Now Were in the Air

Preservation status

Now We're in the Air was believed to be a lost film. A complete print was discovered in 2016 in a Czech archive, but the film was badly deteriorated and only about 23 minutes of the film was able to be restored, including the scene where Louise Brooks wears the black tutu. The print was found in Prague at the Czech Národní filmový archiv (the Czech Republic’s National Film Archive) by Robert Byrne. "When Byrne inspected the elements for Rif a Raf, Politi (the Czech title for Now We’re in the Air), he found the film had only partially survived in a state which also showed nitrate decomposition. Additionally, the surviving scenes were found to be out of order, and there were Czech-language titles in place of the original American titles. Byrne spent more than eight months reconstructing the surviving material, including restoring the film’s original English-language inter-titles and original tinting."

Plot

Wally and Ray are cousins intent upon getting the fortune of their Scots grandad, an aviation nut. They become mixed-up with the U. S. flying corps and are wafted over the enemy lines in a runaway balloon. Through misunderstanding they are honored as heroes of the enemy forces, and sent back to the U.S. lines to spy. Here they are captured and almost shot, but everything ends happily.

Cast