The Conquest of the Air

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

This documentary traces man's attempts to fly from ancient times through the 1930s.This documentary traces man's attempts to fly from ancient times through the 1930s.This documentary traces man's attempts to fly from ancient times through the 1930s.

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos

Top cast51

Edit

Frederick Culley

Roger Bacon

Laurence Olivier

Vincent Lunardi

Franklin Dyall

Jerome de Ascoli

Henry Victor

Otto Lilienthal

Hay Petrie

Tiberius Cavallo

John Turnbull

Ferdinand Von Zeppelin

Charles Lefeaux

Louis Bleriot
(as Charles Lefaux)

Bryan Powley

Sir George Cayley

Alan Wheatley

Giovanni Alfonso Borelli

John Abbott

Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier

Charles Frend

Narrator
(voice)

Edward Ashley

Minor Role
(uncredited)

Italo Balbo

Self
(archive footage)
(uncredited)

Memo Benassi

Francesco Lama di Brescia
(uncredited)

Denville Bond

Oliver of Malmesbury
(uncredited)

Tom Campbell Black

Self
(archive footage)
(uncredited)

Charles Carrett

Latham's manager
(uncredited)

Andrea Checchi

Zoroastro
(uncredited)

More like this

7.3

49th Parallel

6.3

The Private Life of Don Juan

5.8

5.3

6.1

6.9

6.6

6.1

6.3

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
Theatrical movie debut of Alan Wheatley (Borelli).

Goofs
Lilenthal is still breathing when he is discovered 'dead' by his assistant.

Quotes
Vincent Lunardi: In a few years, the sky will be filled with balloons!

Alternate versions
The version shown on Turner Classic Movies is the updated one from 1940, as it includes footage of the Hindenburg disaster of 1937.

Connections
Referenced in Round the Film Studios: No. 2 Denham Part 5 (1937)

User reviews10

Review

Featured review

7/10

A dry telling of an interesting tale

The most interesting parts of this film are the docudrama installments at the beginning. At the same time, the reenactment of medieval and renaissance pioneers leaping off the tops of buildings to their inevitable splattering needs only a calliope or an MST3K accompaniment to be completely ridiculous. But the content is very interesting for anyone who loves aviation. It could be more entertaining, though.

The date for this film is puzzling. It is listed as being 1936, but contains footage of the Hindenburg disaster and the loss of Wiley Post and Amelia Earhart, distinctly mentioning the year 1938. Was there an updated re-release as the need to inform the British public about air power on the verge of WWII?