Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight (1994) (TV)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Yves Simoneau

Writers (WGA):

Doris L. Rich (source material book "Amelia Earhart: A Biography")
Anna Sandor (written by)

Release Date:

12 June 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

A telling of the story of the famous U.S. aviatrix Amelia Earhart who attempted to fly solo around the world in 1937...

Plot Keywords:

Amelia Earhart | 1930s | Pioneer | Pilot | Aviation

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Diane Keaton	...	Amelia Earhart
Rutger Hauer	...	Fred Noonan
Bruce Dern	...	George Putnam
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Paul Mantz
David Carpenter	...	Harry Manning
Denis Arndt	...	Joseph Laughlin
Diana Bellamy	...	Mrs. Atkinson
Heather Lauren Olson	...	Teenage Girl Fan
Don Bloomfield	...	Sid Smith
Nancy Lenehan	...	Radio Show Hostess
Newell Alexander	...	Radio Show Sound Effects Man
Warren Munson	...	President Elliot
Marilyn Rockafellow	...	Mrs. Elliot
Hansford Rowe	...	Purdue Male Guest
Edith Fields	...	Purdue Female Guest 1

Runtime:

Germany:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Bradbury Building - 304 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When Amelia's plane takes off from Miami at the start of her flight around the world, mountains can be seen in the background. There are no mountains in southern Florida.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 52nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1995) (TV)

Fred Noonan.

This movie despite its shortcomings got me started researching the life of Fred Noonan nearly ten years ago. Rutger Hauer looks nothing like Fred who was tall and thin yet the movie although stereotyped is fairly accurate. It is true that Fred did indeed have a drinking problem for which he was fired but evidence shows that much of this was due to the immense strain he was under rather than a wilful character defect.It could be said that he was the worlds first commercial aerial navigator. He was nothing short of brilliant. He is shown as a likable character and this was so in real life. The video cover could have done without the image of him in a grimy shirt,cigarette in mouth, poring over a chart with a bottle of booze. Untrue. He was sartorial dresser who worried about the cleanliness of his clothes and the cigarette ash would have burned a hole in his precious chart.

One scene shows him laying back in the plane reading a magazine. For years I thought 'No way!' until recently I found out that he is reputed to have done just that in the Clipper planes which he navigated on their pioneering flights across the Pacific.Only it was thrillers rather than holiday brochures! This movie is well worth seeing. Its not brilliant art but is more factual than much of the stuff that is written about and discussed in Earhart circles. For those into the disappearance, Elgen Long's book, is in my opinion the best and most informative. But there IS also considerable 'evidence' for the theory that they may have been captured by the Japanese. In addition its not impossible that they might have perished on Niku.

Jackie Ferrari