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IMDbPro

The Spirit of St. Louis

  • 19571957
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 2h 15m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
8.2K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,977
17,067
James Stewart in The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
Trailer for this adventurous drama about Charles Lindbergh
Play trailer3:27
1 Video
36 Photos
AdventureBiographyDrama
Charles 'Slim' Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.Charles 'Slim' Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.Charles 'Slim' Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
8.2K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,977
17,067
    • Billy Wilder
  • Writers
    • Charles A. Lindbergh(based on the book by)
    • Billy Wilder(screen play by)
    • Wendell Mayes(screen play by)
  • Stars
    • James Stewart
    • Murray Hamilton
    • Patricia Smith
    • Billy Wilder
  • Writers
    • Charles A. Lindbergh(based on the book by)
    • Billy Wilder(screen play by)
    • Wendell Mayes(screen play by)
  • Stars
    • James Stewart
    • Murray Hamilton
    • Patricia Smith
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 63User reviews
    • 36Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar

    Videos1

    The Spirit of St. Louis
    Trailer 3:27
    Watch The Spirit of St. Louis

    Photos36

    James Stewart in The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
    "The Spirit of St. Louis," James Stewart 1957 Warner / MPTV
    "The Spirit of St. Louis," James Stewart 1957 Warner / MPTV
    James Stewart with Maurice Chevalier and Director Billy Wilder, c. 1957
    "Spirit of St. Louis," Premiere James Stewart, 1957
    "Spirit of St. Louis" Premiere Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper, Anthony Perkins, Art Linkletter, 1957
    The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
    James Stewart in The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
    James Stewart in The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
    James Stewart in The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
    The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
    The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)

    Top cast

    Edit
    James Stewart
    James Stewart
    • Charles Augustus 'Slim' Lindbergh
    Murray Hamilton
    Murray Hamilton
    • Bud Gurney
    Patricia Smith
    Patricia Smith
    • Mirror Girl
    Bartlett Robinson
    Bartlett Robinson
    • Benjamin Frank Mahoney - President, Ryan Airlines Co.
    Marc Connelly
    Marc Connelly
    • Father Hussman
    Arthur Space
    Arthur Space
    • Donald Hall - Chief Engineer, Ryan Airlines
    Charles Watts
    • O.W. Schultz - Salesman, Atlas Suspender Co.
    Erville Alderson
    Erville Alderson
    • Burt
    • (uncredited)
    Frances Allen
    • Mother from Oklahoma
    • (uncredited)
    David Alpert
    • Clerk
    • (uncredited)
    Don Ames
    • Crowd Member in France
    • (uncredited)
    Walter Bacon
    • Crowd Member in France
    • (uncredited)
    Gordon Barnes
    • Reporter
    • (uncredited)
    Griff Barnett
    Griff Barnett
    • Dad - Farmer
    • (uncredited)
    Jimmy Bates
    • Farm Boy
    • (uncredited)
    Brandon Beach
    • Train Passenger
    • (uncredited)
    Paul Birch
    Paul Birch
    • Blythe
    • (uncredited)
    Eumenio Blanco
    Eumenio Blanco
    • Crowd Member in France
    • (uncredited)
      • Billy Wilder
    • Writers
      • Charles A. Lindbergh(based on the book by)
      • Billy Wilder(screen play by)
      • Wendell Mayes(screen play by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Charles A. Lindbergh wanted Anthony Perkins to play him in the movie.
    • Goofs
      On his approach to St. John's, Newfoundland in the fog, Lindbergh is depicted as being concerned about colliding with a mountain peak. However, there is no even remotely mountainous terrain anywhere in the vicinity of St. John's.
    • Quotes

      Charles Lindbergh: Did you wait in the rain all night?

      Mirror Girl: Yes.

      Charles Lindbergh: Are you from New York

      [City]

      Charles Lindbergh: ?

      Mirror Girl: No.

      Charles Lindbergh: Long Island?

      Mirror Girl: No. I'm from Philadelphia.

      Charles Lindbergh: You came all the way from Philadelphia?

      Mirror Girl: I had to. You needed my mirror.

