The Flying Irishman (1939)

  • NR
  • 04/07/1939 (US)
  • Drama
  • 1h 11m

See the "inside story" of his flight in this exciting drama of life!

Overview

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.

Leigh Jason

Director

Ernest Pagano

Screenplay

Dalton Trumbo

Screenplay

Cast

Douglas Corrigan's headshot

Douglas Corrigan

Douglas Corrigan
Eddie Quillan's headshot

Eddie Quillan

Henry Corrigan
Paul Kelly's headshot

Paul Kelly

Butch Brannen
Robert Armstrong's headshot

Robert Armstrong

Joe Alden
Gene Reynolds's headshot

Gene Reynolds

Young Douglas Corrigan
Minor Watson's headshot

Minor Watson

Airport Personnel Manager
Dorothy Peterson's headshot

Dorothy Peterson

Ma Corrigan
Scotty Beckett's headshot

Scotty Beckett

Young Henry Corrigan

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