Slideshow
THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS
U.S., 1957
Directed by Billy Wilder
Starring James Stewart
Screenplay by Billy Wilder, Charles Lederer, and Wendell Mayes
Approx. 135 min. 35mm.
Wilder’s love letter to America is one of his own personal favorites—a color and widescreen evocation of Lindbergh’s famous flight, told in multiple flashbacks from the day after his arrival in Paris, and alternately hilarious, folksy, and suspenseful until the memorable final image. James Stewart stars as the aviator: “I played myself with deference to the character.”