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| Self photo of a 'veiled' Amelia Earhart, 1923 |
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| Did Hilary Swank's movie examine the real Amelia Earhart? |
[See Review Article Below Introduction and Photos]
Fox-Searchlight's 'Amelia' offered a toned down, if not 'politically correct' version of Amelia Earhart's life during
her nine years of fame. The Amelia Earhart Biopic Directed By India's Mira Nair Opened In Late 2009.
With Its International Viewpoint Of The Legendary Pilot, The Movie 'Amelia' Portrays A Very Safe, If Not Somewhat 'Mundane'
Version Of A Far More Dynamic Person. INTRODUCTION The 2008 Academy Award for 'Best Picture' went to Fox-Searchlight's
'Slumdog Millionaire.' In 'Slumdog' a question asked in India's version of the TV game show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire"
marked the supposed quest of Fox-Searchlight's 2009 film about Amelia Earhart. The answer to the question referenced a sentence
found on India's National Emblem; "The Truth Alone Triumphs." In
turn, the film trailer for Fox-Searchlight's biopic 'Amelia' directed by India's Mira Nair opened with the words, "Discover The True
Story." But do we?
For years Hollywood's film going public waited to be enlightened about
Amelia Earhart through a major film effort. Such anticipation left the producers of Hilary Swank's movie, 'Amelia' little
choice but to at least try and be responsible to the legendary pilot's controversial subject matter. In the end however, they
were mildly responsible to conventional history as opposed to real history, leaving their offer to fall well short of what
was hoped for. And too bad for the curious. Basically the viewer is left with a 'Big Brother' version of the 1937 Amelia Earhart disappearance
case; one that ignores important old truths while stretching certain allegations to appear as new truths. It would have been
a much welcomed change where so much spoon-fed to the public hearsay about Amelia Earhart's life story through the media stood
to be corrected by Fox-Searchlight. In the end, rather, it became a great artistic achievement production-value wise, albeit
somewhat irresponsibly so for the amount of time and money it took. The film 'Amelia' diffuses if not ingores crucial facts and/or particulars
about Amelia's life during her final years in the U. S. (before she turned up 'missing.') One example of diversion; the Susan
Butler conveyed rumor of Gene Vidal (Gore's father) and Amelia having had a deep love
affair was issued as a dominant truehood in the film, where otherwise it had previously existed, and only barely, as psuedo-history
at best. Several other people who Amelia had been quite close to are not even depicted as charcaters in the film; Jackie
Cochran & Floyd Odlum, Paul Mantz, Carl Harper & Louise Thaden, even U. S. Navy Captain Harry Manning, an additional
navigator who was the third person on board Earhart's Electra when she cracked up in Hawaii during her first attempt to fly
around the world... was completely eliminated from the story. What gives? Gene Vidal had been a liaison to Amelia (and to her husband
George Putnam) by virtue of their joint airline ventures, Amelia's high profile career, and Vidal's own 'Bureau of Air Commerce Chief' position under President Franklin Roosevelt. Their friendship
was described as a 'platonic' one with a shared mutual admiration, although there had never been any discovery or admission
of physical intimacy between them. No matter, the film somewhat recklessly displayed there had been, to the point of showing
the two kissing in a deep embrace. (Chalk it up to creative license?) Not to mention 'Amelia' screenwriter Ron Bass took the
trying 'business partnership marriage' between Earhart and Putnam and turned it into a complex love story Richard Gere as
Putnam, and Hilary Swank as Amelia appeared almost anxious to play out, thus encouraging people to believe true-romance had
been part of such an equation. Reality however, suggested the Earhart-Putnam marital history (even newsreel footage
of the two) displayed awkwardness between them always, to include difficulty with Amelia kissing her "lens-louse"
husband (Putnam was so dubbed by the press for always crowding into Earhart's photo ops) who was far less likeable and dashing
than Richard Gere's portrayal. The film does not even mention how Putnam insisted Amelia start calling herself 'Amelia Putnam'
after they were wed, something she hated doing and did not manage to revert back to 'Earhart' from until after her 1932
Atlantic solo flight. (Please scroll down for further 'Beyond 37' insights.)
| Non-retouched photo of Irene-Amelia, early 1978. |
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| With copy generation loss and harsh lighting, all of her eighty years are easily detectable. |
| Overlay: Irene + Amelia = Irene-Amelia |
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| See "Important Comparison Samples" page-link for more... |
| Overlay: Irene + Amelia = Irene-Amelia |
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| See Important Comparison Samples |
[Note: More photos & comparisons
appear at the bottom of the page.]
