Flying Padre (1951) User Reviews

Stanley Kubrick's second effort...

[jluis1984 · 5/10 · 26 June 2007]

In the early 50s, a young photographer named Stanley Kubrick decided to quit his job at "Look" magazine and try his luck at directing movies after discovering the potential of cinema as an art form. While eventually Kubrick would become a master of the craft and a renowned artist by his own right, the young filmmaker had his humble beginning at making short newsreels for RKO Radio Pictures. It all started when a friend convinced him to make "Day of the Fight", a short documentary about boxing that they intended to sell to "The March of Time" newsreel. Sadly, that newsreel was canceled, but to their fortune, people at RKO liked Kubrick's movie and bought the film. While Kubrick didn't make money out of "Day of the Fight", it opened him the doors at RKO, as they gave him the chance to make a new documentary for them: "Flying Padre".

Narrated by CBS announcer Bob Hite, "Flying Padre" tells the story of two days in the life of Father Fred Stadtmuller, a Catholic priest in rural New Mexico with a very particular way of reaching the people of his 400-square mile parish. Since his parish is too large and the roads of New Mexico aren't really good, Father Stadmuller uses a Piper Cub airplane to travel to whenever his people needs him, offering not only spiritual help, but sometimes also physical. Through the film, we follow this "Flying Padre" through his daily obligations, which not only include giving sermons at the church or helping people to solve their differences peacefully, as Father Stadmuller also uses his plane to help people in emergencies. In the movie for example, Father Stadmuller takes a sick child and his mother from their isolated ranch to the nearest hospital.

Based on Stadtmuller's experiences as priest of the New Mexico community of Mosquero, Stanley Kubrick wrote the screenplay for this brief recounting of several of Stadtmuller's adventures as Mosquero's "Flying Padre". Contrary to what the narration may tell, while the events portrayed in the movie did happen, what we see on screen is only a reenactment of them, not an actual depiction of Stadtmuller at work. Despite the fact that what it's on screen is obviously staged, Kubrick makes a great job at making us discover the true heroism behind the humble priest, and to a certain extent it's very informative about the situation of New Mexico's rural land of those years. The text of the narration (apparently also written by Kubrick) is very in tone with what was the standard in the early 50s, although often falls in the clichés of the era.

While his work with the screenplay doesn't show any sing of the talent that would make him a legend, the excellent camera-work he uses in the shooting of the film is a clear display of the abilities of the promising director. As he did in "Day of the Fight", Kubrick employs a mix of editing and cinematography to create a very dynamic movie in the style of Max Ophüls (who was a big influence in his early years). While of course Kubrick is forced to remain true to the newsreel's conventions, he manages to create pretty good looking scenes that at times seem to tell the tale of the "Flying Padre" in better fashion than Bob Hite's fast narrative. Sadly, the film's cinematography is probably the only think that would make one see this movie as a Kubrick film, as it is probably the only element that shows Kubrick's rising talent as a filmmaker.

What I mean is that not only the screenplay is troubled, where the movie truly suffers the most is in the quality of the reenactment of several events in the priest's life. The problem is that since neither the "actors" (people literally playing themselves) nor the director had any experience in this aspect, the result is a "documentary" that feels staged and fake when it should be the exact opposite. Another of the problems is definitely Nathaniel Shilkret's score for the film and the way Kubrick uses it in the movie. While Shilkret was one of the best composers for newsreels during the Golden age of the genre (and even composed for feature films in the 30s), his work in this movie sounds old, clichéd and archaic, a sad ending for his long career.

Even when "Flying Padre" is definitely a flawed film, it is still an interesting piece of history as it shows the development of Stanley Kubrick's career from young photographer to legendary filmmaker. While the writing and the directing of actors leaves a lot to be desired, the camera-work and the cinematography are 100% Kubrick and it shows. It is very easy to dismiss this movie as a mere curiosity, but one has to remember that in only 4 years Kubrick went from this movie to "Killer's Kiss" and his first two masterpieces, "The Killing" and "Paths of Glory". Of his three first documentaries this is probably the worst, and I don't doubt it could be seen as disappointing; but as people say, "you have to start with something". 5/10

Interesting little document, but...

[Shiva_Skunk · 5/10 · 6 March 2005]

A Story about a priest who flies with plane wherever he is needed could have been fresh and exciting in the fifties, but looking this today it certainly feels very dated and a bit clumsy, still interesting view in to the past nonetheless. The Reverend is portrayed as very sympathetic and kind man as he flies long distances for aid people and asks nothing for his help.

