Produced by Charles S. Strong with the help of K.O. Bjarnason and Gudni Thordarson and Charles T. Namur, Jr., “Wings and Wheels Over Iceland” is a travelogue film that dates to the mid-to-late 1950s. This version doesn’t have a soundtrack, and the film might not have — it could have been presented in person and featuring a voiceover by Strong himself. Charles Stanley Strong (November 29, 1906 – October 11, 1962) was a noted author, adventurer and explorer.
The film begins with shots at New York Airport, also known as Idlewild Airport, with tourists boarding what appears to be a DC-6 frlown by Loftledir the Icelandic Airlines. At 1:52 the gate for Icelandic Airlines is shown. At 2:15 the DC-4 named Hekla is shown with the pilot at the controls. At 3:08 the DC-4 takes off on its journey across the Atlantic. On the ground in Reykjavik, the plane has a new destination sign — for Oslo, Noway. At 3:53 are shots of the Lief Erickson and Anarholl statues in Reykjavik and sweeping shots of the nation’s capitol. At 5;14 fire engines drive out of the fire station. At 6:57 a map shows the path the filmmaker followed into the interior. Various sights shown include geysers (12:10) and rugged scenery. At 15:22 a glider is shown in operation. At 17;33 are more scenes in Reykjavik including the docks where fishermen are shown at work. A cruise on a fishing vessel called the Snaefell follows. At 23:17 what appears to be a military base or possibly a university is shown. At 24:4 a hotel is shown. At 28:59 a large waterfall is shown, most likely the Goðafoss. At 30:51 a farmer harvests wheat with a scythe.
Loftleiðir HF, internationally known as Icelandic Airlines (abbreviated IAL) or Loftleiðir Icelandic, was a private Icelandic airline headquartered on the grounds of Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík, which operated mostly trans-atlantic flights linking Europe and America, pioneering the low-cost flight business strategy on these routes.
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