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The FOX-Searchlight feature film 'Amelia' was Directed by India's Mira Nair. Hilary Swank
served as an Executive Producer while handling the role of Amelia Earhart. Viewers now have a conventional and 'innocent'
version of Earhart's story. ['Amelia' opened in theaters on 10/23/09 and was released
to DVD on 2/1/10]
Initially Director Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games) signed Hilary Swank to play the role of Amelia
Earhart in October of 2007. Mr. Noyce had his 'Amelia & George' project in development since 2001. His company, Rumbalara,
along with the equally noteworthy Don Carmody Productions of Canada had teamed up to spirit his 'ever changing' project forward.
Then, it seemed not long after Gateway Technologies co-founder Ted Waitt stepped in as lead financier with his diversified
'Avalon' corporation, by early 2008 Phillip Noyce had 'reluctantly' left the project.
Subsequently Amelia was assigned to the esteemed Director Ms. Mira Nair of
India, (Salaam Bombay) (The Namesake) (Mississippi Masala) (Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love.) Ms. Nair, now a veteran New Yorker
was a more than adequate replacement, and Fox-Searchlight welcomed her new vision to its Earhart film project. Co-Executive Producer Hilary Swank
stars as Amelia in the film. Initially Avalon released a blurb hinting how screenwriter, Ron Bass (Oscar winner for Rainman)
looked to have profiled a story around Jane Mendelsohn's historical novel, I Was
Amelia Earhart. (Back in 1996 Fine Line Features purchased the rights to Jane Mendelsohn's book for seven hundred thousand
dollars.) However, the Bass screenplay (the initial shooting script) was quite different. During the 2008 Writers Guild Strike
Ms. Swank did mention how the screenplay was still in need of serious attention. Ron Bass naturally remained as the screenwriter,
but the traditionally safe Amelia Earhart biographers, Mary Lovell and Susan Butler were brought on board to buff-up various
historical authentication points. What hinted towards the film as a conservative offering, was the additional enlistment of Elgen Long as an adviser.
Mr. Long was Amelia's late Sister Muriel's good friend, (Muriel Earhart Morrissey, Amelia's only sibling who died in 1998)
and he was a known status-quo history supporter. Mr. Long published a book several years ago to assure all how Amelia simply
crashed and sank... and that was it. [Of note, Muriel Morrissey and Elgen Long were also profiled in the 1982 New Jersey News
Tribune 'Irene Craigmile Bolam versus Amelia Earhart' series.] Weighing the tonage of information directly contradicting Mr.
Long, few who studied Earhart's loss were left believing in his ideas. A pilot himself with great charisma, since the 1970s
with 'U. S. official silence' about Earhart
always in effect, Mr. Long steered his efforts towards promoting such a 'politically correct' Amelia ending through the news
media to the public. Indeed, along with the Earhart and O'Crowley family viewpoints as well as the government's 'silent' one,
Mr. Long's represents the closest offering to a politically correct Earhart
version, be it a historically misconstrued one in general. Prior to engaging Mr. Long's services, Avalon issued a somewhat misleading press release, mentioning
how the story ended with fliers Earhart and Noonan ditching on a desert island they called "Heaven." The Mendelsohn
book also referred to "Heaven" as the Island the two fliers end up on. The Swank/Avalon version initially focuses on the time Amelia first became
famous in 1928, after publisher and explorer George Palmer Putnam cold-called the rare woman pilot with an important 'history
making flight offer.' Amelia was doing Social Work at Boston's Denison House when he called, and the story picks up from there.
