''The Cloud Dodger'' is a 1928 silent

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film directed by

Bruce M. Mitchell Bruce M. Mitchell (November 16, 1883 – September 26, 1952) was an American film director and writer active during the silent film era from 1914 to 1934. With the advent of sound films in the 1930s, Mitchell abandoned directing and became an a ...

and starring real life aviator

Al Wilson Aldra Kauwa Wilson (born June 21, 1977) is a former American college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football for the University of Tennessee, and ...

. The

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

film was produced and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

. Like many actors in the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

era, Wilson did not survive the transition to "

talkies A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

", with ''The Cloud Dodger'', one of his last films.

Plot

Al Williams (

), an aviator whose sweetheart Sylvia Lemoyne (

Gloria Grey Gloria Grey (born Maria Dragomanovich; October 23, 1909 – November 22, 1947) was an American screen and stage actress and director, appearing in mainly dramatic/romantic films during the silent era and after. Career Grey was born Maria Dr ...

) has left him for Stanton Stevens, a wealthy suitor, who flies off. Al interrupts their wedding and enlisting a friend to fly his aircraft, chases them. Seeing Al, Sylvia regrets her choice and pines for him. Seeing his sweetheart about to get away, using a rope ladder, Al climbs down into Stanton's aircraft. Al snatches Sylvia from her seat and transfers her to his aircraft, fully equipped with a minister and witnesses.

Cast

as Al Williams *

as Sylvia Lemoyne * Joe O'Brien as Stanton Stevens * Julia Griffith as Mrs. Lemoyne/Aunt Myrtle *

Gilbert Holmes Gilbert Holmes (1772–1846) was a clergyman in the Church of Ireland during the late 18th century and the first four decades of the nineteenth century. Holmes was educated at Trinity College Dublin. He was Dean of Ardfert The Dean of Limeric ...

as Joe Merriman

Production

was not only the star of ''The Cloud Dodger'' but also flew as a "stunt pilot" in the film. After becoming a flying instructor and a short period as manager of the

Mercury Aviation Company Mercury Aviation Company was one of the first commercial airline services founded in 1919 by Cecil B. DeMille. DeMille, Hollywood American film director and producer, was one of the first to see the aircraft's potential in commercial airline serv ...

, founded by one of his students,

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cinem ...

, Wilson became more and more skilled in performing stunts, including wing-walking, and left the company to become a professional stunt pilot, specializing in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

films. Wilson worked together with stuntmen like Frank Clarke and

Wally Timm Wally Timm (August 8, 1896 – April 29, 1978) was an American aircraft designer, pilot and manufacturer. Early life Wally Timm was born in Lakefield, Minnesota, and with his family moved to Windom, Minnesota. He worked closely alongside his brot ...

and also for film companies, including

. After numerous appearances in stunt roles, he started his career as an actor in 1923 with the serial ''

The Eagle's Talons ''The Eagle's Talons'' is a 1923 American film serial directed by Duke Worne. The film is considered to be lost. Cast * Fred Thomson - Jack Alden * Ann Little - Enid Markham * Al Wilson - Charles Dean * Herbert Fortier - Gregory Markham * J ...

''. Wilson produced his own movies until 1927, when he went back to work with Universal.

Reception

Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo, in ''Aviation in the Cinema'' (1985) said ''The Cloud Dodger'' was only one of a long list of aviation films that showcased Wilson's talents. He alternately wrote, acted and flew in a career that "spanned more than 10 years, and he acted in more films than any other professional pilot." In ''The Cloud Dodger'', Pendo noted the aerial stunts featured an "elopement and fight in the air" with a pick-up of the heroine from another aircraft by the hero on a ladder hanging from his own aircraft.Pendo 1985, p. 7.

Preservation status

Copies of ''The Cloud Dodger'' are held by

George Eastman Museum The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as ''George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film'', the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in ...

and the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'' 1978, p. 135.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* ''Catalog of Holdings, The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress''. Los Angeles, California: American Film Institute, 1978. . * 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

The Cloud Dodger at IMDb.com
*
lobby card
archived worthpoint) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cloud Dodger, The 1928 films 1920s action drama films American silent feature films Universal Pictures films American aviation films American black-and-white films American action drama films Films directed by Bruce M. Mitchell 1920s American films Silent American drama films