''The Fighting American'' (also known as ''The Fighting Adventurer'') is a surviving 1924 American silent romantic drama film 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 ...

and directed by Tom Forman. The young

Mary Astor Mary Astor (born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an American actress. Although her career spanned several decades, she may be best remembered for her performance as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in '' The Maltese ...

plays a young college student who is the object of desire in the eyes of the hero.

Plot

Bill Pendleton (Pat O'Malley), son of a wealthy shipowner, goes to fight in the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

as a pilot. He has trouble concentrating on his studies and as a happy-go-lucky college student adept at both flying and football, he accepts a wager from his fraternity pals that he will propose to any female student they choose. Mary O'Malley (

) is chosen by his pals and, unaware of the wager, accepts Bill's fraternity pin. She is an old-fashioned young woman who is secretly in love with him. Bill having proposed to her in earnest, is also in love. Mary, however, hears about the wager and thoroughly disgusted with Bill, leaves college and goes to China to join her missionary father (Alfred Fisher). A remorseful Bill ends up being kicked out of college, and his father also disowns him. He decides to follow Mary to China in order to redeem himself. He stows away on the same ship that Mary is taking to China. When the Chinese revolutionary, Fu Shing (

Warner Oland Warner Oland (born Johan Verner Ölund; October 3, 1879 – August 6, 1938) was a Swedish-American actor. His career included time on Broadway and numerous film appearances. He is most remembered for playing several Chinese and Chinese-American ...

), kidnaps Mary, Bill has to figure out how to save her. He enlists the help of his friend, Danny Daynes (

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 ...

), an alcoholic war veteran now serving as a general in the Chinese army. In an exciting battle in the sky, Bill ends up rescuing Mary and her father from a band of revolutionaries.

Cast

* Pat O'Malley as Bill Pendleton *

as Mary O'Mallory *

as Denny Daynes and Po-Hsing-Chien *

as Fu Shing *Taylor Carroll as W.F. Pendleton *

Clarence Geldart Clarence Geldart (June 9, 1867 – May 13, 1935) was an American film actor. He appeared in 127 films between 1915 and 1936. He was sometimes credited as C.H. Geldart or Charles H. Geldart. He was born in New Brunswick, Canada, and died i ...

as William A. Pendleton *Alfred Fisher as Mr. O'Mallory *Jack Byron as Alfred Rutland *James Wang as Lee Yong *

Emmett King Emmett Carleton King (May 31, 1865 – April 21, 1953) was an American actor of the stage and screen. Biography King began his acting career on stage. His first Broadway appearance was in 1899, in the farce, ''The Father of His Country'', which ...

as College Professor * Jane Starr as Lizzie *Frank Kingsley as Harry March *

Ed Brady Ed John Brady (born June 17, 1962) is a former American football player. Brady was raised in Morris, Illinois, and attended Morris Community High School, where he led the Morris Redskins football team to a state championship. Brady played for ...

Production

The plot of ''The Fighting American'' was a romantic satire penned by William Elwell Oliver, the winner of a writing contest that Universal Studios held for college students.Garza, Janiss
"Review: ''The Fighting American''."
''Allmovie'', 2019. Retrieved: September 2, 2019. The working title of the film was "The Throwback." A spectacular aerial stunt appeared in ''The Fighting American'' where two stuntmen fought on the wings of a

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 ...

with one stuntman falling off the wing. Instead of falling to his death, the falling stuntman doubled by former circus acrobat Russel Benton, swung in

pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward th ...

style onto the other wing tip. Two Curtiss JN-4s flew out of

Clover Field Santa Monica Airport (Santa Monica Municipal Airport) is a general aviation airport largely in Santa Monica, California, United States. The airport is about from the Pacific Ocean ( Santa Monica Bay) and north of Los Angeles International Ai ...

near

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, with one acting as a camera platform flown by Frank Tomick and the other aircraft flown by Leo Nomis.Santoir, Christian
"Review: ''The Fighting American''."
''Aeromovies'', July 29, 2010. Retrieved: September 2, 2019.

Reception

The review 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 d ...

'' considered ''The Fighting American'' as "pleasant nonsense". The review noted: "In the introductory title of "The Fighting American," the film presentation at the Broadway this week, Carl Laemmle, President of Universal Pictures Corporation, explains that the production is not one to tax the mentality of the spectators, who must look upon the narrative as nonsense."""Review: Pleasant nonsense."
''The New York Times'', May 13, 1924. Reviewer Janiss Garza recounted in her review for ''Allmovie.com'', that some aerial scenes in ''The Fighting American'' were exciting.

Preservation

Prints of ''The Fighting American'' exist in private film collections 6mm reduction positives, 8mm reduction positivesProgressive Silent Film List: ''The Fighting American''.
''silentera.com'', 2019. Retrieved: September 2, 2019.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies''. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links

* *
Lobby poster
* (Library of Congress copy) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fighting American, The 1924 films American aviation films American silent feature films Films directed by Tom Forman Films based on short fiction Universal Pictures films 1924 drama films Silent American drama films American black-and-white films 1920s American films