Tweet THE YELLOW TICKET (1931) - is this a boo-boo?

At the end of Raoul Walsh's THE YELLOW TICKET (1931), Elissa Landi and Laurence Olivier (SPOILER) escape in an aeroplane which struck me as out of period for 1914. Would I be correct here?

not necessarily, airplanes(or aeroplanes as the vernacular went at that time) were certainly around. Not having seen Walsh's film I would ask what type of plane did they escape in, preferrably one particular to the pre-WW1 era. In the 1978 remake of The 39 Steps, based on John Buchan's novel which also takes place in 1914, the Prussian spies search for Richard Hannay with an airplane, but it is a beautiful and accurate reproduction of a 1912 Deperdussin Monocoque monoplane, the first plane to have flown at 100mph.

not necessarily, airplanes(or aeroplanes as the vernacular went at that time) were certainly around. Not having seen Walsh's film I would ask what type of plane did they escape in, preferrably one particular to the pre-WW1 era. In the 1978 remake of The 39 Steps, based on John Buchan's novel which also takes place in 1914, the Prussian spies search for Richard Hannay with an airplane, but it is a beautiful and accurate reproduction of a 1912 Deperdussin Monocoque monoplane, the first plane to have flown at 100mph.

This jumped out at me too. If i remember right it was represented as some sort of commercial passenger service, and maybe i'm wrong but it seemed early for 1914. Ok, i just looked at the novelization published in 1914 and it doesn't specify their means of transport, nor does the AFI catalog synopsis of the 1918 version.

greta

not necessarily, airplanes(or aeroplanes as the vernacular went at that time) ...

Just to set you straight here, and be pedantic. "Airplane" is a term used in America. The rest of the English speaking world refers to the machines as "aeroplanes". I will concede that the term "aerodrome" is on the way out, having been replaced by "airport".

not necessarily, airplanes(or aeroplanes as the vernacular went at that time) were certainly around. Not having seen Walsh's film I would ask what type of plane did they escape in, preferrably one particular to the pre-WW1 era. In the 1978 remake of The 39 Steps, based on John Buchan's novel which also takes place in 1914, the Prussian spies search for Richard Hannay with an airplane, but it is a beautiful and accurate reproduction of a 1912 Deperdussin Monocoque monoplane, the first plane to have flown at 100mph.

The scene occurs in the last few minutes of the film, which is still on YouTube. And yes, I do realise that aeroplanes (I'm English, hence the spelling) were around, but this one looked as if it were wrong for 1914...

Oh no.....that's definitely a late 20's aircraft at the earliest !!! There were a handful of attempts to run passenger services as early as WW1, but the aircraft looked like this splendid beast, a De Havilland DH16 from 1916.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DH16-AT%26T.jpg#/media/File:DH16-AT%26T.jpg

not necessarily, airplanes(or aeroplanes as the vernacular went at that time) ...

Just to set you straight here, and be pedantic. "Airplane" is a term used in America. The rest of the English speaking world refers to the machines as "aeroplanes". I will concede that the term "aerodrome" is on the way out, having been replaced by "airport".

We here in America are waiting for the rest of the world to catch up to using Airplane. Just kidding. But not to stray off topic from the OP, I think it is an interesting 'inter-use' of terminology. Samuel Langley, one of the Wright Brothers competitors called his actual series of flying model aeroplanes "aerodromes", I've heard "aeroplanist" to mean pilot, "flying machine" usually describing aeroplanes but could also apply to any man made machine that flies ie "helicopters", "kites", "gliders", "dirigibles", "blimps", "hot air balloons". And it doesn't end in aviation, automobiles are not called "motor cars" much anymore but car dealers may refer to themselves as a motor car dealership, perhaps a little more nostalgic harking back to the beginning of automobiles. In the 1979 "Time After Time" Malcolm McDowell can be seen describing a 'motor car' to a black cleaning woman, and she responds ..'you mean a car'.

automobiles are not called "motor cars" much anymore ....:

You need to get out more. Here in Oz we refer to "motor cars" or as the average Aussie is incapable of utilising more than one syllable, just "cars". Again, "automobile" is a quaint Americanism. (Whenever I travel to the States, I have to carry with me an American-English dictionary. It is just weird how the English language can change so much from place to place.)

In German, aeroplanes are referred to as "machine" as in "When is the machine going up?"

(I should also add, that I am an old fart and am inclined towards using archaic terminology and referring to things of which the name has most probably been superseded).

automobiles are not called "motor cars" much anymore ....:

You need to get out more. Here in Oz we refer to "motor cars" or as the average Aussie is incapable of utilising more than one syllable, just "cars". Again, "automobile" is a quaint Americanism. (Whenever I travel to the States, I have to carry with me an American-English dictionary. It is just weird how the English language can change so much from place to place.)

In German, aeroplanes are referred to as "machine" as in "When is the machine going up?"

(I should also add, that I am an old fart and am inclined towards using archaic terminology and referring to things of which the name has most probably been superseded).

hey I'd love to visit Australia , perhaps by "steamer" or "liner" . Perhaps just a tad too romantic.

hey I'd love to visit Australia , perhaps by "steamer" or "liner" . Perhaps just a tad too romantic.

Ah! The days of the "Mariposa" and the "Monterey" which used to ply the waters betwixt at one time!

Oh no.....that's definitely a late 20's aircraft at the earliest !!! There were a handful of attempts to run passenger services as early as WW1, but the aircraft looked like this splendid beast, a De Havilland DH16 from 1916.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DH16-AT%26T.jpg#/media/File:DH16-AT%26T.jpg

Thanks for the confirmation!

Never mind the boo-boo. The more pertinent issue here should be: Where did you find a copy (DVD/BD/VHS) of this movie?? You most certainly are in possession of it in order for you to make all these acute observations about it. The last time I saw it on TV was on AMC in the *80s*, and as far as I know it has never been on home video. With your acute observance, you could probably deduce with tremendous ease that I am in GREAT NEED of possessing this title!

Never mind the boo-boo. The more pertinent issue here should be: Where did you find a copy (DVD/BD/VHS) of this movie?? You most certainly are in possession of it in order for you to make all these acute observations about it. The last time I saw it on TV was on AMC in the *80s*, and as far as I know it has never been on home video. With your acute observance, you could probably deduce with tremendous ease that I am in GREAT NEED of possessing this title!

THE YELLOW TICKET (1931) was, and still is on YouTube, although this is England, so it may be blocked elsewhere. At present I am unable to download from YT, and rely on the good deeds of fellow enthusiasts. Good luck!

THE YELLOW TICKET (1931) was, and still is on YouTube, although this is England, so it may be blocked elsewhere. At present I am unable to download from YT, and rely on the good deeds of fellow enthusiasts. Good luck!

Thanks for the info, but that bootleg video is so blurry that I'm surprised you can make out any detail from it, let alone being able to identify the plane model. It might as well be a 747 from where I'm sitting! I recall seeing this on Youtube as well, and was hoping you somehow were able to obtain a clean, restored, HD copy. I've been watching TCM for 14 years and have never seen it shown.

"The Yellow Ticket" is a Fox title, and sadly it wasn't and still isn't among the 100 films that were released in 2016 for digital streaming in celebration of Fox's centenary.