The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)

Biopic of Charles Lindbergh, directed by Billy Wilder and starring James Stewart as the famed aviator. The story focuses mainly on his transatlantic flight with flashbacks interspersed throughout. It's not a bad movie by any stretch, just overlong and a little dull at times. One of the more traditional and, I suppose for many, uninteresting of Wilder's films. Stewart is too old for the role but the bigger problem is that he's never convincing here as anything other than Jimmy Stewart. That being said, he is always enjoyable to watch and since a lot of this film is him alone he really gets a chance to shine, even if he doesn't hit the mark on capturing Lindbergh. It's not like the script does him much favor in that regard, anyway.I won't complain about historical inaccuracies, nor about sanitizing Lindbergh's story. I've said many times in reviews for other biopics from Hollywood's Golden Age that this is not something that bothers me. The goal of these movies was to entertain. Whatever educational value they have is far down on the priority list. As long as the filmmakers are not going out of their way to assassinate someone's character or something along those lines, I don't have any issues with granting them artistic license with these types of films. Anyway, this is a flawed but ultimately enjoyable movie. There's comedy and drama and a little suspense. I enjoyed the plane stuff and any special effects used in those scenes. It's definitely worth a look for Stewart and Wilder fans, or people who enjoy old-fashioned biographical pictures that they don't make anymore.

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 and 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.

This movie was made in the 50's and it is really fun to watch. My mom must have really liked Jimmy Stewart as she found it necessary to name me after him. James Stewart Bennett Sr. :) I have enjoyed all of his work that I have seen to date. I wish I had been able to meet him before he passed, but it wasn't in the cards.Jimmy Stewart was a class act right to the end.I was honored to be able to see the actual "Spirit of St. Louis" hanging in the Smithsonian in Washington DC many years ago. Very cool.

The picture often took on a carnival like atmosphere when it recalled some of Lindbergh's adventures in flying through the years.We literally see the problems he had with design and financing to attain his goal.Jimmy Stewart was perfect for the lead role as he always exemplified the "aw shucks" guy.Of course, the picture ends with a triumphant Lindbergh being honored with a ticker-tape parade up Broadway. Yes, it's true that the French went wild after he landed in their country.Note that Lindbergh's isolationist and pro-Nazi beliefs are not discussed in this film. To me, this would have given the film an opportunity to show what a first class stinker he was. Of course, the famous kidnapping and murder of his child is also omitted.