The Spirit of St. Louis

The Spirit of St. Louis is the rare bio-pic/true story film that really works. At least for me.

The film chronicles Charles Lindbergh struggles to make the first solo transatlantic flight.

Unlike bio-pics of more recent subjects (like say, Muhammad Ali), Lindbergh’s flight predated television, so there’s no need to recreate any famous existing footage and James Stewart’s age (he was 47 supposedly playing a 25 year old) and resemblance to the actual Lindbergh (or lack thereof) weren’t an issue.

Director Billy Wilder, in addition to his usual deft mix of comedy and drama, also does a great job of intertwining the back-story with the actual flight, thus allowing the audience to get a sense of just how long the 33-hour flight was, without boring them. It was quite a storytelling challenge, but one that Wilder was easily up to. Granted, the ending feels a little abrupt, but better too short than too long.

Going into the film, I knew next to nothing about the flight, save that it was the first solo transatlantic crossing, and while I’m sure the film isn’t completely factual I still came away with a newfound respect for not only for what Lindbergh accomplished, but for all the pilots of that era.