The Conquest of the Air

Because I've always had an interest in aviation, this film I found on TCM was a nice addition to the long list of things I've watched so far on the channel. Even though I recorded this all the way back in 2015, it took me until yesterday to finally watch it. I wish I did so earlier, because it might be the first example of a flight documentary. The film is strange in that it's told in the style of a documentary, meaning there's no storyline, but it has actual actors such as Laurence Olivier. The movie goes over man's attempts to fly throughout history, from ancient times to the (then) present day in the 1930s. As long as there have been humans, there has been a desire to fly. Animals like birds can do it pretty effortlessly, so why can't we? Many people throughout history have tried to answer this question, with one italian scientist in the 1600s stating that it's physically impossible for humans to fly because it would require arm strength 10 thousand times greater than what we have. A century earlier, the genius Leonardo da Vinci was trying to experiment with various types of flying machines that people wouldn't see for centuries to come. He drew the designs for the first practical helicopter, as well as something called an ornithopter; a machine that flies by flapping its wings. However, none of these machines actually worked because da Vinci was unfortunately stuck in the primitive 1500s, and they were too advanced for their time. About two centuries later, we see how france is the first country to officially allow men to fly, as hot air balloons are invented in the late 1700s. In the american civil war, balloons are used by both sides as high altitude scouting vehicles to survey the battlefield. In the 1800s, aviation becomes even more advanced, since balloons are eventually connected to engines, allowing them to propel themselves more easily. Late in the 1800s, a german named Ferdinand von Zeppelin, whose name would later be interchangeable with airships, designed a new type of airship that had a metal frame inside and was filled with helium or hydrogen. Hydrogen was the more dangerous choice as it is highly flammable, something that was highlighted during the horrific crash of the german airship Hindenburg in 1937. Going into the early 1900s, the Wright Brothers make history by flying the first powered machine for not even 30 seconds. A few years later in europe, a frenchman named Louis Bleriot becomes the first person to cross the english channel in a powered aircraft. Unfortunately, the development of peacetime aircraft would have to be put on hold for 4 years as the first world war swept across europe. World war 1 still contributed to aircraft design, as war stimulates technological progress out of desperation. After the war, peacetime aviation continues and many more records are set. Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly from the US to europe in 1927, and odd new flying machines are experimented with. A machine called an autogyro uses a traditional propeller but has an unpowered rotor on top of it to provide lift. This allows it to take to the air using incredibly short runways. The first practical helicopters appear, with germany stealing the lead using their twin rotor focke wulf 61. Giant airliners that land and take off on the ocean (called flying boats) carry loads of people and their luggage to faraway lands that were once the destination points of bold explorers. By the 30s, people had conquered the air and fly just because they want to, but we must never forget how difficult it was to get to that point. I thought Conquest of the Air was a good enough film, as it shows how long it took humankind to come up with a practical way to get in the skies. It's also worth mentioning that TCM showed a restored version that features the infamous footage of the Hindenburg crashing as it comes in to land at new jersey, which didn't happen yet as of the original version. Just strange to think that a blimp with nazi symbols on its fins actually tried to land in america, but it (almost) happened.

The most interesting parts of this film are the docudrama installments at the beginning. At the same time, the reenactment of medieval and renaissance pioneers leaping off the tops of buildings to their inevitable splattering needs only a calliope or an MST3K accompaniment to be completely ridiculous. But the content is very interesting for anyone who loves aviation. It could be more entertaining, though.

The date for this film is puzzling. It is listed as being 1936, but contains footage of the Hindenburg disaster and the loss of Wiley Post and Amelia Earhart, distinctly mentioning the year 1938. Was there an updated re-release as the need to inform the British public about air power on the verge of WWII?

Dry but interesting British docudrama on the history of flight. There's some real footage of people and events for the more recent episodes. The older stuff is shown through dramatic reenactments, some of which are kind of fun. The plane stuff might appeal to aviation buffs but I liked the older stuff. My favorites are the earliest scenes which show a bunch of morons in ancient times jumping off of buildings trying to fly and failing, including Simon the magician. These scenes would be greatly improved if they featured the Goofy holler ("Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!"). The cast is fine for what they have to do. The most notable actor in the film is Laurence Olivier and he's only in it briefly. It's not going to be everybody's cup of tea. The narration almost put me to sleep a few times. I think if you're the kind of person who likes the old documentary shorts (I do) then you'll probably find this interesting as it feels like a longer version of one of those.

Originally made in 1931 with a couple of updates in 1937 and again in 1940, using historical recreations in the first part and switching more to a documentary style for the later parts. The recreations are a bit hit and miss most seem to give historical French, Italian and German characters broad English accents but Laurence Olivier gives his character an attempt at a genuine accent. A young Michael Rennie also makes a brief appearance. Ends on a rather odd note talking of the future use of peaceful flight showing gliders, but the footage used is from Germany and was in fact the method Germany used to train pilots to get around WWI restrictions on it's airforce. But overall, considering it's 1931 origin not a bad film.

Firstly, many reviewers have already mentioned this film as listed 1936, but as I write it has transported itself back to 1931. Churchill as PM suggests it's final version is almost 10 years younger.

The drama elements of this docu-drama are in the first half and are both educational and fun in an almost Pythonesque way (you'll know what I mean when you get to the 3rd tower jumper). As the amount of archive material becomes more available, obviously, in the 20th C. We get more documentary and in last segment slide into necessary propaganda.

Worth a watch, I learned something, not all that much, but something.