[Of course 1928 marked the year following Charles Lindbergh's triumph as the first person to solo a plane across the Atlantic
Ocean.] Putnam was married
to Dorothy Binney at the time he called Amelia in 1928... Binney, the Crayola Crayon heiress who 'was'
to be played by Virginia Madsen. (Madsen's part was axed, George Putnam was played by Richard Gere, Earhart's 1937 world flight
navigator, Fred Noonan was played by Christopher Eccleston, Gene Vidal was played by Ewen McGregor.) In real history, Putnam had been assigned to interview
Amelia Earhart as a replacement for a wealthy socialite named Amy Phipps Guest, a chief-financier of the 'history making'
flight. Ms. Phipps was initially scheduled to become the first female passenger to fly in an airplane across the Atlantic
Ocean. Lady pilot Amelia, who beyond flying in her spare time was mostly serving as a 'nanny figure' to the children of Denison
House then, (a topic all but ignored in the film) indeed was interviewed by Putnam and quickly approved. She then flew in
a plane called 'The Friendship' piloted by Wilmer Stultz and Lou Gordon, and the success of the flight led to Amelia's sudden
world fame, although she humbly described her contribution as comparable to what "a sack of potatoes" could have
done. After her fame-making
flight, Amelia joined the prestigious Zonta Sisterhood organization for women, and the following year Amelia co-founded the
99's and was elected its 1st President. Amelia would also end up marrying George Putnam in 1931 after his divorce from Dorothy
Binney. Yet during their wedding ceremony, at the altar Amelia handed Putnam what has been described as one of the first modern
prenuptial agreements, asking him for an 'out' if things didn't quite work as she hoped. She mentioned she might find contentment
hard to come by in "even the most attractive cage" any marriage could present. Then a year later in 1932, Amelia
became the first woman to solo a plane across the Atlantic Ocean, validating her world fame and further sealing her legendary
status for posterity. Five years later she left Miami, Florida on June 1, 1937 for her 'ambassador of good will, world flight
adventure.' Except she never completed her journey, and legend left it where Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan
were not seen nor heard from again, after their radio fell silent while the two were still safely airborne on July 2, 1937. Shrouded in enigma,
eventually there would be no doubt according to later found 1938 FDR Presidential documents, that a higher source of information
about Earhart and Noonan's true fate had been withheld from the public by the White House. To this day however, no one has
been able to exact what the withheld information fully amounted to. The best anyone had to go on there, initially at least,
were the words of Henry P. Morgenthau Jr., a devoted FDR 'right hand man' and Cabinet member. Concerning Earhart's 1937 incident,
as recorded by a White House Dictaphone in May of 1938, Mr. Morgenthau commented on Earhart's flight outcome this way: "I
hope I've just got to never make it public." Morgenthau also remarked how Amelia "absolutely disregarded all orders"
and specified how her "reputation" was on the line should the White House divulge what it knew about her. (The film
'Amelia' ignores all of this.) Later, according to most all scholarly Amelia Earhart investigative researchers (as opposed
to the lot of exploitative sensationalists) some additional learned information to include the 1965 'admission' made by Admiral
Chester Nimitz, left it where Amelia Earhart somehow ended up existing under Japan's auspice after she turned up missing in
July of 1937, for an unspecified amount of time. Also indefinitely determined, was
where Amelia Earhart had survived under some hidden care of Japan, did she remain there against her will or voluntarily(?)
Since the 1960s the idea of Amelia having contrived and/or executed some sort of Greta Garbo
like escape to get away from the public eye, has been met by stoic official silence and even diversion to other information
about Amelia, of which there is plenty to defer to, and so much left Amelia's true story white-washed by the media in the
curious eyes of the public. It had also remained clear since the 1940s, how the world public had moved past Amelia Earhart's
disappearance by resigning itself to accept her as a no-longer living person after July 2, 1937. And true, even where Amelia's
body survived beyond July 2, 1937, in a way the Amelia Earhart people knew and hero-worshipped did cease to exist forever
on that fateful day. Later, the astutely curious recalled it as strange where Amelia could only transmit and not receive during the last
hours of her flight, before her radio fell silent altogether after she reported her last line of position. It was always known
she and Noonan were still safely airborne at the time she made her final transmission, with what should have been at least four to five hours of fuel remaining. (Earhart's Lockheed Electra had a 4,000 mile fuel range and
Howland Island, where she never made it to was a 2,500 mile flight.) Yet nothing more was 'officially' heard from the duo
after her last line of position report, and according to the fabled 'official history' of the matter, no contact with or sighting of Amelia Earhart, Fred Noonan, or their
plane was achieved ever again. After a large scale two-week U. S. Navy search effort failed to locate her, history suggested Amelia Earhart most
likely ended up 'lost at sea and presumed dead.' But in later years her true ending became one of the greatest subjects of
debate world historians would ever contend with, as the former Amelia Earhart's quiet 'new identity' return to the U. S. most
assuredly ended up sealed by an executive order originating in the United States,
and extending to the post war executive levels of Japan and England. Such an arrangement no-doubt dated back to General Douglass
MacArthur's post-war Shogun stature in Japan, coupled with his strong-arm influence over President Truman's end-of-war administration.
