THE EPIC AMERICAN TRANS-ATLANTIC FLIGHT

Year Published: 1920s

Creator: Kodak

Format: 16mm

Description: Made for the home market in the late 1920s and released by Kodak as part of their Kodascope film library, this collection of silent newsreels celebrates Charles Lindbergh's 1927 trans-Atlantic flight. Titled "The Epic American Trans-Atlantic Flight" the film shows Lindy at :25 before looking at the accidents that crippled his competitors for the Ortieg prize. At :30, Renee Fonck's three-engine Sikorsky airplane, the S-35, is destroyed on takeoff. At :56 Admiral Byrd's Fokker trimotor is shown crash landing. At 1:18 Chamberlain's Bellanca is shown taking off, and then returning to the field with damaged landing gear. At 1:49, the Davis and Wooster attempt ends in disaster near Langley. At 2:00, Nungesser and Coli vanish on their attempt to fly to New York from Paris. At 2:25, Lindbergh poses with the Spirit of St. Louis and at 2:38 bids his mother goodbye. At 3:00 events of May 20th are seen with the aircraft being pushed out of its hangar, loaded with fuel (3:12), and Lindbergh boarding the plane. At 3:26 he takes off on his flight. At 4:17 a US flag is shown flying. At 4:22, second newsreel "Lindbergh's Triumph" shows his arrival in Paris. The film includes shots of Le Bourget, the U.S. Embassy, the Legion of Honor ceremony, etc. At 4:50, it shows Lindbergh visiting the mother of French aviator Nungesser, who was killed attempting to win the Orteig Prize. At 5:05, Lindbergh is shown on one of his "goodwill tours", visiting Belgium and England. At 5:40 Lindy visits Belgium's tomb of the unknown soldier. At 5:44, Lindy visits the Royal Palace. At 5:51, Lindy lands at Croydon where an enormous crowd greets him. At 6:22, Lindy is shown at the U.S. Embassy in London. At 6:53 Lindbergh is seen arriving back in the United States on board the cruiser USS Memphis. At 7:17 the ship arrives at the Navy Yard in Washington D.C. At 7:29 Lindbergh is reunited with his mother. At 7:53, Lindy travels down Pennsylvania Avenue. At 8:03 he is decorated by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge with the Distinguished Flying Cross. At 8:26, the Kinograms newsreel "Lindy Captures New York" shows Lindbergh's arrival in New York Harbor on board the USS Memphis.At 9:04 he is picked up by the mayor's macom. At 8:37 Lindy arrives at the Battery in Manhattan and rides up Broadway in a ticker tape parade. At 10:57 Lindy is presented with the Medal of Valor by Mayor Walker of New York, and then the parade continues. At 11:24 he places a wreath at a WWI memorial and then is awarded a medal by Governor Smith. At 12:02 another Kinogram, "Lindy Does It" shows Lindy's flight to Mexico City. This was part of a goodwill tour of several Latin America nations made following his epic flight across the Atlantic. At 12:02, the Spirit of St. Louis is prepped at Bolling Field. At 12:23 gas is loaded and at 12:26 Lindy examines maps of his route. At 13:24 Lindy takes off on his journey. At 13:35, President Calles of Mexico awaits Lindy's arrival, 14:15. At 15:00 Lindy arrives at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. There he met the U.S. ambassador's daughter, Anne Morrow; the two were married in 1929. The Lindberghs made a number of widely reported flights together, including a memorable one to the Far East on the great circle route above the Arctic.

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