Spirit of St. Louis The (1957)

Directed by the great Billy Wilder (surprisingly) and based on the book by Charles Lindbergh which was adapted by Charles Lederer (the director wrote the screenplay with Wendell Mayes) this slightly above average if overlong biographical drama tells the story of the man who would one day become the first to fly non-stop from New York to Paris in 1927. This historic first transatlantic flight helped to create the airline industry. James Stewart (again surprisingly; he was nearly 40 but portraying a man 25 years old) plays this man Charles Augustus ‘Slim’ Lindbergh whose plane (designed & built by Ryan Aircraft in San Diego California) was dubbed “The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)” for the businessmen from that city that helped to fund the effort. The story tells about Lindbergh’s early life as a brave mail carrying pilot in the early days of aviation (though there’s no real drama about whether he survived in the fog). But much of the film’s ‘action’ involves the history making flight itself with actor Stewart’s voice providing narration for his character’s thoughts while he tries to stay awake during the 30+ hour journey. This movie received an Academy Award nomination for its Special Effects representing the only Oscar nomination for Louis Lichtenfield. Murray Hamilton Patricia Smith Bartlett Robinson Marc Connelly Arthur Space and Charles Watts play the other minor credited roles.

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