Publicity Madness

Publicity Madness
Film poster
Directed by	Albert Ray
Screenplay by	Andrew Bennison Malcolm Stuart Boylan
Story by	Anita Loos
Produced by	William Fox
Starring	Lois Moran Edmund Lowe E. J. Ratcliffe James Gordon Arthur Housman Byron Munson
Cinematography	Sidney Wagner
Production company	Fox Film Corporation
Distributed by	Fox Film Corporation
Release date	October 2, 1927 (1927-10-02)
Running time	60 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Publicity Madness is a lost 1927 American comedy film directed by Albert Ray and written by Andrew Bennison and Malcolm Stuart Boylan.^[1] The film stars Lois Moran, Edmund Lowe, E. J. Ratcliffe, James Gordon, Arthur Housman and Byron Munson.^[2] The film was released on October 2, 1927, by Fox Film Corporation, in a rush to capitalize on the publicity surrounding transatlantic flight of Charles Lindbergh.^[3]

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Plot

Pete Clark (Edmund Lowe), advertising and publicity manager for the Henly soap manufacturing company, puts up $100,000 of the company's money for a promotional contest, but endangers his job, in the process.

Believing that no one would be so foolhardy as to compete for a prize involving a nonstop flight from the Pacific Coast to Hawaii, when Charles Lindbergh makes headlines crossing the Atlantic, Pete realizes the flight across the Pacific is possible. After taking a "crash" cours eon aviation, Pete decides to enter the race himself so as to collect the prize money and save himself from disgrace.

After a series of amazing stunts, Pete does reach Hawaii and thereby wins the admiration of Violet (Lois Moran), the boss's daughter. He also saves his job.

Cast

Lois Moran as Violet Henly
Edmund Lowe as Pete Clark
E. J. Ratcliffe as Uncle Elmer Henly
James Gordon as Brutus Banning
Arthur Housman as Oscar Hawks
Byron Munson as Henry Banning
Norman Peck as Wilbur

Production

Aviation historian Michael Paris in From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema(1995) described the frenzy of trying to woo Lindbergh to do a film. Hollywood resorted to a spate of aviation-related features including Publicity Madness (1927), Flying Romeos (1928) and A Hero for a Night, even the Walt Disney Studios' Plane Crazy (1928), all comedy spoofs of the Lindbergh transatlantic flight.^[4]^[N 1]

Reception

The contemporary film review of Publicity Madness in The New York Times, noted, "A typical strip of Hollywood's more respectable canned fun is now decorating the Hippodrome screen. It bears the title of 'Publicity Madness' and its principal ingredients are beauty, resourcefulness, impertinence and stupidity; these are mixed up with dashes of flying machines, a full-blown ocean and a special soap."^[6]

Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo, in Aviation in the Cinema (1985) noted Publicity Madness involved "high jinks" in the air.^[7]

References

Notes

^ Lindbergh was right in refusing Hollywood entries as most of the proposals were "slapstick" comedies.^[5]

Citations

^ "Overview: 'Publicity Madness' (1927)." TCM.com, 2019. Retrieved: July 4, 2019.
^ "Catalog: 'Publicity Madness'." Catalog.afi.com, 2019. Retrieved: July 4, 2019.
^ Erickson, Hal. "Review: 'Publicity Madness; (1927) – Albert Ray." AllMovie, 2019. Retrieved: July 4, 2019.
^ Paris 1995, p. 58.
^ Wynne 1987, p. 59.
^ "Canned fun." The New York Times, October 12, 1927, p. 30.
^ Pendo 1985, p. 8.

Bibliography

Paris, Michael. From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. ISBN 978-0-7190-4074-0.
Pendo, Stephen. Aviation in the Cinema. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. ISBN 0-8-1081-746-2.
Wynne, H. Hugh. The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. ISBN 978-0-93312-685-5.