It's really hard to find any Kubrick's later trademarks here, in fact it's nearly impossible even recognize it's directed by him if you don't know it already nor catch his name in the opening credits. I really wouldn't recommend this except for its curiosity values.

Kubrick short

[rbverhoef · 6/10 · 12 April 2005]

The reason I wanted to see this short documentary was because it is directed by great artist Stanley Kubrick, director of masterpieces like 'Dr. Strangelove', '2001: A Space Odyssey' and 'A Clockwork Orange'. My reason should be anyone's reason, definitely no real other reason could be find by me.

We follow a flying padre doing stuff most fathers (the religious type) do. The only special thing here is the fact that this man travels by plane since the area he is connected to is pretty big. Not that special I guess. Even the technique and ways of telling a story Kubrick used in later and even earlier work is not there.

Told very straight forward, it is eight minutes from a master doing a not very masterful thing. Interesting in a way, worth watching since it only takes eight minutes of your time.

...sharper than a serpent's tooth?

[thirdbid · 22 April 2007]

With regard to some of the criticisms offered in IMDb comments, Stanley was 23 years old when he made this 8:09 minute long newsreel segment in 1951. One might also keep in mind that the newsreel companies of the day, such as Henry Luce's 'March of Time', determined and controlled both the content and form of what they produced and distributed.

According to "Kubrick" by Michel Ciment: When March of Time went into liquidation, RKO bought the "Day of the Fight" (which Kubrick and Alex Singer shot in 1950) for a hundred dollars more than its production cost, but sweetened the deal by offering Kubrick an advance of $1,500 dollars for a second documentary, "The Flying Padre". (http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/milestones.html)

"Day of the Fight" had it's world premiere as a short subject (it was part of an RKO series entitled "This Is America") on April 26 1951, which is generally regarded as the date of Kubrick's official entry into the film industry - despite any earlier theatrical circulation of "The Flying Padre".

"The Flying Padre' is now available on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqTlxRYt7B0)

"There's no brass band here, no cheering crowds, no newspaper men clamouring for a headline – just an ambulance driver, an anxious mother, a sick baby and their priest."

[ackstasis · 5/10 · 6 April 2007]

In an attempt to experience absolutely everything that Stanley Kubrick has to offer, I have set my sights towards his three early documentary shorts (though, admittedly, I also still have a couple of feature films to go). 'Flying Padre' seemed as good a place as any to start. I'd say that I was slightly disappointed with the film, but I really couldn't have expected much better from the director's first effort. This being his first project, Kubrick would most likely have lacked any creative control, and he would have been expected to simply do things by the book. Just four years later, given complete artistic control (and a shoestring budget), the mastery of this master director would begin to shine through with 'Killer's Kiss.'

'Flying Padre' is a cheery nine-minute documentary detailing the kind-hearted exploits of a priest in an isolated country region. Equipped with his $2000, single-motor plane, The Spirit of St. Joseph, this "flying padre" is able to spread his compassion and goodwill across a 1200 mile expanse, never asking anything in return for his unwavering commitment to society. The film follows the priest across two "ordinary days," as he attends to such diverse errands as a country funeral, a child bully, a sick baby and looking after his flock of breeding canaries.

If it hadn't been for a tiny director credit at the beginning of the film, I would never have guessed that Kubrick was involved in any way. The acting is quite poor and, despite the narrator's assurances that all these adventures are happening spontaneously, it's obvious that most of the shots have been pre-planned. How, otherwise, can they explain that the cameraman reached the house of the sick baby long before the padre ever did?! On a side note, however, I did enjoy the very final shot of the film, as the ambulance carrying the sick baby accelerates away from the priest standing beside his plane. From the retreating car's point of view, we watch as the humble padre and his beloved Spirit of St. Joseph diminish into the distance.

I want more Kubrick movies

[alansabljakovic-39044 · 6/10 · 7 October 2019]

Obviously not his best but it has some good shots. Love how he later used the voice over in The Killing.

Not everything Kubrick is gold...

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 7 May 2009]

Had Stanley Kubrick never gone on to become a famous director, three of his early films would never have been packaged together for sale on a DVD. That's because these films are cheap shorts made by an eager and unknown director--hardly works of art. They show none of the director's expert touches--they are just standard short films you might have seen in the early 1950s.

