The Cloud Dodger

The Cloud Dodger is a 1928 silent drama film directed by Bruce M. Mitchell and starring real life aviator Al Wilson.[1] The action film was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.[2]

Joe O'Brien shown above was a Hollywood actor for 9 years, this being one of his first films before he became a director.

The Cloud Dodger
Lobby card
Directed byBruce M. Mitchell
Written byWilliam B. Lester (story, adaptation)
Gardner Bradford (intertitles)
Produced byCarl Laemmle
StarringAl Wilson
Gloria Grey
CinematographyWilliam S. Adams
Edited byJack Bruggy
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • September 30, 1928 (1928-09-30)
Running time
5 reels; 45 minutes (per AFI)
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSilent
English intertitles

Like many actors in the silent film era, Wilson did not survive the transition to "talkies", with The Cloud Dodger, one of his last films.[3][4]

Plot

Al Williams (Al Wilson), an aviator whose sweetheart Sylvia Lemoyne (Gloria Grey) 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
  • Al Wilson as Al Williams
  • Gloria Grey as Sylvia Lemoyne
  • Joe O'Brien as Stanton Stevens
  • Julia Griffith as Mrs. Lemoyne/Aunt Myrtle
  • Gilbert Holmes as Joe Merriman

Production

Al Wilson 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, founded by one of his students, Cecil B. DeMille, 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 aviation films.[5]

Wilson worked together with stuntmen like Frank Clarke and Wally Timm and also for film companies, including Universal Pictures. After numerous appearances in stunt roles, he started his career as an actor in 1923 with the serial The Eagle's Talons.[6] Wilson produced his own movies until 1927, when he went back to work with Universal.[N 1]

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.[3]

Preservation status

Copies of The Cloud Dodger are held by George Eastman Museum and the Library of Congress.[8][9]

References

Notes
  1. Wilson was one of the pilots flying in Hell's Angels (1930) and during filming, he was involved in an accident where the mechanic Phil Jones died. This episode marked the end of his career as stunt pilot in Hollywood.[7]

Citations
  1. Wynne 1987, p. 171.
  2. "Data:'The Cloud Dodger'." silentera.com, 2019. Retrieved: June 16, 2019.
  3. Pendo 1985, p. 7.
  4. "Title: 'The Cloud Dodger'." Catalog.afi.com, 2019. Retrieved: June 17, 2019.
  5. Wynne 1987, pp. 16–17.
  6. Wynne 1987, pp. 5–17.
  7. "Stunt Pilots." Silents are Golden. Retrieved: June 17, 2019.
  8. "The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:'The Cloud Dodger'." Library of Congress, 2019. Retrieved: June 17, 2019.
  9. Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress 1978, p. 135.

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. ISBN 978-0-8018-5315-9.
  • Pendo, Stephen. Aviation in the Cinema. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. ISBN 0-8-1081-746-2.
  • Wynne, H. Hugh. The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. ISBN 978-0-93312-685-5.
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