Vintage original 8 x 10 in. US single-weight glossy photograph from the 1920s aviation-themed drama, THE AIR CIRCUS, released in 1928 by the Fox Film Corporation and directed by Howard Hawks and Lewis Seiler.
The image depicts a close publicity shot of David Rollins and Sue Carol. As indicated in the lower left corner, this photograph was taken by the renowned photographer Max Munn Autrey. It is in fine+ condition with a printed caption on the verso.
*"The Air Circus is a 1928 American drama film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Arthur Lake, Sue Carol, David Rollins, and Louise Dresser. It is the first of Hawks's aviation films. The film is notable as the first aviation oriented film with dialogue.
The Air Circus is Hawks' seventh feature, and the first with sound dialog. The film was completely finished as a silent when the studio commissioned dialog from screenwriter F. Hugh Herbert and assigned Lewis Seilerto insert 15 minutes of talking footage, which Hawks considered "mawkish". Principal photography took place from April to June 1928 at Clover Field, Santa Monica, California. Stunt pilot Dick Grace did most of the flying with Travel Air and Swallow biplanes featured.
The Air Circus received generally positive reviews from critics. Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times called it "a jolly, wholesome and refreshingly human picture", praising David Rollins' acting as "wonderfully natural." The Film Daily said the film was well-acted with "a bang-up youth cast from all angles" and a "thrill finish." Oliver Claxton of The New Yorker wrote that the talking sequence was "the most unfortunate scene", but that the rest of the film "should amuse you in a quiet way." Variety was more modest in its praise, writing, "Expert direction has managed to make a fairly interesting lightweight number out of a script that holds nothing but background and a plot that doesn't exist.
Various sources classify it as lost. However, Hal Erickson states the silent version "was rescued from oblivion in the early 1970s"".
*(source: Wikipedia)
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