Review of The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) by Gina F — 03 Jan 2010

Well-made cinematic account of Charles Lindbergh's (James Stewart) historic solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in his single engine plane The Spirit of St. Louis.

An off-beat choice of material for director Billy Wilder (Some Like it Hot, The Apartment), he still manages to keep the material interesting by inter-cutting scenes from earlier in Lindbergh's life.

And Stewart gives a good performance despite being way too old for the part (Lindbergh was 25 years-old at the time of his flight while Stewart was 45, a difference that irritated him enough to cause him to be unusually difficult during the shoot). Stewart still manages to make Lindbergh, who in real life was a Nazi-sympathizer and an anti-Semite, an interesting and likable character.