Pacific Adventure
| Smithy | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Ken G. Hall |
| Produced by | N. P. Pery |
| Written by | Ken G. Hall as "John Chandler" Alec Coppel |
| Based on | story by Max Afford Ken G. Hall |
| Starring |
Ron Randell Muriel Steinbeck |
| Music by | Henry Krips |
| Cinematography |
George Heath Bert Nicholas |
| Edited by | Terry Banks |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
119 minutes (Australia) 99 mins (US) |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ₤53,000 or £73,000 |
| Box office | over ₤50,000 (Australia) ₤50,000 (USA) |
Smithy is a 1946 Australian film about pioneering Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and his flight across the Pacific Ocean, from San Francisco, California, United States to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia during 1928. This was the first-ever trans-Pacific flight. Kingsford Smith was the pilot of the Fokker F.VII/3m three-engine monoplane "Southern Cross", with Australian aviator Charles Ulm as the relief pilot. The other two crew members were Americans James Warner and Harry Lyon.
The film was released in the UK as The Southern Cross and in the US as Pacific Adventure.
In World War 2 some American and Australian airmen tell the story of Charles Kingsford-Smith. It starts in 1917 with him recovering from a wound incurred in fighting over the Western Front. Kingsford-Smith is rewarded with the Military Cross and is determined to make a career out of flying.
After the war he visits America and has a brief romance with Kay Sutton but later falls in love with and marries Mary Powell. He attempts to enter the England to Australia Air Race in 1919 but is stopped by Prime Minister Billy Hughes. He then decides to become the first person to fly from the US to Australia across the Pacific. He does the trip with Charles Ulm in a plane called the Southern Cross and becomes world-famous.
Kingsford-Smith attempts to set up his own airline but is not successful and is forced to take people on joy flights to make a living. He breaks another record, crossing the Pacific from the Australia to the US in a single engine aeroplane with P.G. Taylor. He almost dies flying to New Zealand with Bill Taylor and John Stannage, and retires the Southern Cross.
In 1935 he flies from Australia to England and disappears over the Indian Ocean.
The film was the idea of N.P. Pery, the managing director of Columbia Pictures in Australia. The Australian government had restricted the export of capital during the war, and Pery thought making a film could use up some of that money. Pery:
...
Wikipedia