The Flying Fool (1931) Review - Mostly Just Nice Coats and Old Planes

If you have an hour to kill and a soft spot for rickety biplanes, The Flying Fool is worth a look. It is mostly for people who enjoy that very specific era of British film where everyone sounds like they are auditioning for a high-end tea commercial. If you want fast action or a plot that makes total sense, you will probably hate this.

Henry Kendall plays Vincent Floyd. He is a pilot, but the movie decides he needs to be a sleuth too. I guess just flying planes back then was considered a bit boring for a lead character.

He gets it into his head to stop a gang of jewel smugglers. The leader is a guy called Morella Arlen. He does not look very threatening. He looks more like a man who would complain about his soup being too cold than a criminal mastermind.

The the movie moves pretty slow at first. There is a lot of standing around in rooms with heavy furniture. People in the 30s really loved their big wooden desks.

Vincent goes undercover to find the gang. It mostly involves him wearing a nice suit and looking intensely at people. I am not sure he is a very good spy, but the bad guys do not seem to notice.

Then there is Marion Lee, played by Ursula Jeans. She is the "gangster's sweetheart" who has a change of heart. Her character is a bit thin. She mostly exists to give Vincent information and look worried in the background.

I noticed that the sound is really crunchy. It is an early talkie, so you can hear the background hiss in every scene. Sometimes the actors have to shout to be heard over nothing at all. 🎙️

The middle of the film drags a bit. There is a scene in a club that goes on for a while. The music is okay, but you can tell the extras are just pretending to have a good time. One guy in the back is barely moving his feet.

It reminds me a bit of The Black Ace in terms of the whole "hero pilot" vibe. But that one felt a bit more raw than this.

The best part is definitely the end. Vincent gets into his plane to chase the villains who are in a car. It is supposed to be a dangerous mountain pass. In reality, it looks like a very nice miniature set.

You can almost see the wires on the plane model in a couple of shots. It is actually kind of charming. It makes you realize how much work went into these things before computers did everything.

There is one shot where the car goes around a corner and you can see the tire tracks from the previous take. I love little mistakes like that. It makes the movie feel more real, like humans actually made it.

The chase is actually pretty long for a movie this old. They really wanted to get their money's worth out of the plane footage. 🛩️

I was surprised by how much drinking happens. Every time someone enters a room, they are offered a drink. It is a wonder anyone could fly a plane with that much scotch in their system.

The dialogue is very stagey. Characters say things like "I say, that's a bit thick!" and other old-timey phrases. It is fun if you don't take it too seriously.

If you've seen The Peacock Fan, you know the drill with these mysteries. The plot is just a clothesline to hang some scenes on. The Flying Fool isn't much deeper than that.

I did like the flight gear, though. The leather jackets and the goggles look very cool. I wonder if the actors got to keep them after the shoot.

The ending is very abrupt. One minute they are chasing the bad guys, and the next, it is over. There is no real wrap-up, just a quick resolution and then the credits roll.

It is not as dramatic as something like A Square Deal. It stays pretty light the whole way through.

I think the director, Walter Summers, just really liked planes. The scenes on the ground feel like they are just waiting for the next takeoff. When the characters are in the air, the camera seems more interested in what is happening.

Overall, it is a decent time capsule. It shows what people thought was exciting back in 1931. It is a bit like looking at your great-grandfather's photo album. Some parts are boring, but every now and then, you see something cool.

Is it a masterpiece? No. But for a movie called The Flying Fool, it delivers exactly what the title says. A guy flies a plane and acts a bit foolishly. That is enough for a Sunday afternoon.