Undaunted: The Forgotten Giants of the Allegheny Observatory (2012)

This film tells the surprising story of how the Allegheny Observatory has been a world leader in the study of the stars since the 1860s. Self-educated, and often facing unrelenting ... See full summary »

Director:

Dan Handley

Writer:

Dan Handley

Stars:

Cain Alexander, Kurt Bell, Robert R. Bell

Cast

Credited cast:
Cain Alexander	...	Young Samuel Langley
Kurt Bell	...	Himself
Robert R. Bell	...	Josiah King (as Bob Bell)
Len Caric	...	Harvey Childs
David Conrad	...	Narrator
Tom D. Crouch	...	Himself (as Tom Crouch)
William Fickinger	...	Himself
George Gatewood	...	Himself
Art Glaser	...	Himself
Matthew Green	...	Wealthy industrialist
Jay Keenan	...	John Brashear (voice)
Daniel V. Klein	...	Professor Lewis Bradley
Nick LaMantia	...	Assistant #1
Henry Lenard	...	Dr. James Keeler
Demetria Marsh	...	Julia Smith Brashear (voice)

Storyline

This film tells the surprising story of how the Allegheny Observatory has been a world leader in the study of the stars since the 1860s. Self-educated, and often facing unrelenting hardships, the people associated with the Allegheny Observatory defied the odds to make enormous contributions to the founding of astrophysics and early aviation. Among its many distinctions, the Allegheny Observatory is often regarded as the birthplace of astrophysics, laid the foundation for climate and solar energy research, had made major discoveries in planetary science, and have discovered and studied planets outside our solar system. Samuel Pierpont Langley made the first truly scientific studies of the principles of flight and published a textbook on the subject in 1891. He was also the first person to fly a documented heavier-than-air powered flying machine in 1896. Starting with only a grade school education, John Brashear taught himself physics and astronomy to become one of the world's foremost ...

---

Plot Keywords:

science | astrophysics | reenactment | 

---

Genres:

Documentary

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 2012 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$260,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dan Handley Science Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

The entire movie was edited in director and producer Dan Handley's one bedroom apartment living room which he turned into an editing bay. Many of the closeup shots were also shot in his living room.

User Reviews

The people that did this movie are certainly undaunted themselves for producing a story that is long overdue.

I watched this movie from the OMNIMAX theater in Pittsburgh, then borrowed it from the Carnegie library of Pittsburgh to watch it a second time.I plan on obtaining more copies so that my 3 children and 7 grandchildren can watch it. This movie is long overdue in describing in an amazing way the history of Old Allegheny and Pittsburgh. Two separate and then one amazing area of our country that has never been given proper credit for what it did for our country. This area helped to build this country and helped us win two world wars. Carnegie,Frick,Thaw,Langely,Schwab,Brashear,Mellon, Heinz and Westinghouse. Pittsburgh leaders not only in industry but in the study of the heaven and planets and stars.Leaders in air flight and astrophysics. The Observatory in Riverview park is not just a place to walk your dogs around .It was and still is a vital part of the history of science in the country . Thank you Dan Handley for an excellent presentation of an amazing story.