The appearance of the first flying torpedo in film appeared when?
Who made the film?
The first appearance of the flying torpedo
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 didu |
The first appearance of the flying torpedo |
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Posts: 4 (06/09/09 09:43 AM) |
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kenwal68 |
Flying Torpedo | ||
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Posts: 388 (06/10/09 05:08 AM) |
Just a wild guess. The Phantom Empire/ Mascot Pictures ?
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didu |
Re: Flying Torpedo | ||
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Posts: 5 (06/10/09 06:26 AM) |
Sorry, kenwal68. Wrong answer. Hint:The film was produced and co-written by a very famous and controversial director. |
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didu |
Re: Flying Torpedo | ||
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Posts: 6 (06/10/09 08:13 AM) |
Double Hint: The film appeared much earlier than the 1936 Phantom Empire. It was silent screen star Bessie Love's first appearance in a movie (At least I
think it was).
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jadm1 |
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Posts: 112 (06/10/09 02:55 PM) |
I'll bet it's a silent film called "The Flying Torpedo," didu, you rascal. Hey, a pleasant surprise to read a post from you again.
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didu |
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Posts: 7 (06/10/09 08:22 PM) |
March 31, 1916.
After reading in the newspapers that the Secretary of the Navy had appointed a Naval Defense Board with Thomas A. Edison as the chairman and Hudson Maxim along with other scientists and inventors as members to create an absolute defense of the United States against foreign invaders, David W. Griffith prepared the scenario for "The Flying Torpedo" to be produced at the Griffith studios in Los Angeles.
In the film, The Flying Torpedo, a look-alike Thomas Edsion and his board offers a prize for the invention of a device that
would make the shores of the United States invulnerable to foreign invaders. The plans for a flying torpedo is created and successfully launched. But before
the scientists can make a duplicate, an invading force is already entrenched several miles inland of Southern California. Naval and land battles have been
lost by American defenders to the yellow men. The situation is desperate. But the new wireless controlled torpedoes arrive just in time to rout the invaders.
The end.
The battle scenes are unusually realistic as staged under the supervision of Griffith. The plot is supposed to take place
in 1921.
When the new torpedo is brought into action there is a quick change in the situation. The missile is shown leaving the
tube, the wireless room where it is controlled is flashed on the screen and later the torpedo is sighted in it's flight though the air; then in response
to the direction of the wireless, shooting down into the works of the enemy with much spectacular effect. It is declared that after seeing the missile in
action it is hard to believe that there is no such thing in existence.
(the March 31, 1916 article doesn't specify whether the torpedo is launched from a seacraft or an
aircraft.)
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Oakland Tribune, Sunday, December 25, 1921
FLYING TORPEDO IS LATEST DEATH DEVICE FOR WAR
UNITED STATES PERFECTS ENGINE OF DESTRUCTION
THAT CAN WIPE OUT CITIES.
By Captain Claude R. Collins, Aeronautical Expert at Universal Service.
New York, Dec. 24 --- The most potent and formidable weapon
for use in aerial warfare has been successfully developed for the
army and navy air services. This latest aerial wonder is mechani-
cally controlled flying torpedo.
Recently this aerial messenger of death is known to have under-
gone the most stringent tests successfully. In every case army
and navy air service officials have surrounded experiments and
flights with the utmost secrecy.
Recently news of the remarkable flight of the flying torpedo from
Long Island over New York City and two eastern states leaked
out and created a sensation in aeronautical circles. Had the torpedo
been loaded on this flight and primed to have released it's cargo of
high explosives over lower Manhattan it could have virtually wiped
out the entire district.
(The article is much longer than what I have here.)
Hi jadm1... Am glad you're still around. Took me forever to learn how to use this board. I may have a computer but that doesn't mean I know how to use it. Damn mechanical contraption drives this old guy nutz like not being able to copy the above article in it's entirety on the board. |
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didu |
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Posts: 8 (06/11/09 03:56 AM) |
I might add that I discovered the December 25, 1921 article only two days ago. I thought it'd be a nice follow up to the Flying Torpedo film.
The March 31, 1916 article do not mention what kind of defense system was to be devised. A bit more from the 1921 article: "America is not the first nation, however, to develop a successful aerial torpedo. France has had several types of these "little air shavers" for over a year. Many successful flights have been made by them against enemy coasts, cities, or fleets." (My 'chicken or the egg' question is which came first, The film or the invention of the flying torpedo?) |
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