Fly American! is a weird, charming slice of aviation history

Is it worth your time?

If you like old planes or are just curious about what travel looked like before airport security lines existed, sure. It’s short, it’s harmless, and it’s weirdly hypnotic.

If you need an actual story or something that isn't basically a paid advertisement from 80 years ago, you will probably be bored to tears. Don't go in expecting The Three Musketeers levels of drama.

My observations

The whole thing feels like it was filmed through a dream. There’s this constant hum of the engine that you can almost feel in your teeth. Norman Brokenshire narrates it with that classic, booming 1930s voice that sounds like he’s trying to sell you a miracle. He really, really wants you to fly.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Fly American! (1933) through its definitive frames.

The footage of the Curtiss Condor is actually pretty cool. It’s a boxy, noisy thing that looks like it’s held together by prayer and rivets. There’s a shot where they show the pilot casually leaning back while the plane just sort of drifts through the air. It’s terrifying by today’s standards.

Oddly specific notes

• The clouds look like they were painted on glass, which I think they might have been.
• Nobody in this movie seems to be wearing a seatbelt.
• The way they cut between Chicago and New York is so fast it’s basically teleportation.
• I spent five minutes trying to figure out if that was a real passenger or just an actor posing with a sandwich.

Watching this made me think of Mechanical Principles, mostly because it’s just as obsessed with how the machine actually moves. It doesn't care about the people, just the gears and the wings. It’s funny how they sell the "future" of flight like it's a magic carpet ride. ✈️

It gets a bit repetitive after the first few minutes, honestly. Once you’ve seen the plane land, you’ve basically seen the whole point. Still, it’s a neat little time capsule. Just don't expect a masterpiece.