The Spirit of St. Louis | |
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Directed by | Billy Wilder |
Written by | Charles Lederer Wendell Mayes Billy Wilder |
Based on | The Spirit of St. Louis 1953 book by Charles A. Lindbergh |
Produced by | Leland Hayward |
Starring | James Stewart |
Cinematography | Robert Burks J. Peverell Marley |
Edited by | Arthur P. Schmidt |
Music by | Franz Waxman |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 135 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $7 million[3] |
Box office | $2.6 million[4] |
The Spirit of St. Louis is a 1957 aviation biography film in CinemaScope and Warnercolor from Warner Bros., directed by Billy Wilder, produced by Leland Hayward, and starring James Stewart as Charles Lindbergh. The screenplay was adapted by Charles Lederer, Wendell Mayes, and Billy Wilder from Lindbergh's 1953 autobiographical account of his historic flight, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1954.
Along with reminiscences of his early days in aviation, the film's storyline largely focuses on Lindbergh's lengthy preparation for, and accomplishment of, his history-making transatlantic flight in the purpose-built Spirit of St. Louis high-wing monoplane. His takeoff begins at Roosevelt Field and ends 33 hours later on May 21, 1927 when he lands safely at Le Bourget Field in Paris. The film ends with actual newsreel footage of Lindbergh's ticker tape parade in New York.