It could even be surmised, where the post-war future relied so heavily on the world powers of the United States, England,
and Japan working together to mend global fences (as China and the USSR moved in their own directions) a kind of 'world order'
agreement between the three countries, stating how Amelia Earhart's person ceased to exist evermore from the day she was reported
missing, would always remain in place. This is how the so called 'official silence' about Amelia Earhart's true fate was most
likely born. As well, where Fred Noonan's certain demise was suggested to have happened in different ways, there always existed
the same chance, unbeknownst to the public, he survived with a new identity as well. In
essence, and no matter what really happened, the world famous spirit of Amelia Earhart as people had recognized it for nine
previous years was no longer part of the vessel it had been using after July 2, 1937, even though such a great spirit would
easily live on, as would its further 're-identified' vessel. Not to further digress, but viewers of the film 'Amelia' might have also been anxious to see how the film addressed
a conveyance dating back to Amelia's pre-fame years, of how in 1928 the then thirty year old Amelia Earhart had been existing
as a family-secret 'unwed mother' when she was surprised by George Putnam's out of the blue phone call. Simply put, the topic
was ingored. The film does not venture to where Amelia's theorized 'awareness of' and 'continued contact' with her described
'love-child' was something she had always kept hidden from the public, and from George Putnam. Nor how it may have played
a hand in her 1937 exit from an unforgiving public life, and her consistently up and down if not 'troubled' relationship with
her manager-husband. Both arenas (theoretically) Amelia Earhart had tactfully developed her own private way of addressing
throughout her nine years of fame. She would always remain a profoundly great and remarkable person, although it appears evident
anymore how she was aware of a different 'personal agenda' only herself and very few individuals who were close to her could
have at all comprehended. As
well, as a pilot the real Amelia was more casual where Swank's Earhart depicts her as otherwise. Amelia was known to 'kick
her leg up and rest it' at times while 'flying with one hand and eating a piece of fruit with the other as if she was cruising
down some highway.' Or she'd guide the plane with her knee or just let if fly by itself while taking pictures out the widow.
Swank's Amelia makes it appear as if piloting a plane was more of a stressful chore for the legendary aviator.
Hilary Swank's movie
portrays Amelia Earhart's 'climb to fame' profile within its traditional limits. Not many interesting 'unheard of before'
nuances are addressed. Still, Amelia had quite a complex personality (President Hoover mistakenly thought she had a death-wish)
and a great, high-profile family connected to American history dating back to the Revolutionary War days. It touches on some
of these realities, although it barely addresses the controversial others. In the meantime, also ignored by the film where
it is still void of authentic validaton, it remains contested how Amelia's biological Granddaughter resides in the United
States today, non-recognized by the public for who she truly is.
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| Earhart Mishap at Lockheed In Burbank, 1937 |
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| See Clearer Text Caption Re-Produced Below, And The Explanation. |
Photo caption: "Amela Earhart escaped
injury in this pile-up off the end of Lockheed's runway at Burbank, CA. Shortly after this photo was made, Earhart and Noonan
disappeared on their Round the World flight, May 20 - 3 July, 1937." The new Hilary Swank film was never slated for a new controversial
look at Amelia Earhart's true story. One example of myriad information it avoids is found in the above photo. It displays
yet another Lockheed Electra Earhart and Noonan were training in during a close call she had. The 'X' on the tail denotes
'experimental.' This same plane was also outfitted with a giant parachute that opened from the tail of its fuselage in order
to stop it quick on a short runway. Amelia Earhart's original flight plan also came close to engaging a mid-air fueling operation.
