The Winds of Kitty Hawk is a 1978 American made-for-television biographical film directed by E. W. Swackhamer about the Wright brothers and their invention of the first successful powered heavier-than-air flying machine, the Wright Flyer.[1] It's a tribute to the brothers and was broadcast on December 17, 1978, the 75th anniversary of their famous 1903 first aeroplane flight. It is one of several made-for-television films about historical people in aviation produced in the 1970s, including The Amazing Howard Hughes, Amelia Earhart, and The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case.
| The Winds of Kitty Hawk | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Written by | William Kelley Jeb Rosebrook |
| Directed by | E.W. Swackhamer |
| Starring | Michael Moriarty David Huffman Tom Bower Scott Hylands |
| Music by | Charles Bernstein |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Charles Fries |
| Producer | Lawrence Schiller |
| Cinematography | Dennis Dalzell |
| Editor | John A. Martinelli |
| Running time | 98 minutes |
| Production company | Charles Fries Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | December 17, 1978 |
Premise edit
The film presents the brothers' lives in dramatic vignettes sometimes historically rearranged.
At the start of the 20th century, bicycle mechanics Wilbur and Orville Wright, begin tinkering with gliders on the windy sand dunes of Kitty Hawk. Three years and dozens of crashes later, the Wright brothers solve the technical problems that had stumped the best engineers in the world, and succeed in making the first successful powered flight. Ironically, their success marks only the beginning and not the end of their struggle.[2]
The film makes a claimer at the beginning stating that dramatic license had been taken but for the most part their story is told chronologically.
Home Media edit
In 2012, the film became available on DVD from MGM Limited Edition.[3]
Cast edit
- Michael Moriarty as Wilbur Wright
- David Huffman as Orville Wright
- Tom Bower as William Tate
- Robin Gammell as H.A. Toulmin
- Scott Hylands as Glenn Curtiss
- John Randolph as Alexander Graham Bell
- Kathryn Walker as Katharine Wright
- Eugene Roche as Bishop Milton Wright
- John Hoyt - Professor Samuel Langley
- Joseph Bernard - Mayor of New York, George B. McClellan Jr.
- Lew Brown - Harlan Mumford (banker)
- Carole Tru Foster - Agnes Osborne
- Dabbs Greer - Ace Hutchin
- Mo Malone - Elizabeth Mayfield
- Robert Casper - Man
- Tom Lawrence - Doctor
- Ross Durfee - William Howard Taft
- Charles Macaulay - 2nd Genteral
- Frank Farmer - Mr. Newell
- Steffen Zacharias - Fisherman
- Laurence Haddon - 1st General
- Ari Zeltzer - Tom Tate
- Vaughn Armstrong - Reporter
- Marie Todd -
- Gerald Berns - Reporter
See also edit
- Wright Flyer
- The Wright Brothers (1971 film)
References edit
- ^ The Winds of Kitty Hawk; kinotv.com
- ^ Panorama newspaper Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation TV Highlights; 21/03/1988; Page 18
- ^ The Winds of Kitty Hawk DVD release May 2012; Oldies.com
External links edit
- The Winds of Kitty Hawk at IMDb.com
- allmovie/synopsis; The Winds of Kitty Hawk
- Winds of Kitty Hawk; Aveleyman
- Sample of Charles Bernstein's score to the film(Period Orchestral - 1904 flight) and others