The Air Mail (1925)
Melodrama | 16 March 1925
Cast:
Warner Baxter, Billie Dove, Mary Brian [ More ]Director:
Irvin WillatWriters:
James Shelley Hamilton, Byron MorganCinematographer:
Alfred GilksProduction Company:
Famous Players-Lasky Corp.The Jan 1925 AmCin reported that ten days were spent filming around the air mail hangars in Reno, NV. From there, the production moved to the ghost town of Rhyolite, NV, for another two-to-three weeks of shooting. Rhyolite had a few months earlier been used as the location for The Desert Code (see entry). Actress Billie Dove described the filming of The Air Mail in the "A Letter from Location" column in the Jun 1925 Picture-Play magazine. Rhyolite was a former gold-mining town with only one remaining resident, "Rhyolite Slim," who worked with the Hollywood company. The production had three airplanes nearby, one of which was damaged in a crash landing. Most of the cast and crew lived in an abandoned schoolhouse, which also served as a mess hall. Others lived in a church. Billie Dove stayed in the town's most remarkable building, made of bottles and cement by a man who gathered the bottles from a heap outside the many saloons in town. They hauled tanks of water into town from Beatty, NV, a small town five miles away, where the production also screened dailies in its only theater. Windstorms were common, and a fire nearly burned down the schoolhouse. ...
The Jan 1925 AmCin reported that ten days were spent filming around the air mail hangars in Reno, NV. From there, the production moved to the ghost town of Rhyolite, NV, for another two-to-three weeks of shooting. Rhyolite had a few months earlier been used as the location for The Desert Code (see entry). Actress Billie Dove described the filming of The Air Mail in the "A Letter from Location" column in the Jun 1925 Picture-Play magazine. Rhyolite was a former gold-mining town with only one remaining resident, "Rhyolite Slim," who worked with the Hollywood company. The production had three airplanes nearby, one of which was damaged in a crash landing. Most of the cast and crew lived in an abandoned schoolhouse, which also served as a mess hall. Others lived in a church. Billie Dove stayed in the town's most remarkable building, made of bottles and cement by a man who gathered the bottles from a heap outside the many saloons in town. They hauled tanks of water into town from Beatty, NV, a small town five miles away, where the production also screened dailies in its only theater. Windstorms were common, and a fire nearly burned down the schoolhouse.
Russ Kane obtains work as a pilot in the airmail service with the purpose of robbing the mails. However, during his training period at the Reno field, he becomes imbued with the spirit of the service and dedicates himself to getting the mail through. Russ is forced to make an emergency landing near a ghost town, where he meets Alice Rendon and her invalid father, who is badly in need of medicine. Russ repairs his plane and promises to return on the following day with the elder Rendon's medicine. Making good on his promise, Russ returns, carrying with him a valuable mail shipment and his friend, Sandy. The plane is attacked by two planes belonging to a gang that smuggles dope and aliens across the Mexican border. Sandy makes a parachute jump with the mail sack, and Russ maneuvers his craft so that the pursuing planes are forced to crash. Russ then lands his plane, only to discover that the Rendons have been captured by three escaped convicts. Russ manages to bring the men to justice, winning the gratitude and love of Alice. Sandy realizes the crowning ambition of his young life and delivers the ...
Russ Kane obtains work as a pilot in the airmail service with the purpose of robbing the mails. However, during his training period at the Reno field, he becomes imbued with the spirit of the service and dedicates himself to getting the mail through. Russ is forced to make an emergency landing near a ghost town, where he meets Alice Rendon and her invalid father, who is badly in need of medicine. Russ repairs his plane and promises to return on the following day with the elder Rendon's medicine. Making good on his promise, Russ returns, carrying with him a valuable mail shipment and his friend, Sandy. The plane is attacked by two planes belonging to a gang that smuggles dope and aliens across the Mexican border. Sandy makes a parachute jump with the mail sack, and Russ maneuvers his craft so that the pursuing planes are forced to crash. Russ then lands his plane, only to discover that the Rendons have been captured by three escaped convicts. Russ manages to bring the men to justice, winning the gratitude and love of Alice. Sandy realizes the crowning ambition of his young life and delivers the mail.
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