De Mille learned to fly in the hope of serving in the Great War. The war ended too soon, so he put the experience to use by founding one of the first passenger airlines in he US. This footage shows him in the air over an incredibly empty Los Angeles. It includes a stunt filmed by Irvin Willat for his Houdini drama The Grim Game (1919) which misfired and forced Famous Players-Lasky to change the film’s ending.
Patrick Stanbury, Kevin Brownlow Photoplay Productions