Fight By Flight
This weekend's review: The Spirit of St. Louis.
I wasn’t sure what to expect out of The Spirit of St. Louis. James Stewart was the star and it was directed by Billy Wilder, which were both draws, but it wasn’t a historical event I was particularly interested in and I wasn’t sure about the two hour runtime (I’m used to them in modern movies, but I tend to think of older movies as generally being ninety minutes unless they’re some sort of epic). In the end, I think it was a fine movie, if nothing to write home about.
The historical event in question is the flight made by Charles Lindbergh (Stewart) from New York to Paris in 1927 that proved that trans-Atlantic flight was possible and paved the way for air travel as we know it. Most of the movie is taken up with the flight itself, interspersed with flashbacks both to how Lindbergh came to be making this flight in the first place and other moments from his life that relate to flying in some way. Naturally, there’s also some dramatic incidents of things going awry with the flight in order to add some tension, but these are staggered out reasonably well. I can’t speak to the historical accuracy of the movie, but while it’s pretty clear dramatic license has been taken at times, very little seems actively implausible, so that’s definitely a point in its favor.
Structurally, the movie is hit and miss. We open with the night before the flight, with everyone wondering if the weather will be good enough for Lindbergh to make the attempt while Lindbergh himself tries and fails to get some sleep, ruminating on how he got to this point. This of course leads into an extended flashback about how he decided to try to make the New York-Paris flight (which was apparently a contest of sorts) and convinced others to invest in his attempt before finding someone to build the plane, The Spirit of St. Louis. On the surface, this is a decent enough way to go about giving us this information, but I don’t really know if it’s necessary in the long run. Opening with the flashback material and then having Lindbergh’s sleepless night being represented by several shots of a clock face showing the passage of time might have been stronger. It also would have allowed for more consistent internal monologues by Lindbergh; sometimes it seems like they’re meant to represent him remembering the events, and other times they appear to be his thoughts in the moment, which makes things confusing. Once we get to the flight proper and the more random flashbacks, they sometimes feel a little off too. I understand that they’re there to keep things interesting-just watching Lindbergh sit there and flick switches isn’t all that engaging, though anything’s possible with the right writing/acting/directing-but there’s no real rhyme or reason to them, as they aren’t in chronological order and generally don’t set up things that will be important later. Attempts are made to have them tie into what Lindbergh’s thinking about or experiencing, like the time he sees a motorcycle underneath him and remembers how he used to have a motorcycle before he traded it for an airplane, but it’s not always the strongest connection. Then again, sometimes we remember moments from our past for no clear reason, so maybe the filmmakers were just trying to be true to life.
Besides that (and the fact that the last few hours of the flight happen a bit abruptly, complete with a time shift that feels off), the material is pretty good. None of the actors are particular standouts (even Stewart), but they get the job done. The various montages move things along quickly and efficiently, and while the flight scenes can drag a little bit, they’re at least somewhat forgivable if you think of them in terms of trying to see things from Lindbergh’s perspective. The part I liked best, however, was the flashes of the Billy Wilder humor that I love. Initially, the movie seemed like it was going to be played pretty straight, but then you get things like a motorcycle chasing an airplane before it suddenly becomes vice-versa, or Lindbergh chatting with a fly that got into the St. Louis’ cockpit, or a creative way to adapt to an army bunk bed that’s too small, and I was reminded of how fun Wilder could be. It’s not his best work, to be sure, but there’s things to enjoy here nevertheless.
There’s enough good here that I’d lean towards recommending the movie, but I wouldn’t call it a must-see. If you like Stewart, Wilder, or the Lindbergh story, there may be more of a draw, but otherwise, this is a movie you watch if you stumble across it, not one you actively seek out. Though I’m not sure if this would be a good movie or a bad movie to watch if it was available while you were making your own flight from New York to Paris…
I wasn’t sure what to expect out of The Spirit of St. Louis. James Stewart was the star and it was directed by Billy Wilder, which were both draws, but it wasn’t a historical event I was particularly interested in and I wasn’t sure about the two hour runtime (I’m used to them in modern movies, but I tend to think of older movies as generally being ninety minutes unless they’re some sort of epic). In the end, I think it was a fine movie, if nothing to write home about.
The historical event in question is the flight made by Charles Lindbergh (Stewart) from New York to Paris in 1927 that proved that trans-Atlantic flight was possible and paved the way for air travel as we know it. Most of the movie is taken up with the flight itself, interspersed with flashbacks both to how Lindbergh came to be making this flight in the first place and other moments from his life that relate to flying in some way. Naturally, there’s also some dramatic incidents of things going awry with the flight in order to add some tension, but these are staggered out reasonably well. I can’t speak to the historical accuracy of the movie, but while it’s pretty clear dramatic license has been taken at times, very little seems actively implausible, so that’s definitely a point in its favor.
Structurally, the movie is hit and miss. We open with the night before the flight, with everyone wondering if the weather will be good enough for Lindbergh to make the attempt while Lindbergh himself tries and fails to get some sleep, ruminating on how he got to this point. This of course leads into an extended flashback about how he decided to try to make the New York-Paris flight (which was apparently a contest of sorts) and convinced others to invest in his attempt before finding someone to build the plane, The Spirit of St. Louis. On the surface, this is a decent enough way to go about giving us this information, but I don’t really know if it’s necessary in the long run. Opening with the flashback material and then having Lindbergh’s sleepless night being represented by several shots of a clock face showing the passage of time might have been stronger. It also would have allowed for more consistent internal monologues by Lindbergh; sometimes it seems like they’re meant to represent him remembering the events, and other times they appear to be his thoughts in the moment, which makes things confusing. Once we get to the flight proper and the more random flashbacks, they sometimes feel a little off too. I understand that they’re there to keep things interesting-just watching Lindbergh sit there and flick switches isn’t all that engaging, though anything’s possible with the right writing/acting/directing-but there’s no real rhyme or reason to them, as they aren’t in chronological order and generally don’t set up things that will be important later. Attempts are made to have them tie into what Lindbergh’s thinking about or experiencing, like the time he sees a motorcycle underneath him and remembers how he used to have a motorcycle before he traded it for an airplane, but it’s not always the strongest connection. Then again, sometimes we remember moments from our past for no clear reason, so maybe the filmmakers were just trying to be true to life.
Besides that (and the fact that the last few hours of the flight happen a bit abruptly, complete with a time shift that feels off), the material is pretty good. None of the actors are particular standouts (even Stewart), but they get the job done. The various montages move things along quickly and efficiently, and while the flight scenes can drag a little bit, they’re at least somewhat forgivable if you think of them in terms of trying to see things from Lindbergh’s perspective. The part I liked best, however, was the flashes of the Billy Wilder humor that I love. Initially, the movie seemed like it was going to be played pretty straight, but then you get things like a motorcycle chasing an airplane before it suddenly becomes vice-versa, or Lindbergh chatting with a fly that got into the St. Louis’ cockpit, or a creative way to adapt to an army bunk bed that’s too small, and I was reminded of how fun Wilder could be. It’s not his best work, to be sure, but there’s things to enjoy here nevertheless.
There’s enough good here that I’d lean towards recommending the movie, but I wouldn’t call it a must-see. If you like Stewart, Wilder, or the Lindbergh story, there may be more of a draw, but otherwise, this is a movie you watch if you stumble across it, not one you actively seek out. Though I’m not sure if this would be a good movie or a bad movie to watch if it was available while you were making your own flight from New York to Paris…