The Non-Stop Flight

FBO mainly specialized in the production and distribution of low-budget films. These films were distributed to smaller venues throughout the United States.[6] The average cost per production was $50,000 to $75,000 dollars equivalent to $874,155 to $1,311,233 in 2022. FBO also produced and distributed a limited number of big-budget features labeled "Gold Bond" productions. In 1926, FBO had twelve gold bond productions including The Non-Stop Flight.[7]

Newspaper Flight Map

CPO
Skiles Pope

Commander John Rodgers

The 1925 attempt by the United States Navy to fly three Seaplanes, non-stop, between San Pablo, California and Hawaii provided motivation for the Emilie Johnson story. Despite the flight’s failure to reach Hawaii, one seaplane, PN-9 No. 1, set a Class C seaplane record for non-stop miles flown over the Pacific Ocean. That record would stand for five years.[8] The September flight created quite a sensation, grabbing newspaper headlines around the world.

PN-9 No 1 was an open cockpit naval seaplane captained by U.S. Navy Commander John Rodgers. The plane departed San Pablo, California's calm waters, on August 31, 1925. On September 1, the flying boat had flown 1,841 miles. With its fuel supply running low, the crew made a forced landing on the Ocean, leaving the craft 450 miles short of its goal. The desperate crew rigged a sail from the fabric on the plane's wing and set sail for Hawaii, believing this gave them their best odds of recovery. At 1600 on September 10, 1925, nine days into their adventure, a submarine USS R-4 recovered the crew.[9]

A five-person naval crew piloted the twin-engine PN-9 No 1 seaplane:

• Commander John Rodgers
• Lieutenant Byron J. Connell
• Aviation Machinist Mate 1st Class William M. Bowlin
• Chief Radioman Petty Officer 1st Class Otis G. Stantz
• Chief Petty Officer Skiles Ralph Pope

• Knute Erickson (1873 – 1945) was born Knut Timar on May 27, 1873, in Norrköping, Sweden.[10] Erickson was 52 years old when he portrayed the character of sea captain Lars Larson. Erickson migrated to the United States with his parents in 1881. They stayed in Salt Lake City, Utah, and kept living there until 1916. Erickson achieved naturalization on Jun 10, 1887, and launched a lucrative career as a vaudevillian comedian. His most famous stage creation was that of the character Swedish Immigrant Daffy Dan. Erickson began his film career in 1915 and kept appearing in films until 1936. Erickson's role in this film impressed Emory Johnson enough; he cast Erickson in his next movie, The Forth Commandment.
• Marcella Daly (1901 – 1966) was born on January 31, 1901, in Kansas City, Missouri.[11] Daly was 25 years old when she portrayed the character of Anna Larson (Lar's wife). She was an actress, known for Accused (1925), The Midnight Watch (1927), and Black Paradise (1926). She died on 30 July 1966 in Torrance, California, USA.
• David Dunbar (1886 – 1953) was born on September 14, 1886, in West Maitland, New South Wales, Australia.[12] The Australian actor was 39 years old when he portrayed the character of Karl Kruger (Skipper of the "Gretchen"). He was a stage actor in Australia, and Britain before beginning his screen career with Pathe Freres, Paris in 1910. He would remain active until his death in 1953. A few weeks before this movie was released, his wife Blanche was killed in a car collision in the Hollywood Hills.
• Johnson also cast two members of the PN-9's original crew to act in the motion picture. They would portray the same roles in the movie they held when they served in the original's crew flight, i.e., Skiles Ralph Pope as the navigation pilot and Otto G. Stantz Chief Radio Operator.[13]

In 1923, Emilie and Emory Johnson signed a contract extension with FBO. The agreement stipulated Emory was to make eight attractions for FBO. The agreement stipulated that his previous four films would count toward the total. FBO also agreed to invest two and a half million dollars (In today's money – equivalent to $43,707,753 in 2022) on the remaining four films.[14] The final four films would all be "Gold Bond" releases, i.e., big-budget films.

The March 1926 release of The Non-Stop Flight was the eighth film directed by Johnson for FBO. Johnson's FBO contract was satisfied with the March 1926 release. It would turn out to be Emory and Emilie Johnson's last film for FBO. In April 1926, FBO decided to let Emory and Emilie Johnson's contracts expire. No reasons were cited.[15]

Emory Johnson, the "Master of Melodrama", "King of Exploitation" and "Hero of the Working Class" movie-making career was not over. In June 1926, Johnson and his mother signed a new eight-picture deal with Universal.[16] Emory Johnson would continue to direct 5 more films before his career faded. During his movie career, Johnson directed 13 films of which 11 were silent, and 2 were talkies.

