A surefire remedy for my episodic insomnia is to find something on TV that’s a tad tedious and watch it until I drift off to dreamland. While spinning through the guide the other night in search of such a program, I instead came across a forgotten nugget: Billy Wilder’s 1957 film The Spirit of St. Louis 3 broadcast without commercials by the class act that is Turner Classic Movies. While I have already seen the film a couple of times, I decided to record it so I could examine it with a more inquisitive eye.

That the film actually scores pretty high on the avgeek’s ‘rivet counter’ scale is a pleasant surprise. In particular the scenes depicting the construction of N-X–211 have the ring of truth. The onscreen Spirit — there were actually three of them — started life as the quite similar Ryan B–1 Brougham 4 built, presumably, by at least some of the same shop staff who built Lindbergh's aircraft. The B-1s were worked over under the guidance of the movie’s Aerial Supervisor Paul Mantz to closely resemble the iconic, ocean-hopping aircraft. It seems like the filmmakers may well have captured the re-construction work on film and woven the resulting footage into the feature film. Even if this wasn’t the case, the construction sequences provide an animated sense of the engineering of the Spirit of St. Louis. In particular, how light and fragile the aircraft seemed to be.

The role of the 25-five-year-old Charles Lindbergh is played by the eminently likeable but famously 47-year-old Jimmy Stewart. It is a fact movie reviewers could not overlook when the film debuted and you can see why. Jimmy is not lost in the role at all. Basically he looks like himself and his age despite having dyed his hair blonde and losing weight for the film, ostensibly to make himself appear more youthful. Instead, it looks for all the world like he might just pull out a clarinet and play Moonlight Serenade as Stewart did in his title role in The Glenn Miller Story.

Consequently, I didn’t buy Stewart as Lindbergh, either: throughout the film I found myself thinking “hey, look, Jimmy in a DH.4 and … now Jimmy’s falling asleep in the cockpit and … Jimmy’s getting mobbed at Le Bourget … ” Stewart, who had a lifelong fascination with aviation as well as being an accomplished aviator and US Air Force veteran of World War II, was keen to make the film regardless of his age. So much so he opted for a percentage of the film's revenue rather than being paid up front for his performance. Sadly, the movie was a financial flop and likely made the project more a labour of love for Stewart, rather than money.

The use of Warnercolor for the film means, mercifully, it was not butchered by colourisation after the fact. While the results are a little ‘Kodachromy’ it still has a look of authenticity. This is particularly delightful in the flying scenes of the replica aircraft. I was left with a very concrete sense of what it would have been like to see the aircraft if somehow I could magically transport myself back to 1927. The specific scene which comes to mind depicts the first desert test flights of one of the replica Spirit aircraft complete with the blinding forward cowling panels in place. She really does look gorgeous — trim and shiny and modern — and this sequence is definitely rewind-worthy as are many other scenes in the film. The sound of the aircraft is also skillfully captured.

Not surprisingly, Director Billy Wilder chose to bring his movie to a somewhat hasty conclusion shortly after the portrayal of the Spirit landing at Le Bourget. Therefore, the ‘complicated’ part of Lindbergh’s life after his flight — even though it was no big secret in the mid-fifties when the film was made — goes uncovered in the movie seemingly to make the movie more acceptable, and thence marketable, to the conservative audiences of the time.

Incidentally, if you’re looking for a more complete account of the entire arc of Lindbergh’s life, I still believe the gold standard is the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography Lindbergh 5 by A. Scott Berg. If you have not yet read it and you are still looking for beach reading this summer this is your book. If you’re like me, Berg’s meticulous research and compelling storytelling will permanently alter your perception of Lindbergh’s place in history — unlike this movie which only serves to confirm the popular legend, even if it’s done in a very entertaining way.

Wilder’s storytelling decisions in the film reflect an Eisenhower-era America generally untroubled by introspection and nuance. In one of the final scenes of the film, however, the gifted director does sneak in a subtle nod to what lay ahead for Lindbergh after his New York-to-Paris flight into the popular imagination and into history. It’s the one scene where I was less inclined to think “hey, look Jimmy …” and willingly suspend my disbelief as Stewart really gets a chance to act:

In the moving scene, Lindbergh approaches the Spirit which had been battered by the delirious mob at the filmic Le Bourget. The pilot, once again entirely alone with his famous airplane, takes a torn piece of cloth on the fuselage and tries to hold it back in its original position as if to visualise what it once looked like. As soon as he removes his hand, of course, the cloth falls away from the fuselage revealing a gaping hole likely making the aircraft unflyable.

In this cinematic moment, it’s as if The Lone Eagle suddenly and unexpectedly realises his old life — like the silvery gossamer skin of the Spirit of St. Louis itself — had been irreparably shredded and, sadly, lost forever. In the context of the time in which The Spirit of St. Louis was made, I think filmmaker Wilder may also be commenting on Lindbergh’s future role in world affairs. Fueled by nothing more than the aviator's lingering celebrity, it would eventually prove one he was hopelessly unqualified to undertake. This commentary on celebrity worship, along with its unintended consequences, is every bit as relevant today as it was back when the movie was made.

Despite its minor flaws The Spirit of St. Louis is still must-see for avgeeks everywhere — no insomnia required. If you do see it on my recommendation or have seen it in the past, by all means, please let me know your thoughts 6 about it or anything else covered in BluFly 🛩️.

Until next time, fair winds and blue skies.

Terence C. Gannon
Managing Editor

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