Won in the Clouds (1928) User Reviews

Dare Devil Stunts Win the Day!!

[kidboots · 6/10 · 21 January 2015]

Billed as the "daredevil aviator", Al Wilson was handsome enough to be a leading man but he had been passionate about flying since he was a kid. He managed the Mercury Aviation Company, founded by one of his students, Cecil B. De Mille, and he started producing his own movies until 1927. After completing stunts for "Hell's Angels" he died in 1932 at an air show in Ohio.

"Won in the Clouds" seems to run like a cut down serial, there are plenty of cliff hanger endings some of which are not resolved. Still there are a few hair raising stunts including a particularly dangerous one that had already claimed the lives of some stunt men in the past. This was a specialty of Wilson's and involved climbing down a rope ladder from a flying plane then scooping up the person on the ground who was facing an uncertain future at the hands of some angry natives. Another scarifying stunt had Wilson straddling the roof of a car while he again grapples with a rickety ladder attached to a high flying plane!!!

The story is actually set in Africa where the manager of the Consolidated Diamond Mines is trying to hold up shipment while he organises his own speedy get away - with all the diamonds of course!! To gum up proceedings, along comes Dr. James who is on a double mission - to check up on manager Woods and also to see if he can give any aid to the natives who are dying of a mysterious illness. With him is his daughter Grace (Helen Foster) but it doesn't take long for them to be separated - he to be held hostage with the old "if you don't cure the village people you will die"!! etc. Grace is imprisoned in a remote shack - "I'll do all I can for you Grace - if you are kind to me!!!"

Smelling a rat the mine president sends his son Art Blake (Wilson) to investigate and now stunts and fancy riding take centre stage to the story. By the end even dim witted Grace realises that Woods is a villain of the worst kind and her father has won the natives over with instantaneous results of his "Castor Oil" serum!!

Helen Foster had her busiest year in 1929 - she was named a Wampas Baby star, was given the lead in the prestigious "Linda" and also had a starring part in "Gold Diggers of Broadway" - unfortunately after that it was all down hill for Helen!!

Not exactly politically correct!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 12 January 2016]

"Won in the Clouds" is a rather amazing film, as it packs in a ton of stuff into 52 minutes. In fact, it's a bit like a movie serial crammed into one small package.

When the film begins, you hear about a bunch of natives dying because of an outbreak of some disease. It's supposed to either be in South Africa or Rhodesia...they aren't specific. But what IS obvious is that it wasn't made there because the film talks about these natives speaking Swahili...and they don't speak that language in either country. That language is common to the Tanzania/Uganda/Kenya area and it looks like someone forgot to do their homework. Having spent quite a bit of time in South Africa, I noticed this right away...but most viewers from Western countries probably won't care.

The story is about some crooks running a diamond mine for some rich guy living in Cape Town. The rich guy realizes that something is up at the mine and sends his son to investigate. However, instead of being a typical mine owner's son, he's a bit of an action hero--and soon makes an INSANE leap from a car to an airplane to head to the mine! This isn't the only completely loony airplane stunt and the film is filled with angry natives, disease, backstabbing and punches. It's not exactly high art, but it is non-stop and entertaining!

Ignore Martin Hafer's Review. He didnt see the movie.

[arfdawg-1 · 4/10 · 17 May 2019]

I really can't take reviews like Martin Hafer's who reviews as if he never saw the movie. No where in the film do they claim this is South Africa or Rhodesia. Nor do they say natives are dying of some unspecific disease.

Further there isn't really anything polically incorrect about the movie. This guy is a clown.

Anyway, the print I screened was pretty bad. I have a feeling it was taped off a film that was projected into a video camera. It detracts fromt the movie, but surprsingly, for a movie with no stars I know and a pretty low budget, it's fairly decent



When the film begins, you hear about a bunch of natives dying because of an outbreak of some disease. It's supposed to either be in South Africa or Rhodesia...they aren't specific. But what IS obvious is that it wasn't made there because the film talks about these natives speaking Swahili...and they don't speak that language in either country. That language is common to the Tanzania/Uganda/Kenya area and it looks like someone forgot to do their homework. Having spent quite a bit of time in South Africa, I noticed this right away...but most viewers from Western countries probably won't care.

The story is about some crooks running a diamond mine for some rich guy living in Cape Town. The rich guy realizes that something is up at the mine and sends his son to investigate. However, instead of being a typical mine owner's son, he's a bit of an action hero--and soon makes an INSANE leap from a car to an airplane to head to the mine! This isn't the only completely loony airplane stunt and the film is filled with angry natives, disease, backstabbing and punches. It's not exactly high art, but it is non-stop and entertaining!

Diamonds are forever, they say

[robinakaaly · 20 August 2011]

Nearly 7,000 Curtiss Jennies were built and they had a long and distinguished career in the movies. In this load of garbage, a Swahili village (somewhere in the sierras behind Hollywood) is affected by disease. The nearby diamond mine is using this as an excuse not to ship diamonds back to HQ in South Africa. The mine president has sent a doctor, his beautiful daughter and her duenna to find out what is going on and to cure the natives. They are travelling on foot. To speed things up the president sends his ace flyer up. However, the president' right hand man is a traitor and warns the miners. He is then caught, but not before he has sent minions off to stop the ace flyer. This latter has ordered his mechanic to bring his plane to meet him, but the bad guys are chasing his car. The mechanic swoops low over his boss who climbs from the roof of the car into the plane. Meanwhile, the mine aviator has intercepted the foot party, sent the doctor to the village and taken the women to the encampment. In the village, the doctor cures everybody, including the piccaninnies and the chiefs overweight dancing girls, much to the annoyance of the local witch doctor. At some point the bad guys persuade the chief that their native tracker (an unconvincingly blacked up actor) needs to be but to death. He led out into the bush, but as the natives prepared to do a Sebastiane on him, a Jennie swoops down out of the clouds and rescues him by means of a rope ladder attached to the wing. Our ace flyer now heads up to the mine where he is captured, but escapes. However, he is again captured at the village where the bad guys explain he encompassed the escape of the white doctor. For this, he is tied to a stake and left for the lions. However the native tracker comes to his rescue and releases him so he can flee to safety. Foiled of white meat, the lions turn their attention to the faithful tracker. (This film was for those who require their entertainment to be politically correct.) The flyer returns to the encampment where he captures some of the remaining baddies, and the diamonds. However, the leader of the baddies has got the girl and flies off with her. Our hero and his mechanic give chase, flying under the wing of the fugitives. Our hero grabs the skid under the wing and hauls himself up. The pilot also climbs onto the wing, where a furious struggle ensues, ending with the bad guy falling off. The ace flyer makes his way to the fuselage and kisses the girl, before climbing into the cockpit and flying the plane back to the encampment where he and the girl fall into each others arms, while the mechanic and the duenna make up the foursome. Acting awards to the stock shots of the lions, though the Jennies did well.

Won in the Clouds review

[JoeytheBrit · 5/10 · 3 May 2020]

A lightning pace and some highly impressive aerial stunt work are undone by flat characterisation and the storyline's lack of coherence in this silent action flick. Al Wilson might have been an ace in the sky, but he wasn't much of a presence in front of the camera. At least sidekick Frank Rice's method of disembarking from a plane raises a smile.