The Flying Fool (1929)

The Flying Fool (1929). 1h 13m | Passed

“I am a HUGE Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) fan and think he was the greatest of all the B-western stars. His Hoppy films are consistently entertaining and likable. That being said, he had an established career well before this–starring in numerous silent and sound films. I really like most of these non-Hoppy roles but was sadly disappointed in u0026quot;The Flying Foolu0026quot; as it was a genuinely bad film…both due to writing and Boydu0026#39;s acting.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhen the film begins, Bill is a cocky but very talented fighter plane pilot during WWI. Soon the film skips ahead to the 1920s and Bill makes a living as a barnstormer…a pilot that thrills crowds with dangerous flying stunts. He also is accompanied by his brother, Jimmy. He is like a mother, father and best buddy for Jimmy and the lesson he seems to keep pressing on the impressionable young man is that women are a dime a dozen…love u0026#39;em and leave u0026#39;em! Clearly, Bill is a bit of a jerk here…and ultimately, Jimmy ignores his brotheru0026#39;s advice and falls for a lady…and the film then plummets in quality.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn addition to bad writing and poor acting by Boyd as Bill, the film really had a bizarre and silly ending. In many ways, although the film was A-picture length, its writing seemed like a B-movie…and not a particularly good one.”