<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: A fine compliment to his own book...and more!
Review: The movie offers fine footage -- barnstorming, family, and of the Spirit Of St. Louis taking off from Roosevelt field (clearing the telephone wires by 20 ft!), 1920s New York, etc...The narration is excellent and balanced and generally consistent with Lindbergh's own book, although like most movies it doesn't go into the depth and richness of the book. Which reminds me, if you liked this movie or are interested in Lindbergh, reading his own book "The Spirit Of St. Louis" is practically mandatory reading; it is truly excellent book and extremely well-written. The narration in the movie adds interviews with others -- historians, authors, mechanics, family -- that add a great deal -- and this is something that I think the movie offers that is not contained in the book. The music is excellent, piano, and roaring 20's style pieces. The movie also covers some of the controversial aspects of Lindbergh -- the kidnapping of his baby, his move to England and views on race, his pre-war visits to Germany and visits with German officials, his sympathetic views to pre-WWII Nazi Germany, accusations of Nazi sympathizer, his Nazi medal, his anti-war isolationist anti-semetic intolerant viewpoint in the Des Moines speech, and subsequent WWII combat involvement in the Pacific in P-38s where he flew 50 combat missions and shot down at least 1 enemy airplane. Historic footage includes snippets from Triumph of the Will, holocaust footage, combat footage. My interest is his early years, centering around the historic first trans-Atlantic flight, how he became one of the of the greatest American heroes and how in this flight he embodied the hopes, dreams, and spirit of all Americans. And the movie adds the controversy of his later years in a balanced manner that both adds understanding and confusion to this American hero. This movie is worth seeing -- recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Basic Lindbergh
Review: This documentary is a well done basic summary of Charles Lindbergh. It does not go into depth or detail about any particular part of Lindbergh's life. There are some excellent movie clips and audio clips that reflect what the 1920's were like including footage of his historic takeoff from Roosevelt field and a few short clips of comments by historians which indicate how little anyone knew about Lindbergh the man. If anyone knew Charles Lindbergh well it would be his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh, a woman of considerble achievments in aviation and literature who traveled the world with him. She knew Charles the hero, the aviator, the husband, the father and the person. I was very disappointed that the interview with Mrs Lindbergh, was edited down to three very short clips. My advice to anyone wanting to know more about Charles Lindbergh would be to read his Pulitzer Prize winning book "The Spirit of St. Louis" and his autobiography titled "Autobiography of Values" and the Pulitzer Prize winning biography titled "Lindbergh" by A. Scott Berg. All excellent books.
<< 1 >>
| 