Emilie Johnson penned the story and screenplay. She was born on June 3, 1867, in Gothenburg, Västra Götaland, Sweden. After emigrating to America, she married Alfred Jönsson. Their only son was born in 1894 - Alfred Emory Johnson.

The Non-Stop Flight was the twentieth story developed by Emilie Johnson. It would become the ninth story her son, Emory Johnson, picked up for production. After finishing the story, she would go on to create the screenplay. This story fascinated her because it tells the story of a Swedish sea captain. The story also originates in her native homeland of Sweden.[17] Emilie Johnson, was 59 years old when she completed the story and the screenplay.

Emilie Johnson intertwined her story around the original flight, so it seems the flight is a central theme. In truth, PN-9's flight becomes secondary to the sea captain's plot. Hopeful the flight details remained fresh in the public's mind, the story and screenplay were rushed to production.

After completing The Non-Stop Flight, Emilie Johnson would write the story for her son's next production - the March 1927 Universal release of The Fourth Commandment.[18]

A PN-9 in flight

Johnson got permission from the United States Navy to use the actual PN-9 No 1 flying boat in his movie.[19] Besides using the original plane, he also got the complete cooperation of the US Navy in making this photoplay. The Navy not only allowed Johnson to film flying scenes but paraded the entire battle fleet consisting of Dreadnoughts, Destroyers, and Submarines for Emory to film.[20]

Johnson publicly denied published reports he intended to make his film a political weapon. Johnson suppressed rumors that he made specific arrangements with the Naval Department for their full endorsement. Johnson also squelched rumors the production had any significance in the aviation controversy concerning Colonel Billy Mitchell in Washington.


Johnson addressed these rumors by stating:[21]

I will play no politics and picturize no propaganda. I expect to pay as glowing a tribute as I am able to the great cause of aviation and particularly to the epochal hop to Hawaii made by those daring naval aviators who have left their names written in imperishable fire across the vast vault of the Pacific.

— Emory Johnson, January 24, 1926

Principal photography and Exteriors were shot in San Diego, California. Closing shots were filmed in San Francisco, California.[22] Aerial photography was shot over the Pacific ocean with the complete cooperation of the United States Navy.[20] The final edited version consisted of six reels and ran approximately 71 minutes.

Post-production is a crucial step in filmmaking, transforming the raw footage into the finished product. It requires skilled professionals working together to create a film that meets the director's vision and engages audiences.

On April 12, 1926, the film was copyrighted to R-C (Robertson-Cole) Pictures Corp. [lower-alpha 1] The copyrights for FBO Films were registered with their original British owners. FBO was the official name of the film-distributing operation for Robertson-Cole Pictures Corp. Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. would clear this up later.

The film was released on March 28, 1926, by Film Booking Offices of America.[24]

Advertising the Non-stop flight

This film's advertising campaign showed a lackluster effort by FBO's standards when compared to previous Emory Johnson films. Innovative advertising and exploitation had become a brand of Emory Johnson's productions for FBO. The advertising campaign for this movie was not innovative. It did not pioneer any novel techniques in the art of film promotion. It lacked imaginative advertising and exploitation.

Emory's films earned him the moniker as the "Master of Melodrama." Emery's other title - "King of Exploitation" was mainly because of his association with FBO's exploitation genius - Director of Publicity, advertising, and exploitation Nat Rothstein.

These are some of the suggestions for advertising this film:[25][26]

• Movie houses could hire airplanes to fly over the theater, dropping parachutes bearing a ticket number that entitled finders to a pair of seats in the theater or merchandise.
• Grindhouses could create paper seaplanes and hang them in their lobbies along with scores of balloons.
• If a U.S. Navy post was nearby, the theater owner should try to enlist their cooperation in publicizing the film.
• Advertise the thrills each viewer will experience when watching the movie.
• Ensure the newspaper emphasized how Commander Rodgers and his crew almost lost their lives on this adventure.
• Emphasize, the film used the actual U.S. Navy PN-9 No1 Seaplane.

These were conventional advertising techniques for the twenties.

Movie reviews were critical opinions for theater owners and fans. Critiques of movies printed in different trade journals were vital in determining whether to book or watch the movie. Movie critics' evaluations of this film were mixed i.e., most small-town venues enjoyed the movie, but the larger cities were not swept up in the film's melodrama and patriotism. When critics have divergent reviews, deciding whether to see or book the movie can be challenging, especially since mixed reviews do not mean it is a bad movie. Ultimately, it boils down to personal choices and how much value you place on the movie review and the reviewer.