    • Connections
      Featured in AFI Life Achievement Award: AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to James Stewart (1980)
    • Soundtracks
      Rio Rita
      (uncredited)

      Music by Harry Tierney

      Lyrics by Joseph McCarthy

      Played on a phonograph when Lindbergh is trying to rest before the flight

    User reviews63

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    Epic recreation of Lindbergh's first and historic flight from New York , across Atlantic , until Paris
    Overlong though exciting story behind the story of Lindbergh's incredible flight from New York to Paris. It deals Charles 'Slim' Lindbergh (excellently performed by James Stewart , he always wanted to portray him , when he ultimately got his chance is very old for a young role ; he was given this character after John Kerr had turned it down, owing to his disapproval of Lindbergh's pro-Nazi sympathies and his racist and anti-Semitic views) struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing . As a 25-year-old U.S. Air Mail pilot, Lindbergh (Charles wanted Anthony Perkins to play him in the movie) emerged suddenly from virtual obscurity to instantaneous world fame as the result of his Orteig Prize-winning solo nonstop flight on May 20–21, 1927, made from the Roosevelt Field in Garden City on New York's Long Island to Le Bourget Field in Paris, France, a distance of nearly 3,600 statute miles or 5,800 km , in the single-seat, single-engine purpose-built Ryan monoplane Spirit of St. Louis . As a result of this flight, Lindbergh was the first person in history to be in New York one day and Paris the next.

    Interesting picture with plenty of thrills , emotion , biographic elements and brief touches of humor . The film is pretty well though the action does drag at times and results to be overlong . Magnificent acting by James Stewart -at age 48- who gives a real Tour De Force back by good plethora of secondaries . However , many critics felt he was too old to be believable . In fact , producer Jack L. Warner was strongly opposed to the casting of James Stewart, which he believed caused the film to flop on its release in 1957 . Colorful and evocative cinematography in CinemaScope by two awesome cameramen Peverel Marley and Robert Burks , Hitchcock's ordinary . Impressive and thrilling musical score by Franz Waxman . However , the soundtrack was re-composed but composer Franz Waxman was no longer available so veteran film composer Roy Webb was hired along with Warner Brothers Music Director Ray Heindorf to come up with new cues based on Waxman's original material . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Billy Wilder , but it was a box office flop when originally released . After the film received bad notices from preview audiences, it was extensively re-edited with some new footage shot . Rating : Above average , this one remains a quality movie for the whole family .

    This exciting and inventive picture well well based on true events , these are the followings : Six well-known aviators had already lost their lives in pursuit of the Orteig Prize when Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on his successful attempt in the early morning of Friday, May 20, 1927. Burdened by its heavy load of 450 U.S. gallons of gasoline weighing about 1,230 kg, and hampered by a muddy, rain-soaked runway, Lindbergh's Wright Whirlwind-powered monoplane gained speed very slowly as it made its 7:52 am takeoff run, but its J-5C radial engine still proved powerful enough to allow the Spirit to clear the telephone lines at the far end of the field "by about twenty feet or six meters with a fair reserve of flying speed". Over the next 33.5 hours, he and the Spirit faced many challenges, including skimming over both storm clouds at 10,000 ft , 3,000 m, and wave tops at as low at 10 ft (3.0 m), fighting icing, flying blind through fog for several hours, and navigating only by the stars , whenever visible , and dead reckoning before landing at Le Bourget Airport at 10:22 pm (22:22) on Saturday, May 21. The airfield was not marked on his map and Lindbergh knew only that it was some seven miles northeast of the city. He initially mistook the airfield for some large industrial complex with bright lights spreading out in all directions. The lights were, in fact, the headlights of tens of thousands of cars all driven by eager spectators now caught in "the largest traffic jam in Parisian history " . A crowd estimated at 150,000 spectators stormed the field, dragged Lindbergh out of the cockpit, and literally carried him around above their heads for "nearly half an hour".
    helpful•8
    3
    • ma-cortes
    • Oct 12, 2014

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 20, 1957 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Santa Maria, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Leland Hayward Productions
      • Billy Wilder Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 2 hours 15 minutes
      • Color
      • 4-Track Stereo

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