Speed was not just a preference in a first third
of the 20th century --- it was a religion. Everyone wanted to get there faster
because now they knew they could. Locomotives once belching steam
kettles sleeked into silver bullets with names like "Super Chief,"
and you were just nobody till you went up in a plane. Central Airport, the
title a misnomer because no one airport is central or singular site of action,
has a first reel contest between a speeding train and overhead plane buzzing
it. No one sees risk; there's just exhilaration for living at a time where no
spot seemed distant anymore. When getting there fast seemed everyone's goal, I
wonder how dangerous roads became by the 20's and 30's, far fewer of them
paved then, let alone blessed with multiple lanes for travel. Speed-crazy
Richard Barthelmess and kid brother Tom Brown make the case for damn-the-danger
in sky-larking, their multiple crack-ups to be expected and even relished
toward conquest of the sky.
CentralAirport was directed by William Wellman, who had real-life
thumbed nose at doom and knew what fun was had in danger. I wonder how many
barnstormers got start for watching Wellman movies. Parents should have kept
offspring away from these instead of worrying about sex content of precode,
although CentralAirport has plenty of that too. The film
was sold as The Crowd Roars of the air, latter from Howard Hawks having come
out the previous season, and virtually remade here. How many screen families
split over junior brother following his elder into hazardous enterprise?
(before, and later, it would be war service) A Barthelmess, Cagney, Richard
Dix, many others, were poor collective influence from a mother's standpoint.
Trouble was, fast cars, trains, even airborne jennys (called the Model T of
planes during the 20's) were easily got at by whoever of a public cared to fly,
even in rural spots to which itinerant aviators came and gave lessons. CentralAirport was merely one of devils
crooking a finger at youth to come take the stick and stare fate down. Thanks
to relentless lure like this, we'd not lack for personnel to conquer the air,
then wipe it clear of enemies who'd attack from above.
Find myself recalling the serial version of "Tailspin Tommy". Tommy was a plausible small-town boy who has an extraordinarily ordinary life for a serial hero. He's an aviation buff who lives with his nice parents, lands a job as a pilot with a small airline (mainly shuttling items around in biplanes), and socializes with a nice aviatrix (who works as a waitress at the airfield diner. Nobody questions why she doesn't seek a pilot job herself). It's an agreeable cliffhanger, reveling in the airfield atmosphere. A few times they seem to forget about the villains at a rival airline entirely.
There are perils and plummets, including some big stuff culled from features (a Hollywood sidetrip justifies WWI dogfights, and an impressive earthquake comes out of nowhere). There's also a mad scientist who's in and out in one episode. But it's all presented as eminently do-able, and survivable, for a teenager just out of school. He doesn't need to be an orphan, a scientist's nephew, or a tagalong on an expedition. He builds a simple flight trainer in the garage and lucks into a small outfit willing to give him a break. "Central Airport" may have inspired daydreams, but I wonder if "Tailspin Tommy" inspired more kids to take actual steps.
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Find myself recalling the serial version of "Tailspin Tommy". Tommy was a plausible small-town boy who has an extraordinarily ordinary life for a serial hero. He's an aviation buff who lives with his nice parents, lands a job as a pilot with a small airline (mainly shuttling items around in biplanes), and socializes with a nice aviatrix (who works as a waitress at the airfield diner. Nobody questions why she doesn't seek a pilot job herself). It's an agreeable cliffhanger, reveling in the airfield atmosphere. A few times they seem to forget about the villains at a rival airline entirely.
There are perils and plummets, including some big stuff culled from features (a Hollywood sidetrip justifies WWI dogfights, and an impressive earthquake comes out of nowhere). There's also a mad scientist who's in and out in one episode. But it's all presented as eminently do-able, and survivable, for a teenager just out of school. He doesn't need to be an orphan, a scientist's nephew, or a tagalong on an expedition. He builds a simple flight trainer in the garage and lucks into a small outfit willing to give him a break. "Central Airport" may have inspired daydreams, but I wonder if "Tailspin Tommy" inspired more kids to take actual steps.
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