Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This black-and-white clip shows actors playing aviators Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm on the final leg of their trans-Pacific flight in 1928. Their aircraft, the Southern Cross, is shown weathering a violent storm. The clip cuts to the Kingsford Smith home in Sydney, where his family are jubilant when they learn through a radio broadcast that the aviators 'can see Australia’. The Southern Cross is shown arriving in Brisbane and in Sydney to tumultuous receptions. The clip is accompanied by heroic music and the scenes in Sydney include footage of the actual event.

Educational value points

• Charles Kingsford Smith (1897–1935), who was affectionately known as ‘Smithy’, was an aviator who pioneered more long-distance routes than any other pilot. A decorated fighter pilot in the First World War, Smithy was passionate about flying and his record-breaking flights captured the public’s imagination. However, aviation was often hazardous and in 1935 Smithy and his co-pilot, JT Pethybridge, disappeared while on a flight from England to Australia.

• Kingsford Smith with co-pilot Charles Ulm, navigator Harry Lyon and radio operator James Warner made the first trans-Pacific flight, leaving California on 31 May 1928 and reaching Brisbane on 8 June, taking 83 hours 38 minutes flying time. On the final of three legs they encountered fierce storms. Ulm wrote in the log: ‘we have been sucked down into vacuums and the plane has been tossed about like a great wet sponge’ (Van Oudtshoorn, A Newspaper History of Australia, Rigby, 1982).

• Kingsford Smith’s Southern Cross, a three-engine Fokker, was used in some of the aerial shots in this clip, as well as miniatures of the plane and actuality footage of the landing in Sydney. Director Ken G Hall may have used this actuality footage to lend the story authenticity and to blur the line between the fictional elements of a biographical film, such as this, and documentary.

• The clip depicts Kingsford Smith and his crew in heroic terms, for example as the plane emerges from the storm, the music, which was at first dramatic, becomes triumphal and remains so as the plane flies low over the coastline and arrives in Australia to a tumultuous reception. The excitement and tension generated by the flight is conveyed by cutting to the Kingsford Smith family, who follow the plane’s progress on the radio, and by the crowds that swarm towards the plane as it lands.

• Kingsford Smith regarded the trans-Pacific flight as his last chance to establish a career in aviation. He had worked as a salaried pilot and in 1930 formed Australian National Airlines, which proved to be an unsuccessful venture. He and Ulm then turned to long-distance demonstration flights, hoping to collect the substantial rewards, in this case £5,000, offered by the Australian Government for first flights connecting Australia with Europe and the USA.

• In this clip Kingsford Smith’s family is shown receiving news of 'Smithy’ through the radio. During the flight, broadcasts from the cockpit of the Southern Cross were transmitted to the La Perouse Sydney Receiving Centre and relayed to radio stations, allowing the public to follow their progress. Kingsford Smith and Ulm were hailed as heroes by the media and public, and were met by a crowd of 15,000 people when they touched down in Brisbane and 300,000 in Sydney.

• While the flight brought Kingsford Smith and Ulm public acclaim, Kingsford Smith was quick to acknowledge the role of his crew, which included two US citizens, radio operator James Warner and navigator Harry Lyon. He told reporters ‘This flight was not my flight. It was a flight by Charles Ulm, Harry Lyon, Jim Warner and the chap that’s talking to you. None could have succeeded without the others’ (http://www.abc.net.au).

• Smithy was the last full-length feature directed by Ken G Hall, a leading Australian filmmaker who led Cinesound Productions from 1931 to 1956. He achieved success in the 1930s with a series of comedies based on author Steele Rudd’s characters Dad and Dave and with films such as The Silence of Dean Maitland (1934) and Tall Timbers (1937). After Smithy, he focused on making documentaries and in 1957 became chief executive of TCN 9, Australia’s first television station.

The plane is being lashed by a violent storm.
Smith Do you think it’s easing off?
The co-pilot shrugs. Victorious music rises as the plane flies out of the storm into clearer weather.

At the Kingsford Smith home, the family waits for news. The children are listening to a wireless.
Lady Darling? Mother. Here’s your tea.
Nan Oh. I must have fallen asleep.
Boy They can see Australia! Nan, Nan, they can see Australia!
Nan Oh, how wonderful!
They all exclaim excitedly.

The plane comes in over Brisbane, touching down to scenes of wild celebration. They then continue on to Sydney where they receive the same tumultuous and joyful reception.