THE FLYING PADRE is not a bad film nor can you really blame Kubrick for it not being all that interesting. It tells the story of a priest who covers a huge region in New Mexico by plane! It's from a long series of "Screenliner" shorts from RKO and were intended as filler when people went to the theater to see a feature. As such, this film is pretty typical of this style of film and nothing more.

If you really want to see one of Kubrick's early seminal films, try KILLER'S KISS or THE KILLING.

Well, everybody has to start somewhere!

[MovieAddict2016 · 5/10 · 17 March 2006]

This film was made by Stanley Kubrick when he was twenty-four years old. He accepted the job -- a nine-minute short feature about a New Mexico-based priest -- solely for money, as -- at the time -- he was a struggling up-and-comer who had yet to direct the classic "Paths of Glory" (1957) that would officially put him on the map as a big-time movie-maker.

However, everyone has to start somewhere, and some of his film-making techniques CAN be spotted here -- even this early. It's from 1951 but you can notice some irreverent techniques that wouldn't typically have been used around that time period -- and when the priest is in the church at the alter, check out the angle Kubrick takes to show the layout -- he stands back to the left of the priest in a really awkward position.

Is this worth watching? Only for Kubrick completists. As a short feature it's simply quite average, but it will surely grab the interest of any Kubrick Addicts out there who have a hunger for everything Stanley Kubrick.

...

[abandonedCat · 4/10 · 3 October 2020]

It is bland compared to "Day of the Fight". There is nothing special or artistic about it. Poorly narrated and acted.

Possibly Kubrick's worst

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 3 October 2013]

This one is from over 60 years ago and belongs to the very early years when Kubrick filmed short documentary features on seafarers or boxers. The center of this one is priest Fred Stadmueller and his activities in the parish and I wish I could even say that Kubrick just directed it and was forced to go with the terrible script. But no, he wrote it himself. Really hard to believe. In these eight minutes, the film quickly switches effortlessly from completely uninteresting to over-the-top re-enacted.

The scene with the little girl and the bully boy was so bad it surely had MST 3000 potential. Of course, they lacked the balls to include a Kubrick film into their show, but it just wasn't a good sight at all. In any case, I'm fairly certain that this short film would have sunken completely into oblivion by now (where it belongs) if it wasn't for the famous director behind it. It's one to watch for Kubrick completionists and that's it.

Hatchling Genius Spreads His Wings

[heathblair · 15 January 2001]

This, one of Kubrick's very first commercial film making efforts, is a stepping stone but not much more.

It follows two days in the life of priest Father Fred Stadtmuller whose New Mexico parish is so large he can only spread goodness and light among his flock with the aid of a mono-plane. The priestly pilot is seen dashing from one province to the next at the helm of his trusty Piper Club administering guidance to unruly children, sermonizing at funerals and flying a sickly child and its mother to hospital.

In the light of Kubrick's later deeply ironic works, one is tempted to view these events in a slightly sinister, mischievous light. However its ironic sense can only be derived from its ludicrous, super-earnest newsreel format - commonplace at the time. Kubrick was to put such a format to good, unsettling use with the voice-over introduction to Dr Strangelove, Alex's voice-over in Clockwork Orange, Michael Horden's instructing tones in Barry Lyndon, and Private Joker's darkly humorous commentary in Full Metal Jacket. With this film, no such irony was intended (I think).

This is a strictly by-the book programmer; a second feature documentary made by a twenty-three year old future maestro for money, experience, and industry kudos. There are no real signs of Kubrick's later talent for pictorial composition (even though he was at this point a noted photo-journalist) or razor sharp narrative intellect. Although it is a perfectly competent piece, Flying Padre is virtually indistinguishable in form and content from any other programmer of the period.

Yet it is Kubrick and as such it's a valuable document in the early development of one of film's greatest artists. But for a real hint of what was to come, one should look at Kubrick's Day of the Fight made a year earlier. Invention, control of form, photographic dazzle, and energy. It's all there... except the irony. That was to arrive with Fear and Desire (1953).

It's a start

[noahgibbobaker · 5/10 · 4 June 2021]

Doesn't work as a doco in the slightest!

Kubrick was always a great photographer.

2.3.2024

[EasonVonn · 4/10 · 2 February 2024]

Accidentally better filmed than Day of the Fist, with great compositions, sometimes using triangular compositions, but still with an off-panel narrative. And the plot is barely nourishing, ending as a commercial, unable to recall that the performances are less pompous and laughable than Day of the Fighter. Once facial close-ups are very outstanding can be said to be a precursor to the god of the film, with a little aura is already shining.

