A Dash Through the Clouds

This is another case of the nascent movie industry cashing in on the upsurge of 'bright young things' doing daring stunts. Sennett advertised this picture as showcasing the dare-devilry of Mabel Normand (every studio had to have its own 'Perilous Pauline'). Mack stated that the film showed a modern aircraft, light years in advance of the original Wright Brothers' string-bag of not many years earlier. Well, I don't know, this craft looks every bit a string-bag as the Wright death-kite.

The story revolves around Tutti-Fruitti salesman, Arthur, who is peddling his wares in the 'Mexican Quarter'. His wife is Josephine, the sweet Mabel Normand, and what a strange couple they make – the young and slim Mabel, and the chubby, aging Fred Mace. Naturally, Mabel has all the attributes of a young, healthy lass, and pretty soon falls for dashing flying ace, Slim the Aviator. At the airfield Mabel soon persuades Slim to take her for a flight. The Keystone Girl looks very relaxed as the old string-bag takes off, with the pair precariously perched on skimpy seats, with the vicious looking prop blades spinning behind them. Chubby, of course, chases them down the airfield, though god knows what he thought he was going to do! All hell breaks loose when Mabel lands, but later, when Chubby leaves for the Mexican quarter, Mabel returns to the airfield. There Slim lets Mabel operate the controls on the ground, which she does in the manner of a hyperactive child (why would anyone let a scatter-brain like Mabel Normand mess with an aircraft's controls?).

Meanwhile, out in the Mexican Quarter, Chubby is in trouble with the locals, as he's been carousing with a Mexican woman. One Mexican lad (Jack Pickford) runs to Mabel's house and warns her that the Mexicanos are out to get Chubby. Consequently, Mabel grabs two 45 caliber pistols and makes for the airfield. There Mabel dangerously waves the guns about, as she explains the situation to Slim. Once in the air, and above their adversaries, Mabel starts to loose off a few rounds. The Mexicans run off, and Chubby is saved. Hurrah! However, fickle Mabel refuses to have any more to do with her sad sack husband and flies off into the sunset with Slim.

Things to note about this film: The picture was made on Biograph's second trip to California, with Mack Sennett as director. That young scamp Jack Pickford has a part in the film, although he does not have an opportunity to fondle luscious Mabel, as he did in 'What the Doctor Ordered'. The pair remained good friends in real life, and both were later at Goldwyn studios, although Jack was often away on location (Mabel did not need exotic locations, just a park, a policeman and herself).

The aging Kate Bruce, matron and moral guardian to the Biograph girls, appears as an old Mexican woman in this picture. Of Lilian Gish she said, 'This girl is so innocent and young, she needs protecting from the world'. Mabel Normand needed no protection, though, as can be seen here, she could not handle a gun,and seems happy that she managed to fire the thing. The much-mooted idea, then, that Mabel accurately fired four slugs into Courtland Dines in 1924 is preposterous, as she could not hit a mountain at 50 feet, according to Mack Sennett (chain-gang escapee and chauffeur to Mabel, Horace Greer, was charged with the shooting.

The airfield sequences were filmed out at Playa del Rey, alongside the Los Angeles boarded racetrack. The track, visible in the film, only lasted around three years until it was burned down by the hobos sheltering underneath it. The Biograph studio was keen to play on the fact that Mabel was a daredevil, and flew in aircraft. There were also claims that Mabel was the first woman to gain a U.S. flying license and the first woman to be filmed in an aircraft. These honors, of course, go to screenwriter Harriet Quimby, who was also the first woman to fly the English Channel. Slim (Phillip Parmalee) was killed in a plane crash a month after this film was made, and Quimby died in a somewhat mysterious crash a month after that.

Aviation was still in its infancy when the first movie whose plot revolved around flying was released by Biograph Studio in June 1912. "A Dash Through The Clouds," written and directed by Mack Sennett, one of Sennett's last films he made for Biograph before starting his own film studio, showcased a Wright Brothers' Model B airplane, piloted by top aviator at the time. Phil Parmelee.

Unfortunately for Parmelee, whose sole acting credit was "Dash," died soon after in a plane crash during an air show in Yakima, Washington. The movie was release 23 days after his death. Parmelee established numerous firsts in aviation history, among those is he's the first to transport cargo on a plane, he piloted the first plane to drop a bomb in the U. S., he's first to conduct military reconnaissance, and first to pilot a parachutist dropping from the air.

Biograph Studio actress Mabel Normand became the first actor to fly in a plane while making a movie. She's the passenger in the Wright Brother's plane, serving as love interest to Parmelee. Normand, who had an off and on relationship with Sennett, left Biograph to join Sennett when he created his new movie company, Keystone Studios. She would have quite a career starring alongside Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.

"Chubby" in the film was Fred Mace, who also followed Sennett to Keystone. He quit Keystone in 1914 to form his own film production company, but it eventually failed. Sennett replaced Mace as the fat, funny foil with Arbuckle, who became more well-known. Mace died an early death from a stroke at the Hotel Astor in NYC in Feb. 1917, at 39 years of age.

This short feature is interesting and pretty good, with touches of drama and humor. The story is all right, but what's particularly interesting is to see the use of an airplane, with footage of it actually flying, as part of the story. It also features a quite youthful Mabel Normand as the female lead.

Most of the story consists of Normand and her beau differing in their feelings about flying in the airplane. This is not the earliest footage of an airplane in flight, but it has to be one of the earlier uses of it along with actors as part of a story. In any event, the old biplane (not old at the time, of course) is one of the stars of the picture, and much of the photography of it in flight looks quite good.

The story is slight, but has enough in combination with the movie's other features to make it an interesting film overall.

In August 1914, Motion Picture News reported that Mabel Normand was "learning aviation from Walter Brookin, the permanent Keystone aviator, and had made three flights alone." This film, in which we see Mabel take off and land as a passenger in a two seat airplane, sitting next to a pilot was made around April-May, 1912.

To put this in historical context, Thérèse Peltier became the first woman passenger in an airplane on July 8, 1908. On September 27th, 1908, She was the first woman to fly solo an airplane. Blanche Stuart Scottwas the first American woman to solo fly an airplane on September 6,1910. In August 1911, Harriet Quimby and Matilde Moisant became the first women in the United States to receive pilot licenses. This film is a record of one of the first woman aviators - Mabel Normand

In this movie, one can see the thrill on her face as the plane takes off. Near the end of the film, she pantomime's how her heart was beating when she was flying. It is obvious that Mabel was thrilled to fly. This was no stunt double. This was the Mabel actually showing her courage and nerve.

I thought two other things worthy of note. First Mabel hears that her boyfriend "Chubby" played by Fred Ward, is in trouble. She grabs two six shooters and comes racing to his rescue. This is a comedy, but still, one is amazed at how heroic Mabel comes off. Second, Fred Ward is very funny as "Chubby." He is the prototype for the "Fatty" character that Roscoe Arbuckle would play with Mabel the following years at Keystone. He gets into trouble romancing Mexican senoritas in Mexico with tutti-fruitie flavor gum.

This film shows just how exciting and fun early flying could be. It is a good example of Mack Sennett building an entire film around a location and event, in this case, a woman in a flying airplane.

In a recent article March 23,2012, Michael Ventura in "the Austin Chronicle" said this about the film:

"In this film, Mabel leaves boyfriend Fred Mace to fly with aviator Philip Parmalee, becoming the first actress to perform in – or rather, on – an airplane. A biplane, to be exact; pilot and passenger sat on the lower wing. Airborne close-ups were staged, but we clearly see Mabel is aboard on takeoffs and landings. (It was dangerous work. A week after shooting, Parmalee's plane failed and crashed; he died.) The climax has Mace chased by enraged Mexicans because he flirted with one of their women. Normand and Parmalee fly to the rescue, revolvers blazing from the air, and Mace is saved. By now, the pattern had been set: On screen, Mabel Normand takes her place in the world as her own woman, a match for any man, without sacrificing an iota of her vivid, graceful, lovely, tough femininity.

As original as her character was her performance. No mugging. No exaggeration. A personal relationship with the camera. A direct connection with the audience. She was the first great clown of cinema. Those who followed – Roscoe Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd – would begin by mugging for the camera but would quickly catch on and imitate Normand's example. She set the template."

A Dash Through the Clouds (1912)

** (out of 4)

A woman (Mabel Normand) is out on a date (Fred Mace) when a pilot (Phillip Parmalee) offers to take her up in the plane. She jumps at the chance but this of course makes her date jealous who heads off to a Mexican town where he angers some of the locals and needs help escaping. A DASH THROUGH THE CLOUDS really isn't a very good film but I think there are some interesting moments in it that will make film buffs want to check it out. One such thing are the early shots taken up in the plane, which certainly look pretty good even by today's standards. The cinematography was actually impressive all things considered and I think these shots make the film worth sitting through. Another good addition is that the three leads are all entertaining and especially Normand who comes across very charming. The problem I had with the movie is that it simply wasn't that funny. The majority of the jokes fall flat on their faces and in reality there's simply not too much going on for the majority of the running time.