Orville and Wilbur

One of those extraordinary pieces that humanizes historical figures with intelligence, wit, humor. Most of us only saw it on PBS Television in the '70's and have never forgotten it. Somebody please make a DVD!

It has been a while since I have seen this film, but I remember it for the excellent portrayal of the scrappy Wright brothers, played convincingly and with heart by brothers James and Stacy Keach, and for the sheer beauty and sounds of their gliders and pioneering aircraft. One effect I have not seen in any other Wright brothers film biography was the humming sound made by the wind vibrating the taut wires in the gliders they flew; this was a haunting and unforgettable sound that added immensely to the romance of these early flights. As I recall, the facts of the Wright brothers story were fairly accurate. For example, the film correctly reported the brothers' initial discouragement when they discovered that the Lilienthal tables of air pressure were significantly in error, thus leading to their invention of the wind tunnel. Also correctly reported were their battles with mosquitos at Kitty Hawk -- a problem ignored in other film biographies. Sadly unavailable at present, this film should be issued on VHS and/or DVD.

I saw this for the first time years ago, and I remember how well the whole production was put together. I have been searching for either a DVD or a VHS to add to my collection. I recently obtained a copy of Michael Moriarity's opus "Winds of Kitty Hawk" and as good as that is I feel the Keach brothers presentation is tops and equals if not surpasses "Winds of Kitty Hawk". I agree with another's comment that the Keach brothers movie should be put on DVD for historic and annal purposes and put in the National Archives in Washington D.C. What adds to the authenticity of the film is many faceted; like the times they teased their nephew by playing jokes on him at the dinner table using wires to move his plate back and forth. One scene I remember is Orville applying ointment to his face in a most deliberate manner and Wilbur urging him to make haste; Orville replies in very slow, deliberate terms something to the effect that "...I..always..take...my...time..in..most things!" or something to that effect. There were many poignant moments in their attempts to fly, but the personal touches were a stroke of genius. C. S. Boyd

My father played in the movie. His name was John S. Lawrence III. There is a glider that is used in the film. My sisters,father and I built the glider and it worked perfectly! There is a scene where the glider is supposed to crash. My father was at the controls and at the last minute causes the glider to pull up in time there by averting a crash. The glider was built to exact specifications and of the same material of the original. It hangs now in the Manteo Public Library in Manteo North Carolina. It has hung there for there for years and is still in excellent condition. All of the cloth was hand sewn partially by children's hands and partly by my father. All of the frame was hand carved and held together with eyelets. It was flown with wires attached to control it.

Jess Lawrence