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| Amelia Earhart, age twenty-six. |
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| 1923 into a mirror self-photo portrait. She would become famous in 1928. |
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| Amelia, 1928, after the Friendship flight. |
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| Amelia, 1933 |
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| Classic Amelia photo portrait. |
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| Orville Wright & Amelia Earhart |
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'Amelia'
Director: Mira Nair
Rating: 4 out of 10 [Press Release by Fox 61
Chattanooga] Review of 'Amelia' posted 2/12/2010
Something
is wrong with this picture: Amelia, a movie directed by Mira Nair, is devoid of the color, spice, and passion that
are trademarks of a Nair film. I'm not sure what happened, but this biopic of famed female Depression-era aviator Amelia Earhart,
who disappeared over the ocean in her attempt at an around-the-world flight, suffers
from symptoms of stiff, lifeless movie-making. The script/dialogue is fairly terrible, with stars Hilary
Swank, Richard Gere, and Ewan McGregor all sounding like they're reading out of textbooks. Swank, who plays Earhart, and Gere,
who plays her promoter/husband George Putman, have pretty much no chemistry. And the story moves along from one event to the
next without much in the way of drama, suspense, or just general interest. Its theme about a woman who
has control over her own destiny is played straight and flat. Earhart is given a voiceover to express how much she loves flying,
and there are a few dreamy flying sequences, but otherwise the movie itself feels like a tomb, lending itself to a slow, quiet
pace that's possibly meant to be reflective but is instead dirgelike. It's a shame -- Swank -- is almost a dead ringer for
Earhart (although she plays her with a forced accent) so it feels a bit like a lost opportunity. Maybe a future movie about
Amelia will get it right -- the fascinating aviator deserves a far better movie treatment than this, and we get a hint of
the potential of that better movie from none other than black-and-white clips of the real Amelia Earhart at the end of the
film. That minute or two reveals more about her spirit than the whole rest of Amelia.
[End Article] Note: Scroll down for the full history of Fox Searchlight's 2009 movie
'Amelia' starring Hilary Swank.]
[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' Presents A Subdued-To-Mundane Story About A Far More Dynamic And Calculating Person, Who Could Endear
Children In Schoolrooms As Easily As She Could Swear Like A Sailor On Airstrips. (But The Viewer Doesn't See This Either.)
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. (See full story below.)
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 controversial 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.
| Proud with her wings, the Gervais-Irene, 1978. |
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| With copy generation loss and harsh lighting, all of her eighty years are easily detectable. |
| The Gervais-Irene & Amelia |
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| Two photos in an equal blend. |
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| Irene-Amelia |
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| Irene-1963 / Amelia-1928, age thirty-one. |
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| Irene-Amelia |
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| Irene-1965 / Amelia-1933 |
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| Irene-Amelia |
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| Irene-1976 / Amelia-1932 |
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| Irene-Amelia |
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| Irene-1978 / Amelia-1929 |
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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."
Hilary
Swank's Earhart film was never slated to be a controversial look at Amelia Earhart's true life 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.
Below:
Photo elements obtained 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"
Different Human Beings Used The Same Identity, One Aligned With AE. [Realizations
Recently Ascertained By Beyond 37']
| 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 the images in the four-square box above to represent
the same human being, even though clearly they represent those of two different human beings. The top two 'box' 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 the Non Gervais-Irene 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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