The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)

Charles 'Slim' Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Charles A. Lindbergh (book), Billy Wilder (screenplay)

Stars:

James Stewart, Murray Hamilton, Patricia Smith

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
James Stewart	...	Charles Augustus 'Slim' Lindbergh
Murray Hamilton	...	Bud Gurney
Patricia Smith	...	Mirror Girl
Bartlett Robinson	...	Benjamin Frank Mahoney, President Ryan Airlines Co.
Marc Connelly	...	Father Hussman
Arthur Space	...	Donald Hall, Chief Engineer Ryan Airlines
Charles Watts	...	O.W. Schultz, Salesman Atlas Suspender Co.

Storyline

Biography of Charles Lindburgh from his days of precarious mail runs in aviation's infancy to his design of a small transatlantic plane and the vicissitudes of its takeoff and epochal flight from New York to Paris in 1927.

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Plot Keywords:

aviation | atlantic ocean | year 1927 | transatlantic flight | paris france | 

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Taglines:

The once-in-a-lifetime excitement of America's most exciting era!

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lindbergh - Mein Flug über den Ozean

Filming Locations:

Skellig Michael, County Kerry, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Leland Hayward Productions,Billy Wilder Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording) 4-Track Stereo

Color:

Color (WarnerColor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the replicas of "The Spirit of St. Louis" built for this film is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan while another is at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The nonworking ground replica used at the Paris Airport is hanging from the ceiling of Terminal One at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, formerly the Lindbergh Terminal.

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Goofs

When "Mirror Girl" is on the train back to Philadelphia from New York, the entire scene is framed against several of the train's windows with a beautiful view of The Pulaski Skyway, a northern New Jersey landmark, whose construction began in 1930 - three years after Lindbergh's flight.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Reporter: [checking his copy] Here at the Garden City Hotel, less than a mile from Roosevelt Field... less than three-quarters of a mile from Roosevelt Field... everyone is waiting, as they have been now for seven days and nights, waiting for the rain to stop...

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Connections

Featured in AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to James Stewart (1980)

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Soundtracks

Baby Face
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Akst
Played when Lindbergh makes a phone call from Louie's Shack

User Reviews

Good entertainment.

I have watched this film several times over the years and always find it an entertaining experience. As a retired airline pilot, I am interested in most aviation movies and this is one of the better ones. I know that Lindbergh was only 25 years old at the time of his historic solo flight to Paris and that James Stewart was almost 50 when making this movie but I can overlook that fact because Stewart has always been one of my all-time favorite actors and does one of his usual outstanding performances as the "lone eagle".

There is a good mixture of comedy and drama throughout the film and a good use of flashbacks. It also helps that James Stewart was a pilot in real life both in the military and civilian life.