the US public. The film rebels even carry a black and red flag with a skull, as used by Sandino's troops.
The Marine Corps provided equipment, personnel and 28 aircraft on a large scale for production. a. of the Curtiss OC-2 type . The training shots were filmed on Naval Base San Diego and NAS North Island . Elmer Dyer, a specialist in aerial photography, used a machine specially equipped with a film camera, while Capra was given a director's plane to coordinate the aerial scenes. All scenes set in Nicaragua were filmed in California. Together with Submarine (Submarine, 1928) and Das Luftschiff , Flieger forms a trilogy of military films that Capra made between 1928 and 1931.
criticism
... Nominally a peacetime film, FLIGHT portrayed Marines enjoying their time away from combat in masculine camaraderie and pursuit of beautiful women with quasi-wartime battles against Nicaraguan revolutionaries, opponents of the US-backed government. The buddies from SUBMARINE, Jack Holt and Ralph Graves, this time find themselves as aviators, or dramatic combat over the jungles of Nicaragua. Like the Marines, the Army did travel to Nicaragua, but only to survey a possible route for another sea-to-sea canal , and slogging through the Central American rain forest did not offer much in the way of drama or romance ...
Suid, p. 55f.
Lore
The film has been available on DVD in the US market since the 2010s .
See also
literature
- Lawrence H. Suid: Guts & Glory. The Making of the American Military Image in Film , Lexington, KY (University Press of Kentucky) 2002. ISBN 0-8131-2225-2
- Michel Gobat: Confronting the American Dream. Nicaragua under US Imperial Rule , Durham / London (Duke University Press) 2005. ISBN 0-8223-3634-0