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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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