Not to mention a former Lockheed employee and good friend of Amelia's, Lloyd Royer did recall how more than one airplane was
worked on for the purpose of Earhart's 1937 flight. While it is evident Earhart and Noonan only flew in Amelia's Electra as
they circled the globe, where another aircraft was described as 'likely involved' during the Pacific Ocean part of the flight,
(Note: the J. A. Donahue book, The British Connection) it would have most
likely been flown by another team of British endorsed pilots. Directly below: See the left column photo elements obtained
that enabled the forensic discovery of more than one person having shared the same Irene Craigmile Bolam identity. For a more
detailed look see the 'Eye Comparisons' link. "The Truth Alone Triumphs"
See Below: Different Human Beings Who Used The Same Identity,
One Aligns With AE. [Realizations Recently Made By Beyond 37']
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| 2006 Family identified 'Irene Craigmile Bolam' |
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| AKA 'Irene Jr.,' AKA 'Non Gervais-Irene,' 1940s |
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| !982 New Jersey Tribune photo. |
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| 2006 Family indentified Irene Craigmile Bolam, AKA Irene Jr., AKA Non Gervais-Irene |
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Below: 1945-1982 Irene-Amelia
| 1945, the 'former AE' after nose & dental work |
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| AKA The Gervais-Irene (Earliest known photo of this particular Irene Craigmile Bolam, FKA 'AE') |
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Below: 1945-1982 Irene-Amelia
| 8/8/65 Gervais photo |
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| AKA 'The Gervais-Irene' AKA Irene Craigmile Bolam, FKA 'AE' |
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| 1965 Gervais-Irene photo... |
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| ...AKA "The former Amelia Earhart." |
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| 1933 enlarged photo of Amelia... |
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| ...standing beside Eleanor Roosevelt. |
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| Equal blend of both photos on the left... |
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| ...displays the 'truthful' haunting congruence. Head to toe, the same body is now identifiable. |
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Since 2002 it has remained of note forensic argument wise, how the families of both Irene
Craigmile Bolam and Amelia Earhart as well as history itself, promoted all of the above images to have been of the same human
being, even though clearly the above images represent those of two different human beings. The top two photos display the
woman (the Non Gervais-Irene) identified by the original Irene's son as his 'childhood mother.' He estimated her younger image
photo to have been taken in the early 1940s. (The original Irene's son turned six years old in 1940. His true mother, the
original Irene's photo image does not appear on this page.) He also recognized
her older '1982' image version. Yet because of photo forgery use incorporated into the story through the media, the newly
promoted theory ended where the two top photos likely represented the 1924 out of wedlock born, non-publicly recognized birth
daughter of Amelia Earhart and Lloyd Royer. The younger photo image of she, may have well marked a college graduation type
of formal portrait sitting photo from the mid 1940s. Meanwhile the true year of her older photo image to her right likely
was 1982, showing the Non Gervais-Irene at age fifty eight. The next two photos
down display the image of the Irene Craigmile Bolam who Joe Gervais met and photographed in the summer of 1965 (the Gervais-Irene.)
The photo on the right is an enlarged version of the original Gervais photo that appeared in the 1970 McGraw-Hill book, Amelia Earhart Lives by Joe Klaas. The younger looking image on the left was dated
1945. (It is the earliest known photo displaying the image of that particular Irene Craigmile Bolam, FKA 'AE.') The original
Irene's son advocated how he grew up believing the Gervais-Irene and the Non Gervais-Irene were the same person. By the mid
1940s however, the Gervais-Irene had become his only mother figure. The very idea
of how the original Irene's son's own family past, or official history would eventually realize a need for news media influences
to convince the American public how the above photos all represented the same person seems a bit absurd, even in truth. But
it did happen and the American public is just now catching up to it. Ted Waitt and Avalon,
Fox-Searchlight, and Hilary Swank chose to gloss over the newly learned revelations about Amelia and her 1930s chum, who was
the original Irene Craigmile, who appeared no more after the 1930s... while her identity managed to live on until 1982.
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Click here to e-mail Irene-Amelia.com and/or Beyond 37's Tod Swindell with with questions or comments, and for Executive Producer
share information on his Book, Documentary, & Feature projects. One can also e-mail EarhartTruth@Irene-Amelia.com
NOTE: To contact Beyond
37' e-mail EarhartTruth@Irene-Amelia.com. The Beyond 37' film, book, and website projects are dedicated to the late USAF Major Joseph A. Gervais (1924-2005)
and the late USAF Col. Rollin C. Reineck (1920-2007). Both were World War Two heroes who learned the basic Irene-Amelia truth
decades ago. Major Gervais, who was considered by many to have been the most devoted Amelia Earhart researcher ever having
pursued the mystery since 1960, discovered the Irene-Amelia reality in 1965. The controversial 1970 McGraw-Hill book
by Joe Klaas, Amelia Earhart Lives expounded on the enormous amount of Joe Gervais' investigative research, and
displayed the first nationally published photo of Irene-Amelia. Fallout the Amelia
Earhart Lives book caused notwithstanding, and still lacking official authoritative guidance, Colonel Reineck spent
the last several years of his life trying to advance the Gervais claim of Earhart's name-changed survival to authenticity.
Colonel Reineck's book Amelia Earhart Survived, published in late 2003, was inspired by the Irene-Amelia forensic
studies of Beyond 37's Tod Swindell. Several portions of the analysis appeared in the Reineck book, although more samples
are better displayed in this website. [Beyond 37' was formed in 2001 by the Tod Evan Company in Los Angeles. It is run
by Investigative Researcher/Filmmaker Tod Swindell, who also serves as Chief Editor of Irene-Amelia.Com]
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