RARE Black Americana Flying Ace 1926 Silent Film Promotional Lobby Placard

Lobby card from the 1926 Black silent era film, "Flying Ace, " also known at the time as a "Race film" or a "Colored film, " produced by Norman Studios, also known as Norman Film Manufacturing Company of Jacksonville Florida, which was producing all Black cast films from 1919 - 1928. NOTE: some pin holes at corners and edges, some yellowing and foxing mostly at edges, faint writing in pencil at the center of the top in the border. In reverso, you can see ink silhouette from the opposite side. Films such as The Flying Ace, that used an all-African-American cast and were shown specifically to African-American audiences, were known as "race films".

Norman Studios produced feature length and numerous short race films during the 1920s. The untapped black filmgoing market and the plethora of talented performers unable to get work in mainstream films led to the production of race films by Norman Studios. Richard Norman's reason for producing race films was not solely a business decision. Although the studio was filling a niche, Norman was also motivated by the state of race relations at the time and wanted to make a positive impact. In 2021, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The "Flying Ace" dranatizes the exploits 9f African American flyers like Eugene Jacques Bullard (born Eugene James Bullard; October 9, 1895 - October 12, 1961) was one of the first African-American military pilots, although Bullard flew for France, not the United States. Bullard was one of the few black combat pilots during World War I, along with William Robinson Clarke, a Jamaican who flew for the Royal Flying Corps, Domenico Mondelli from Italy, and Ahmet Ali Çelikten of the Ottoman Empire. Also a boxer and a jazz musician, he was called "L'Hirondelle noire" in French literally "Black Swallow". Thank you for your time and interest. Explore our other items for something that may appeal to either your collection or your aesthetic.