''Publicity Madness'' is a lost 1927 American

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

Albert Ray Albert Ray (August 28, 1897 – February 5, 1944) was an American film director, actor, and screenwriter. He directed more than 70 films between 1920 and 1939. He also appeared in 18 films between 1915 and 1922. He was born in New Roche ...

and written by

Andrew Bennison Andrew Bennison (November 3, 1886 – January 7, 1942, in Oakland, California) was an American screenwriter and film director whose career was at its peak in the 1930s. Bennison was nearly entirely a screenwriter between 1923 and 1942 involved ...

and

Malcolm Stuart Boylan Malcolm Stuart Boylan (April 13, 1897 – April 3, 1967) was an American screenwriter, writer, and founder of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Screenwriting Boylan entered the entertainment industry as a stage actor while working as a newspa ...

. The film stars

Lois Moran Lois Moran (born Lois Darlington Dowling; March 1, 1909 – July 13, 1990) was an American film and stage actress.

Edmund Lowe Edmund Dantes Lowe (March 3, 1890 – April 21, 1971) was an American actor. His formative experience began in vaudeville and silent film. Biography Lowe was born in San Jose, California. His father was a local judge. His childhood home was a ...

E. J. Ratcliffe Edward J. Ratcliffe (10 March 1863 – 28 September 1948) was an English actor of stage and screen. He had an established stage career behind him when he came to films in 1915. He then spent nearly twenty years before the cameras before making hi ...

, James Gordon,

Arthur Housman Arthur Housman (October 10, 1889 – April 8, 1942) was an American actor in films during both the silent film era and the Golden Age of Hollywood. Career Arthur Housman was one of the first screen comedians known to the public by name, and on ...

and

Byron Munson George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

. The film was released on October 2, 1927, by

Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film ...

, in a rush to capitalize on the publicity surrounding

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film), ...

flight of

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

Plot

Pete Clark (

), advertising and publicity manager for the Henly soap manufacturing company, puts up $100,000 of the company's money for a promotional contest, but endangers his job, in the process. Believing that no one would be so foolhardy as to compete for a prize involving a nonstop flight from the Pacific Coast to Hawaii, when Charles Lindbergh makes headlines crossing the Atlantic, Pete realizes the flight across the Pacific is possible. After taking a "crash" cours eon aviation, Pete decides to enter the race himself so as to collect the prize money and save himself from disgrace. After a series of amazing stunts, Pete does reach Hawaii and thereby wins the admiration of Violet (

Lois Moran Lois Moran (born Lois Darlington Dowling; March 1, 1909 – July 13, 1990) was an American film and stage actress.

), the boss's daughter. He also saves his job.

Cast

Lois Moran Lois Moran (born Lois Darlington Dowling; March 1, 1909 – July 13, 1990) was an American film and stage actress.

as Violet Henly *

as Pete Clark *

as Uncle Elmer Henly * James Gordon as Brutus Banning *

as Oscar Hawks *

as Henry Banning * Norman Peck as Wilbur

Production

Aviation historian Michael Paris in ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema''(1995) described the frenzy of trying to woo Lindbergh to do a film. Hollywood resorted to a spate of aviation-related features including ''Publicity Madness'' (1927), ''

Flying Romeos ''Flying Romeos'' is a 1928 American comedy adventure directed by Mervyn LeRoy and written by John McDermott, Sidney Lazarus, Gene Towne and John W. Conway.Erickson, Hal"Review: 'Flying Romeos' (1928) – Mervyn LeRoy."''AllMovie'', 2019. Retr ...

'' (1928) and ''

A Hero for a Night ''A Hero for a Night'' is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by William James Craft and produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, cashing in on the "Lindy craze", generated by Charles Lindbergh's famous ocean crossing flight. The f ...

'', even the Walt Disney Studios' ''Plane Crazy'' (1928), all comedy spoofs of the Lindbergh

flight.

Reception

The contemporary film review of ''Publicity Madness'' in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', noted, "A typical strip of Hollywood's more respectable canned fun is now decorating the Hippodrome screen. It bears the title of 'Publicity Madness' and its principal ingredients are beauty, resourcefulness, impertinence and stupidity; these are mixed up with dashes of flying machines, a full-blown ocean and a special soap.""Canned fun."
''The New York Times'', October 12, 1927, p. 30. Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo, in ''Aviation in the Cinema'' (1985) noted ''Publicity Madness'' involved "high jinks" in the air.Pendo 1985, p. 8.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* 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

* * {{Albert Ray 1927 films American aviation films 1920s English-language films Silent American comedy films 1927 comedy films Fox Film films Films directed by Albert Ray American silent feature films American black-and-white films 1920s American films English-language comedy films