Series: Charley Chase Director: James Parrott Producer: Hal Roach Titles: H.M. Walker Photography: Len Powers Editor: Richard C. Currier Stars: Charley Chase, Margaret Quimby, Jim Mason, William Orlamond Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Released: 26 November 1927 Length: 2 reels Production No.: C-4 Filming dates: September 6-21, 1927 Rating: 5/10

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Charley marches along an airport runway, beaming with determination to board an exhibition aircraft which is being hired out for pilots. But when he looks up to see the aircraft performing loop-the-loops he quickly loses his confidence and walks off to sit down. The plane lands and an elderly woman passenger gets out. Feeling ashamed that an old lady can do it Charley regains his courage, before the plane lands a second time and a young child gets out. Not wanting to be outdone by a child, Charley summons the courage to buy a ticket, but after looking up and seeing the pilot flipping his plane high up in the skies, he bottles it once more. A third passenger gets out of the plane, an elderly gentleman who dances around enthusiastically and acrobatically. Charley once again psychs himself up to get ready to fly, so sits on the wing of a nearby wooden aircraft. He quickly runs off when the wing collapses under his weight. Charley sees a woman (MARGARET QUIMBY) standing in a field, right in the path of an oncoming plane and runs over to save her from being hit. Impressed with his bravery she assumes Charley must be a pilot. Charley plays along and shows the woman 'his' plane, little realizing it is actually her own plane. Margaret humours Charley and tells him she wants him to take her up in it but Charley tries to delay doing so until later that day. Margaret invites Charley to her house where she introduces him to her parents and instructs her own pilot to bring 'Charleys' (her) plane brought over so that he has no excuses not to fly.

The telephone rings (it's Margaret's pilot on the line) and Charley answers it (even though it's not his phone or his house). He uses the opportunity to pretend the call is for him and he answers loudly by thinking up even more excuses that would get him out of flying. Whilst on the phone call a young child pulls out the chord from the wall but Charley continues to talk into the receiver, exposing his phone conversation to Margaret and her parents who are listening in. Charley laughs off the embarrassment until he sees a portrait of the family's son, who had togive up flying because he suffered from having fits. This gives Charley the idea to fake a fit. And boy does he have a FIT! The family try to calm him down by giving him a spoonful of castor oil followed by a raw egg. Charley begins wrestling with the father on the floor until the pilot calls Charley out for being too chicken to go up in the plane. They go outside where Charley confesses to the pilot he has no clue as to what he is doing so the pilot gives him a quick run down on what all the controls do in the aircraft. Margaret tells the pilot that she will fly the plane whilst letting Charley think he is doing it. So up they go. They do a nosedive, followed by a loop-the-loop all the while Charley thinks he is in control of the plane. But a few minutes into the fun a fire breaks out and Margaret tells Charley they need to get their parachutes on and jump out. She jumps, leaving Charley on the plane (WTF?!!) After some faffing about Charley eventually jumps when his parachute blows away in the wind. Margaret catches him in mid air (likely story) and they fall together, landing in a pond. He tells her that the secret of aviation is to "always be calm" before kissing her and the film ending.

Favourite bit When the pilot starts the propellor on the plane Charley pushes a button which sends the pilot flying through the air and into a tree.

Trivia • Copyrighted November 22, 1927. • Pilot Charles 'Lucky Lindy' Lindbergh referred to himself and his plane as "We". The title of the film is a parody on this. • Gag opening title: "Aviation note: Colonel Lindbergh says - Every American should fly like a bird. - This is the story of a boy who tried to imitate the turkey." • Leading lady Margaret Quimby was chosen when it was decided that Charley Chase's customary lead actress, Edna Marion, was not sufficiently the adventurous type. • 5 minutes and 10 seconds of the film is included in the Robert Youngson compilation, "4 Clowns". • When Charley sits down in front of the parked plane, the sign behind him says "Keep Out". • A ride in the aircraft, which advertises as "Fly With Jim" costs $2.50. • When Charley starts to cry he leans his head and arm onto a woman's back. She pushes him off, but why doesn't her husband do anything about it? • The words "Deluxe Flyers ~ Deluxe Gasoline" are painted on the side of the aircraft. • Charley is given some castor oil, from the Culver City Pharmacy. • After Charley and the female aviator land in the pond, you can see the Baldwin Hills in the far-off distance behind them. My opinion • Average. Feels like there was enough material for 1-reel but it was stretched badly to fill up 2 reels of footage. There are moments of good but mostly just average.

	Charley Chase Charley
	Margaret Quimby Margaret, the aviator
	Jim Mason Margaret's pilot
	William Orlamond Margaret's father
	May Wallace Margaret's mother
	Emma Tansey First passenger
	Dorothy Coburn Mother who helps child out of plane
	Jackie Combs Child
	Sam Lufkin Man in hangar
	Evelyn Burns Woman in hangar
	Clara Guiol Woman in queue
	Jack O'Brien Elderly man's stunt/ Propellor man
	Chet Brandenburg Man on bench
	UNIDENTIFIED Woman #1 in queue (later sitting on bench)
	UNIDENTIFIED Man #1 in queue
	UNIDENTIFIED Man in hangar
	UNIDENTIFIED Ticket seller
	UNIDENTIFIED Elderly passenger
	UNIDENTIFIED Pilot
	UNIDENTIFIED Ticket collector
	UNIDENTIFIED Woman #2 in queue
	UNIDENTIFIED Man #2 in queue

CREDITS (click image to enlarge)	INTERTITLES (click image to enlarge)

POSTERS (click any image to enlarge)

LOBBY CARDS (LOW RESOLUTION) (click any image to enlarge)

GLASS SLIDE (click any image to enlarge)

PRESS SHEETS (click any image to enlarge)

SHOT ON LOCATION (click any image to enlarge)

INTERIOR SHOTS (click any image to enlarge)

Acknowledgements: Smile When The Raindrops Fall by Brian Anthony & Andy Edmonds (book) Steve Massa (identification of cast) Richard Finegan (press sheets) Jesse Brisson (identification of Chet Brandenburg, Jack O'Brien's stunt) *The identification of Clara Guiol, Sam Lufkin, Dorothy Coburn, Jack O'Brien are my own observations. This page was last updated on: 28 January 2025