The Flying Irishman (1939)
See the "inside story" of his flight in this exciting drama of life!
71 min
This is the story of the historic 1938 flight of Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan. Mr. Corrigan starred in this film, which chronicled his infamous flight. On July 17, 1938, Mr. Corrigan loaded 320 gallons of gasoline (40 hours worth) into the tiny, single engine plane. While expressing his intent to fly west to Long Beach, CA, Mr. Corrigan flew out of Floyd Bennett Field heading east over the Atlantic. Instrumentation in the plane included two compasses (both malfunctioned) and a turn-and-bank indicator. The cabin door was held shut with baling wire. Nearly 29 hours later, he landed in Baldonnel near Dublin. He forever claimed to be surprised at arriving in Ireland rather than California. He returned to the US as a hero, with a ticker tape parade in New York and received numerous medals and awards.
- Release date
- April 7, 1939
- Country of origin
- United States
Cast
- Douglas Corrigan as Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan
- Paul Kelly as Butch Brannan
- Robert Armstrong as Joe Alden
- Gene Reynolds as Clyde 'Douglas' Corrigan
- Donald MacBride as Mr. Roy Thompson
- Eddie Quillan as Henry Corrigan
- J.M. Kerrigan as Mr. Clyde Corrigan Sr.
- Knox Manning as Commentator
- Dorothy Appleby as Maybelle - a Waitress
- Don Barclay as Bettor
Crew
- Leigh Jason · Director
- Ernest Pagano · Writer
- Dalton Trumbo · Writer
- Roy Webb · Composer
- J. Roy Hunt · Cinematographer
- Arthur Roberts · Editor