Documentary May Lift Visibility of Flying 'A'

By VIC COX

Tonight's premiere of the documentary "An American Film Company" sheds new light on a little-known corner of not only local but also cinematic history, believes writer-producer Dana Driskel, UCSB lecturer in film studies.

The 60-minute film, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Campbell Hall, blends interviews of motion picture industry pioneers with rare archival footage from silent films bearing the winged "A" logo of the Santa Barbara-based American Film Company. Between 1910 and 1921 the Flying A studio, which occupied a city block on Mission Street between State and Chapala, rivaled Universal and Paramount in producing movies of nearly all genres for commercial theaters.

"I hope this documentary will encompass the ways the American Film Company was the standard of the era. They were solid, a leader in the industry," Driskel said. "One of their distinctions was they were a proving ground for many of the industry stalwarts who moved on [to work for other studios]."

Two of the best-known examples are directors Victor Fleming, who made "Wizard of Oz," "Gone with the Wind," and many other major features, and Allan Dwan, whose remarkable career spanned the first half of the 20th century and included Douglas Fairbanks' silent "Robin Hood," Shirley Temple's "Heidi," and John Wayne's "Sands of Iwo Jima." Both are in the documentary, along with less publicized players in the Flying A's saga, and several film historians.

Some of the people featured lived out their lives in Santa Barbara, one reason tonight's tribute is co-presented by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) and Arts & Lectures. This is the first time UCSB has hosted a SBIFF event. Two 1916 silent Flying A shorts will also screen, "A Life at Stake" and "Matching Dreams." Michael Mortilla will accompany both on the piano.

An unrelated feature documentary about a writer's fight against a dam project in India, "DAM/AGE: A Film with Arundhati Roy," will be shown on Thursday, March 6, as the second SBIFF-A&L collaboration.

Driskel's bumpy flight with the Flying A began as a UCSB film undergraduate in 1975 when he read Tim Lyons' dissertation on the American Film Company. Lyons, another UCSB alumnus, went on to become a scholar and critic of modern movies. But his initial work and continuing encouragement were vital to what would evolve into this documentary. "He became my beacon," said Driskel.

While working with animated films and teaching, Driskel collected information about the Flying A and interviewed people before they passed on. Lyons' death in 2001 shifted the project into high gear. With modest financial backing from the Office of Instructional Development last year, the frustrating search for accurate, key details intensified.

It was, he said, "like tracking down leaves that had been scattered by the wind. But the fun of the hunt made up for all the blind alleys I went down."

He found a willing assistant in Cindy Windmiller, a former film student of Driskel's who is credited as director and associate producer of the documentary, and computer technician Chris Meagher, who is also a Film Sudies Department TA. Mortilla composed and played the score for Driskel's documentary.