''Now We're in the Air'' is a 1927 American silent

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Frank R. Strayer Frank Raymond Strayer (September 21, 1891 – February 3, 1964) was an actor, film writer, director and producer. He was active from the mid-1920s until the early 1950s. He directed a series of 14 '' Blondie!'' (1938) movies as well. Biography ...

, starring the late-1920s intermittent comedy team of

Wallace Beery Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in '' Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in '' Grand Hotel'' ( ...

and

Raymond Hatton Raymond William Hatton (July 7, 1887 – October 21, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in almost 500 motion pictures. Biography Hatton was born in Red Oak, Iowa. His physician father steered him toward a career in medicine. Howev ...

. In a supporting role,

Louise Brooks Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an icon of the Jazz Age and flapper culture, in part due to the bob hairstyle that she helpe ...

plays twins, one raised French and the other raised German. Wallace Beery and Louise Brooks worked together the following year in the taut drama ''

Beggars of Life ''Beggars of Life'' is an American film directed by William Wellman and starring Wallace Beery and Richard Arlen as hobos, and Louise Brooks as a young woman who dresses as a young man and flees the law. The film is regarded as Brooks's best Ame ...

'', a well-received early sound film. Hatton also sometimes appeared paired in films with Beery's older brother

Noah Beery Noah Nicholas Beery (January 17, 1882 – April 1, 1946) was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of prominen ...

Plot

Wally (

) and Ray (

) are cousins whose grandfather, Lord Abercrombie McTavish ( Russell Simpson), is an aviation enthusiast who wanted to sign up as a pilot in the war. Wally and Ray are intent upon getting the fortune of their Scottish grandfather, and decide to show him that they are just as interested in aviation. Wally and Ray enlist in the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

, and are caught up in the aerial battles over the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

front lines. When the duo flies over the enemy lines in a runaway balloon, through a misunderstanding, they are honored as heroes of the enemy forces. The Germans send the aviators back to the U. S. lines as spies for the Kaiser. Here they are captured and almost shot, but everything ends happily. Along the way, Wally and Ray fall in love with twin sisters, Grisette and Griselle (both played by

, one loyal to the French, the other to the Germans).

Cast

as Wally *

as Ray * Russell Simpson as Lord Abercrombie McTavish *

as Griselle and as Grisette *

Emile Chautard Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...

as Monsieur Chelaine *

Malcolm Waite Malcolm Ivan Waite (May 7, 1892 – April 25, 1949) was an American film actor. Biography Malcolm Waite appeared in 31 films between 1923 and 1942, most notably as the oily "ladies' man" Jack in Charlie Chaplin's film classic ''The Gold Rush ...

as Prof. Saenger * Duke Martin as Top Sargeant * Richard Alexander as German officer (uncredited) *

Theodore von Eltz Theodore von Eltz (November 5, 1893 – October 6, 1964) was an American film actor, appearing in more than 200 films between 1915 and 1957. He was the father of actress Lori March. Von Eltz was a Yale University professor's son. After 12 ...

as German officer (uncredited) *

Fred Kohler Fred Kohler (April 20, 1888 – October 28, 1938) was an American actor. Career Fred Kohler was born in Kansas City, Missouri or in Dubuque, Iowa. As a teen, he began to pursue a career in vaudeville, but worked other jobs to support himself. ...

(uncredited) * Charles Stevens as Knife Thrower (uncredited) * Mattie Witting as Madame Chelaine, mother of the twins (uncredited)

Production

With the working title of ''We're Up in the Air Now '', ''Now We're in the Air'' was the third in a series of war comedies starring Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton. It followed on the heels of the popular '' Behind the Front'' and '' We're in the Navy Now'' (both released in 1926)."Catalog: 'Now We're in the Air'."
''Catalog.afi.com'', 2019. Retrieved: July 16, 2019. Most of the footage in ''Now We're in the Air'' features Beery and Hatton creating mayhem around a World War I airfield. Along with original aerial scenes, the aerial battle footage was left over from ''

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

'' (1927) and intercut into the action. Frank Tomick was hired as the stunt pilot to create additional scenes. He operated out of Griffith Park air field where

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

had leased the airfield and the National Guard

Curtiss JN-4 The Curtiss JN "Jenny" was a series of biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for th ...

"Jennies" stationed there.

Reception

''Now We're in the Air'' was popular in its time, although not as well received as the earlier military farces from the Beery/Hatton team. The aerial scenes were an interesting aspect of the production. In a modern re-appraisal, however, reviewer Janiss Garza commented: "In spite of a dual role, Brooks doesn't have much to do; ''Moving Picture World'' felt that 'any intelligent extra girl' could have handled the part."''Allmovie.com''

Preservation: 23 Minutes

''Now We're in the Air'' was long believed to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

. Three fragments were discovered in 2016 in a Czech archive: most of the surviving material was incomplete and badly deteriorated but approximately 23 minutes of the original 6 reel film was able to be preserved to the point of crystalline clarity, including a lengthy sequence in which Louise Brooks wears a black tutu. The print was found in Prague at the Czech Národní filmový archiv (the Czech Republic’s National Film Archive) by film preservationist Robert Byrne. "When Byrne inspected the elements for ''Rif a Raf, Politi'' (the Czech title for ''Now We’re in the Air''), he found the film had only partially survived in a state which also showed nitrate decomposition. Additionally, the surviving scenes were found to be out of order, and there were Czech-language titles in place of the original American titles. Byrne spent more than eight months reconstructing the surviving material, including restoring the film’s original English-language intertitles and original tinting."Gladysz, Thomas
"Long missing Louise Brooks film found."
''Huffington Post'', October 23, 2017. Retrieved: July 16, 2019. The preserved print of ''Now We're in the Air'' was shown for the first time at the

San Francisco Silent Film Festival The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is a film festival first held in 1996 and presented annually at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, California, United States. It is the largest silent film festival in the United States, although the largest ...

on June 2, 2017.Gladysz, Thomas
" 'Now We're in the Air' travels the world."
''San Francisco Silent Film Festival program'', June 2, 2017. Retrieved: July 15, 2019.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Brooks, Louise. ''Lulu in Hollywood''. New York: Knopf, 1982. . * Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation''. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books Inc., 1984. . * Gladysz, Thomas. ''Now We're in the Air''. New York: PandorasBox Press, 2017. . * Paris, Barry. ''Louise Brooks''. New York: Knopf, 1989. . * Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. . * Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies''. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links

* *
"Long Missing Louise Brooks Film Found"; Huffington PostFan tribute & forum''Now We're in the Air'' (restored version)
at vimeo.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Now We're In The Air 1927 films 1927 comedy films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films directed by Frank R. Strayer Paramount Pictures films Silent American comedy films American aviation films American World War I films 1920s American films