Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The Spirit of St. Louis

The Spirit of St. Louis 
Released Date: April 20, 1957
Director: Billy Wilder
Actors: James Stewart, Murray Hamilton, Patricia Smith, Bartlett Robinson, Marc Connelly, Arthur Space, Richard Deacon, and Charles Watts



     James Stewart (47 years old) was cast as the young Charles Lindbergh (25 years old). It was said that James Stewart had pretty much begged to play Lindbergh, for Stewart was a huge fan of his. Although, it was said that Stewart was very difficult to work with during filming, which was unusual because almost everyone working with him loved it, but coworkers thought it might have been that he realized he was not right for the part. Lindbergh actually wanted Anthony Perkins to play him. I will have to say on record that James Stewart did a great job!

     Charles 'Slim' Lindbergh (James Stewart) wanted to be the first pilot to go from New York to Paris in a solo transatlantic flight. He needs first, to find sponsors, and then he needs to find the plane that will take him from point A to point B. Lindbergh finds his sponsors, and his sponsors find a plane owner that will sell him a good enough plane to take him across the Atlantic. However, the seller (Richard Deacon) wants to pick the pilot, which of course he wants someone other than Lindbergh. He then takes a train back home to St. Louis to give his sponsors their money back, but they have for him, a train ticket to New York. They also tell him that they do not want any other pilot. So he gets on the train for New York, and he is to see a man that can build a plane from scratch. The catch is that Lindbergh needs this plane to be built in 90 days or less. They are able to do this. The plane is plain, for it has no bathroom, no excess weight of any kind. Lindbergh even settles for not having a parachute along, which would have been a safe thing to have with him. He even has flash backs during his trip, of a time when one came in handy during a trip in his beginning plane rides. Will he make it across the Atlantic Ocean? Or will he and his Spirit of St. Louis plummet into the Ocean? The only way to find out is by watching this amazing movie. It is one that I have to say, kept me on my toes, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I know you probably get tired of me saying a lot of the same things over, but I love James Stewart, and this movie, along with a great many others, is why I do. Charles Lindbergh is amazing, and is a great pilot. 

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