I missed the start of this film last night on TCM, but I'm glad I tuned in, because I'd never heard of the movie before. I'm from San Diego, and John Montgomery is definitely a 'local boy', even though he was not born here. In 1882, at age 24, he moved with his father and family to a ranch on Otay Mesa, which is right next to the Mexican border, about 15 miles south of downtown San Diego (the 'vaquero' seemed appropriate). His first flight was in 1883, and he continued his experiments there until 1895, when he moved to Oakland. A year later, he started teaching at Santa Clara College (near San Jose), and he was killed in a flying accident near there in 1911. Another reviewer said that the flight scenes were filmed in the Santa Clara Valley, and I wonder how they knew that, and in fact whether it is true. The film seems to be about Montgomery's time in the San Diego area, although I thought the landscape looked rather smooth and grassy for this generally very dry climate. North of Los Angeles, probably, but Santa Clara? Still, wherever it was filmed, it was easy to imagine the empty rolling hills and canyons in the film as the area around Otay, long before urban sprawl.
I was particularly enthralled with the way the scene was filmed where Montgomery's glider and 'Professor La Salle' were carried aloft by a gigantic balloon. I thought the view from far above the balloon, showing it soaring high above the rolling countryside, amongst spectacular cloud formations, was quite dramatic.
I also thought the film did a pretty good job of capturing the flavor of the time, with people's naïve enthusiasm at the prospect of flight. I liked the costuming, except for Professor LaSalle's outfit (spangled shorts over tights), which I thought looked ridiculous. I suppose it was authentic, however. Another reviewer complained about Janet Blair's makeup, saying it was too 'modern'. True, respectable women of the late 1800s didn't wear makeup, which is one reason they generally look so strange in old photographs. However, I doubt if any actress, even in the 40's, would be caught dead without 'modern' makeup, and audiences would not want to see them without it. Incidentally, I thought Janet Blair was a total dish. True, she was too good to be true. I thought it was interesting that she kept showing up with these men she had recruited to help Montgomery. I wondered about her recruiting methods. Simply smiling undoubtedly would have been sufficient.
Apparently this film was a typical Hollywood 'biopic', which never lets the facts stand in the way of a good story. According to one history of Montgomery, he conducted his experiments in secret, just like the Wright Brothers, and the first public mention of his 1883 flight was in an 1894 book by Octave Chanute, entitled 'Progress in Flying Machines'. Montgomery managed to get a patent in 1906, so perhaps like the Wright Brothers he was hoping to profit from his discoveries. So, no 'exhibitions', no 'Professor LaSalle', or any of that. How much drama can you squeeze out of a man conducting gliding experiments in secret?
As to Glenn Ford's performance, I felt a little uneasy about it. He seemed to be trying to portray Montgomery as being somewhat childish, somewhat scatter-brained, almost mentally unbalanced. True, one important aspect of the plot was Montgomery's supposed dizzy spells, but Glenn looked dizzy practically all the time was that really necessary? His performance reminded me of Montgomery Clift or Anthony Perkins, who were hired for their ability to look crazy. Actually, I wondered why Janet's character was so enthralled with him. His success with gliders seemed to be the only thing he had going for him. His dropping her on the dance floor was inevitable, but I still felt bad when it happened.
Incidentally, a random thought just occurred. This morning, I read an article in the paper about the man who was primarily responsible for the development and 'perfection' of film colorization (aided considerably by Ted Turner making his film vaults available). I'm not necessarily against colorization, but I thought 'Gallant Journey', in glorious, subtle, leave-it-to-your-imagination black and white was just fine. Once all old movies have been colorized, will we even be able to see them in black and white?
I was particularly enthralled with the way the scene was filmed where Montgomery's glider and 'Professor La Salle' were carried aloft by a gigantic balloon. I thought the view from far above the balloon, showing it soaring high above the rolling countryside, amongst spectacular cloud formations, was quite dramatic.
I also thought the film did a pretty good job of capturing the flavor of the time, with people's naïve enthusiasm at the prospect of flight. I liked the costuming, except for Professor LaSalle's outfit (spangled shorts over tights), which I thought looked ridiculous. I suppose it was authentic, however. Another reviewer complained about Janet Blair's makeup, saying it was too 'modern'. True, respectable women of the late 1800s didn't wear makeup, which is one reason they generally look so strange in old photographs. However, I doubt if any actress, even in the 40's, would be caught dead without 'modern' makeup, and audiences would not want to see them without it. Incidentally, I thought Janet Blair was a total dish. True, she was too good to be true. I thought it was interesting that she kept showing up with these men she had recruited to help Montgomery. I wondered about her recruiting methods. Simply smiling undoubtedly would have been sufficient.
Apparently this film was a typical Hollywood 'biopic', which never lets the facts stand in the way of a good story. According to one history of Montgomery, he conducted his experiments in secret, just like the Wright Brothers, and the first public mention of his 1883 flight was in an 1894 book by Octave Chanute, entitled 'Progress in Flying Machines'. Montgomery managed to get a patent in 1906, so perhaps like the Wright Brothers he was hoping to profit from his discoveries. So, no 'exhibitions', no 'Professor LaSalle', or any of that. How much drama can you squeeze out of a man conducting gliding experiments in secret?
As to Glenn Ford's performance, I felt a little uneasy about it. He seemed to be trying to portray Montgomery as being somewhat childish, somewhat scatter-brained, almost mentally unbalanced. True, one important aspect of the plot was Montgomery's supposed dizzy spells, but Glenn looked dizzy practically all the time was that really necessary? His performance reminded me of Montgomery Clift or Anthony Perkins, who were hired for their ability to look crazy. Actually, I wondered why Janet's character was so enthralled with him. His success with gliders seemed to be the only thing he had going for him. His dropping her on the dance floor was inevitable, but I still felt bad when it happened.
Incidentally, a random thought just occurred. This morning, I read an article in the paper about the man who was primarily responsible for the development and 'perfection' of film colorization (aided considerably by Ted Turner making his film vaults available). I'm not necessarily against colorization, but I thought 'Gallant Journey', in glorious, subtle, leave-it-to-your-imagination black and white was just fine. Once all old movies have been colorized, will we even be able to see them in black and white?