Used as we are to flying everywhere, it may be hard to realize that in 1929, it was almost as astonishing that an industrial film like this -- a twenty-minute advertisement -- could be a talking picture as to fly from New York City to Los Angeles in a mere two days. You didn't even spend all that time in the air. Instead, you took the train from Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan to Ohio, and then transferred to an airplane, which carried you in hops of between 170 and 300 miles, to the West Coast, pausing to buy souvenirs along the way.
Last month I flew from New York City to San Diego in about six hours. So, yes, there has been some advancement. On the other hand, Charles Lindbergh was not along every step of the way, from the board room prologue, looking confused, to Saint Louis, where he was inspecting every engine, to somewhere over the Rockies, where he flew past, taking a look to make sure my plane was still in one piece. So there's that.
This short was commissioned by Transcontinental Air Transportation, which was later merged into Trans World Airlines, a major carrier when I was young. It shut down in 2001.