Common adjectives used to review Melodramas in 1926
Term	Definition
Heart- *tugging *wrenching	One's deepest emotions or inner feelings. to tug at one's heartstrings
Histrionics	Exaggerated, overemotional behavior, especially when calculated to elicit a response; melodramatics
Hokum	(An instance of) excessively contrived, hackneyed, or sentimental material in a film
Mawkish	Excessively or falsely sentimental; showing a sickly excess of sentiment.
Meller	A melodrama.
Melodrama	A drama abounding in romantic sentiment and agonizing situations, with a musical accompaniment only in especially thrilling or pathetic parts.
Pathos	The quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions and passions, especially that which awakens tender emotions, such as pity, sorrow, and the like; contagious warmth of feeling, action, or expression; pathetic quality.
Pretentious	Marked by an unwarranted claim to importance or distinction
Sappy	Excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy.
Sentiment Sentimental	Feelings, especially tender feelings, as apart from reason or judgment, or of a weak or foolish kind
Tearjerker Tearful	An emotionally charged film, novel, song, opera, television episode, etc., usually with one or more sad passages or ending, so termed because it suggests one is likely to cry during its performance
Weepie	A sad or sentimental film, often portraying troubled romance, designed to elicit a tearful emotional response from its audience.
	All definitions were derived from the online Wiktionary – the free standard dictionary

Michael L. Simmons reviewed the film in the May 1, 1926 issue The Film Daily[26]

With the admiration for the heroic crew still warm in the hearts of Americans ... was ... is timely. However, in strong contrast to the authenticity of the scenes showing the seaplane in flight is the flagrantly fictitious element in the story. Dignified treatment of the subject and the desire to provide sensational episodes were disregarded.

The romance element is somewhat anemic, the production's forts being the "meller" thrills that work up to a smashing climax. For the more gullible audiences. Where they like the melodrama in thick slices, this will more than satisfy.

Fred reviewed the movie in the July 7, 1926 issue of the Variety[27]

Melodrama built around the nonstop flight that the U.S.N. flyers made from San Francisco to Hawaii. It is just a hoak meller that will, for the better part, carry in some of the smaller grindhouses but isn't suited for a longer run, except where it comes in on a double feature bill.

The non-stop flight is worked into a picture through the Navy airman coming down near the island so that the tramp steamer affects the rescue of them as well as the castaways. Just a dash of patriotic stuff to fill in with the Meller stuff. Much sea stuff and the newsweekly stuff or the original hop-off, together with some fill-in shots, well-matched up.

M. T. Andrews reviewed the photoplay in the April 27, 1926 issue of the Motion Picture News[28]

It was inevitable that one of the most colorful incidents of current times should find its way to the screen. Emily Johnson wrote a story of drama and venture into the great ocean passage. The plot is not altogether plausible or commensurate with the main theme, which deserved more dignified treatment.

After an exceptionally fine first reel, the director shows flashes of skill and introduces characters, the action slackens. Offers remarkably fine views of Navy seaplane PN-9. Weaves in not particularly strong romance, but there are enough mellow thrills to keep the interest alive. Will please the average fan. Suitable for neighborhoods and smaller houses.

FBO focused on producing and distributing films for small-town venues. They served this market melodramas, non-Western action pictures, and comedic shorts. These moviehouse reviews were critical for a distributor like FBO. Unlike many of the major Hollywood studios, FBO did not own its own set of theaters. Like most independents, FBO was dependent on the moviehouse owners to rent their films for the company to show a profit.

These are brief published observations from moviehouse owners. Theater owners would subscribe to various movie magazines, read the movie critic's reviews, then read the theater owner's reports. These reviews would assist them in deciding if the film was a potential moneymaker in their venue.

David City, Nebraska population 2,250[29]

Star cast. Very nice entertainment. Plenty of excitement. Tone, good. Sunday or special, no. Appeal, 75%. Draw general class

Melville, Louisiana population 1,000[29]

All-star cast, but all the stars were unknown. One of FBO Gold Bonds, and it is pipin for those who like melodrama. Plenty of good acting and the world's of action, with several thrills that make 'em sit up in their seats—some splendid photographic shots from an airplane. Little town men, this pie is made for you to serve. Sunday, yes Special, not quite. Appeal, very strong. Draw all types.

Lubbock, Texas population 10,000[30]

Star cast. Excellent picture. We did big business on this picture. You can't go wrong by booking this picture. Full house both days and everyone pleased

Rochester, Pennsylvania population 7,000[30]

A very good mellow drama, but the scenario is very poorly constructed. Great for Saturdays. The paper is very good. The title should pull them in. Tone OK. Good appeal! Dry mix class