Summary
A gilded New York plutocrat, Walter Johnson, tethered to nothing but vanity and a stop-watch, wagers a king’s ransom that he can abduct Europe’s most luminous music-hall comet, Gerdie Belle, and drag her back across the Atlantic inside seventy-two volcanic hours. His vessel: the Zeppelin Victoria Luise, a silver leviathan that dwarfs the very notion of distance. Berlin, a city of smoke and celluloid, yields the starlet for an instant before she bolts toward Moscow’s footlights; Johnson pursues, chloral in pocket, and—like some operatic abductor—spirits her unconscious across steppes crackling with Cossack fury. Once airborne, the dirigible becomes both cathedral and prison, its catwalks echoing with the slow thaw of contempt into desire. Mid-ocean, fuel evaporates, the balloon sags, the lovers drift toward polar oblivion until the liner Imperator looms—a steel deity dispensing petrol and providence. Icebergs, gales, and the ticking clock gnaw the hull, yet the Victoria Luise slingshots toward Barnegat, skims Sandy Hook, and lands at Governor’s Island with the punctuality of a metronome. Johnson strides into the millionaires’ club at the stroke of twelve, pockets the wager, and—far more valuably—exits with Gerdie’s hand already glowing on his sleeve.
Synopsis
Walter Johnson, a New York millionaire, decides to aid his friend and incidentally reimburse himself and secure a large wager by flying from America to Europe and return in the given period of three days. It seems that Johnson's friend, Mr. Parker, is in love with a music hall star named Gerdie Belle, who has left America to appear in Europe. Johnson bets his friend $100,000 he will have the lady in question in America within three days from the time of his departure, and accordingly arranges his dirigible, Zeppelin Victoria Luise, for the flight across the Atlantic. Johnson embarks, and after an uneventful flight, arrives in Berlin in 17 hours, where after considerable difficulty he finally locates Gerdie Belle in a moving picture studio in Berlin. She suddenly leaves, however, for Russia, where she is to appear in a musical comedy, and there is nothing to do but for Johnson to follow her in his air craft. He arrives in time for the opening performance, and takes Gerdie Belle into his confidence, but she refuses to be inveigled into the plot. By means of a bottle of chloral, Johnson succeeds in carrying her off bodily, and after an exciting chase through the wilds of Russia, he finally outdistances the Cossacks who are pursuing them, and takes her aboard his "Sky Monster." The heroine recovers consciousness and finds herself a prisoner in Johnson's keeping, as the dirigible is now on its way towards New York. Far in the distance the continent is gradually disappearing from view, and Gerdie Belle, realizing the folly of continuing to be cold toward her captor, finally softens her heart toward his advances. Everything points toward a successful arrival in America, but in his hurry, Johnson has forgotten to fill his tank with gasoline, and they find themselves stranded on the Atlantic, midway between America and Europe, without fuel. Luck is again with him, however, for looking in the distance they see the "Imperator," queen of the seas, approaching. They immediately get in wireless communication and tell her of their plight, and she comes to the rescue. We see the gigantic sky monster hovering over the largest vessel afloat, and they take on a goodly supply of gasoline and depart. Later the "Victoria Luise" runs into the iceberg zone, and as the cold air causes her gas to lose its buoyancy, she settles on the ocean, in danger of being wrecked any minute. Again the airship is on its way, making all haste toward the shores of the land of liberty. About 10 o'clock on the third day, when the "Victoria Luise" is ploughing through space at 280 miles an hour, a spot appears on the horizon and by means of her searchlight she is enabled to pick up the small crafts on the shore front of the great Atlantic. She is now approaching Barnegat, and turning her head northward, steers for New York at all possible haste, for seconds are now valuable. They pass along the coast by Sandy Hook and arrive at Governor's Island with only a few minutes to spare. We see the millionaire's club, with Mr. Parker surrounded by his friends, looking at his watch and rubbing his hands with glee, because he already feels sure he has won the wager. But he is mistaken, because promptly at 12 the door opens and Johnson, who has now won the heart of his lady love, enters amid cheers. Parker feels that even though he has lost money he at least has a chance to win the heart of Gerdie Belle, for little does he suspect that Johnson has already won his way into the famous beauty's heart. There is nothing left but praise and a promise to attend the wedding of the first man to cross the Atlantic in three days and the world's famous beauty, Gerdie Belle.
Review Excerpt
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Seventeen hours from Manhattan to Berlin—today we yawn at that timespan, yet in 1920 it was the stuff of alchemy. The Sky Monster never once apologizes for its hubris; instead it inflates every frame until the celluloid creaks like varnished silk stretched over a dirigible’s ribcage.
Director —name lost to nitrate rot— understood that spectacle ages, but appetite is perennial. So he gives us Walter Johnson, a man whose tuxedo is stitched from stock certificates, eyes flickering with the same ..."
