Flying Luck

Dapper, diminutive slapstick comedian Monty Banks spoofed the aviation-film cycle in Flying Luck. Most of the story deals with the comic conflict between hapless amateur flyboy Banks and tough army sergeant Kewpie Morgan (whose resemblance to Oliver Hardy was so pronounced that many film historians have assumed that he was Hardy). Having earned his aviation license via correspondence school, Banks has no concept of what it's really like to soar above the clouds -- but he soon finds out when he enters a flying contest. Performing daring (and impossible) aerial stunts, Banks manages to win an aerial polo game on behalf of the army, much to the delight of the previously antagonistic Morgan. The inconsequential heroine was played by Jean Arthur, just on the verge of bigger and better things.