The Flying Fool

I am a HUGE Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) fan and think he was the greatest of all the B-western stars. His Hoppy films are consistently entertaining and likable. That being said, he had an established career well before this--starring in numerous silent and sound films. I really like most of these non-Hoppy roles but was sadly disappointed in "The Flying Fool" as it was a genuinely bad film...both due to writing and Boyd's acting.

When the film begins, Bill is a cocky but very talented fighter plane pilot during WWI. Soon the film skips ahead to the 1920s and Bill makes a living as a barnstormer...a pilot that thrills crowds with dangerous flying stunts. He also is accompanied by his brother, Jimmy. He is like a mother, father and best buddy for Jimmy and the lesson he seems to keep pressing on the impressionable young man is that women are a dime a dozen...love 'em and leave 'em! Clearly, Bill is a bit of a jerk here...and ultimately, Jimmy ignores his brother's advice and falls for a lady...and the film then plummets in quality.

In addition to bad writing and poor acting by Boyd as Bill, the film really had a bizarre and silly ending. In many ways, although the film was A-picture length, its writing seemed like a B-movie...and not a particularly good one.