The flying cadets /

Pacific Film Archive collection; non-circulating. Access by appt. only. CBPF.; "Produced by the U.S. Army Air Corps as a recruitment tool, this charming late silent short uses Hollywood-style narrative to portray a boot camp for aspiring pilots. When his old jalopy breaks down en route to Brooks Field in San Antonio, recruit Jack gets a lift from fellow newbie Archibald, though the salt-of-the-earth former is very different from the spoiled-rich-kid latter. ("Father's going to buy me a plane of my own when I learn to fly," he sniffs.) Archy is dismayed when Jack advances much faster than he but gets a significant attitude adjustment after a General berates his whining, and soon the unlikely friends are excelling as a team. FLYING CADETS is a rough-hewn but fascinating look at training techniques at a point when flying was still in its relative infancy. A year earlier the very slick hit mainstream feature WINGS had made military air service look awfully exciting to millions just as TOP GUN would decades later. The rechristened U.S. Air Force wouldn't be founded as an entity wholly separate from the Army until 1947."--Dennis Harvey, www.fandor.com; PFA 1612-01-15350. D0494 donation 2012/04/06 CBPF; PFA 1612-01-15350. Approximately 780 ft., or CONDITION NOTE: