Spitfire 944
Encyclopedia
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
in which an 83-year-old World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
pilot views 16mm footage of his 1944 Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
crash-landing for the first time, sixty-one years after the event.
Behind the scenes
In October 2005, filmmaker William Lorton inherited two suitcases of 16mm home movies which his great uncle, James R. Savage, MD., shot while serving as a Flight SurgeonFlight surgeon
A flight surgeon is a military medical officer assigned to duties in the clinical field variously known as aviation medicine, aerospace medicine, or flight medicine...
for the US Army Air Corps during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The most compelling shot in the three hours of war footage was the crash landing of a Spitfire Mk XI fighter plane at Mount Farm Airbase in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. Being the flight surgeon at the base, Captain Savage was alerted to the impending accident and had the presence of mind to bring his movie camera to the landing strip.
Within 30 seconds of entering the Spitfire's tail number into Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, the filmmaker was able to ascertain the date of the crash, the location of the crash and the name of the pilot: John S. Blyth.
The filmmaker sent a letter to the pilot requesting a general interview about World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
aviation and received a positive response. He did not reveal the existence of the 16mm footage until the interview took place about two weeks later near Tacoma, WA. At the end of a three-hour interview about the pilot's World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
exploits, the filmmaker asked the pilot to review "about one minute" of footage. John S. Blyth was quite surprised to suddenly be watching his death-defying landing of 61 years earlier.
Critical dimensions
The filmmaker's object was to capture what it looks like when a man is unexpectedly confronted with a motion picture of the most dangerous moment in his life, which took place during a major historical event, before the proliferation of consumer video cameras. John S. Blyth and his family later commented that his "Spitfire Crash-Landing" story had been told so many times, some considered it a "tall tale." No longer.The film is complex in that it is a photographic record of a man reviewing a photographic record of his own photographic record-making process (a wartime photo-reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
flight) across a timespan of 61 years. The film includes several high-altitude World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
photos actually taken by the subject pilot.
Historical context
Lieutenant John S. Blyth was flying with the United States Army Air CorpsUnited States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
' 14th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron based at Mount Farm, UK. He began the war flying a Lockheed
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...
P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
variant modified for photo reconnaissance work (known as an "F5" Aircraft.) His unit soon switched to the British Supermarine Spitfire Mk XI, which was better suited to high-altitude, low-temperature flight conditions than the American planes.
Articles in the media
- "Love for Spitfire Served Pilot Well," Tacoma News TribuneTacoma News TribuneThe News Tribune is a daily newspaper in Tacoma, Washington, in the United States.-History:It can trace its origins back to the founding of the weekly Tacoma Ledger by R.F. Radabaugh in 1880. The next year, H.C. Patrick founded The News, another weekly. Both papers became dailies in 1883. In 1898,...
, 29 March 2007 by Soren Andersen - "Scenes from Sundance," USA TodayUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, 29 January 2007 by Anthony Breznican - "Bay Area Films Keep It Real at Sundance Festival," Oakland Tribune, 16 January 2007 by Chris De Benedetti
- "Sundance Fest Unveils Shorts Program," Daily Variety, 6 December 2006 by Jeff Sneider
Awards
- Spitfire 944 won an Honorable Mention for Short Filmmaking at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival2007 Sundance Film FestivalThe 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007 in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival...
. - Spitfire 944 won the Best Documentary Award at the 2007 Tacoma Film Festival.
- Spitfire 944 won a Bronze Award for Short Documentary at the 2007 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival.
- Spitfire 944 won the Best Documentary Short Award at the 2008 GI Film FestivalGI Film FestivalThe GI Film Festival was founded in 2006 by husband and wife team Brandon L. Millett and Major Laura Law in response to the lack of quality films portraying American service members...
.