Special Feature! Screening of "The Flying Ace"

 

October 13th, 2016 - 5:30 PM

 

Beaches Museum Chapel

 

Come see the groundbreaking classic silent film that is said to have helped inspire the Tuskegee Airmen when the Beaches Museum Chapel presents a showing of "The Flying Ace" on Thursday, October 13 at 5:30 p.m. Made in the early 20th century when Jacksonville was promoted as "The Winter Film Capital of the World," this movie is a must see for fans of the movie industry or Jacksonville history.

 

"The Flying Ace" is inspired by the story of the first licensed black female pilot, Bessie Coleman, who was tragically killed in 1926 while practicing for an air show at Jacksonville's Paxon Field. The movie began filming that same year here in Jacksonville at the Norman Studios property in Arlington and Mayport. Before African-Americans were even allowed to serve as pilots in the Armed Forces, Lawrence Criner, Kathryn Boyd, and an all-black cast told the story of Captain Billy Stokes, a World War I hero who returns to his job as a railroad detective after his time in the U.S. Air Force.

 

The screening will begin in the Beaches Museum Chapel at 5:30 p.m. on October 13. Admission is free for Museum members with a suggested $5 donation for non-members. The Beaches Chapel Museum is located at 505 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250.