And ssf Accidentally better filmed than Day of the Fist, with great compositions, sometimes using triangular compositions, but still with an off-panel narrative. And the plot is barely nourishing, ending as a commercial, unable to recall that the performances are less pompous and laughable than Day of the Fighter. Once facial close-ups are very outstanding can be said to be a precursor to the god of the film, with a little aura is already shining.

And ssf watch watch fall asleep are zzzzz watch fall asleep are zzzzz.

Boring but inoffensive short

[mudtitan · 5/10 · 31 July 2022]

There is nothing remarkable about Flying Padre other than demonstrating that Stanley Kubrick can direct a simple short. It does a fine job showing that he can direct, but that doesn't change the fact that there is next to no plot or substance in it. I would not call Flying Padre bad, but it has nothing to offer and can certainly be skipped.

Rating: F, not worth the time.

the least successful of Kubrick's early shorts

[Quinoa1984 · 5/10 · 21 March 2006]

There are some very small moments where one might find something of interest in Flying Padre, a small view of a father in a small village farming community who acts as part-time keeper of the peace, and part-time flying enthusiast. But it is not, per-say, for being as a Stanley Kubrick film. It was his second documentary, funded very cheap for an even cheaper profit, but unfortunately seems to be caught in a bind. It would be one thing to get some kind of interview or closer look at this man, but in the profile the only really exciting bits are when he's up in the air (which does contain a few clever shots from right in the plane, ironic for the air-phobic Kubrick). There are staged scenes that are rather, well, silly, like when the Padre sorts out a matter between a little girl and boy. Is it cute, maybe, but it's not really interesting. Another problem, which may be for some more than others considering its very obscure stature, the quality of the picture is bad, and the amateurish style of the staging doesn't help matters. It would be one thing if, like in his last short doc the Seafarers, if there were some more marks to see of him as a filmmaker, or just in general interesting compositions. There isn't much of that here, only in the most minuet moments that pass by very quickly. In short, this is one that was done for hire, on the fly, and is not worth seeing unless you're, like me, a Kubrick die-hard.

Only a several years before THE KILLING, PATHS OF GLORY, SPARTACUS

[boris-26 · 11 November 2001]

One of the first short films made by Stanley Kubrick, made years before he stepped up to feature films. This cheerful little film, about a padre/pilot who works well beyond his normal call of duty, has such a Middle American tone, a wholesomeness not found in the dark worlds of Kubrick's later films. Like FEAR AND DESIRE, the shooting is mostly textbook ordinary. The shot compositions are mostly learned thru one of those "Kodak's tips for better picture taking." I saw this via a very runny video copy. One wishes Kubrick was more at ease at having these early films shown.

One where Kubrick should have asked for a few more takes!

[Geofbob · 5 September 2001]

Unlike the earlier Day of the Fight in which one can see inklings of Stanley Kubrick's later achievements, this film is a minor piece of hackwork with little to be said in its favour. Indeed, the most telling feature is that Kubrick, who would later be known as an obsessive perfectionist, here displays indifference. Almost all documentaries are set up to some extent, but here it would have been clear to the slowest of the audience that the episode of the padre flying a mother and sick baby to a hospital was acted out specially for the film. The clumsiness is compounded by the narration, which goes out its way to inform us that the episode was spontaneous and shot as it happened. With a little more inventiveness, Kubrick could have made the sequence at least partially convincing. (This assumes that Kubrick was responsible for the commentary; perhaps he wasn't, and this was an early lesson for him on what producers can do if you don't insist on full control!)

Kubricks 2nd documentary

[Atavisten · 21 May 2005]

Its 8 minutes long and is about the flying priest who helps wherever he is needed, he just jumps into his plane and flies there. The main focus is about the kind and understanding padre that teaches the kids to not bully each other and a episode with a mother having a sick child on a ranch many miles away from a hospital. Padre is to the rescue.

This is only for curiosity value, being made by Kubrick it has none of his mark on it. Its just for getting a foot in the industry I guess, or money. Situations are clearly staged and not so very well done, the voice-over is one sided and the shooting is diverse, but serves no special purpose. Kubrick the perfectionist turned up later I guess.

A surprisingly uninspired documentary showing an ambulance driver, an anxious mother, a sick baby and their priest...

[cgyford · 11 October 2011]

Professional photographer turned budding filmmaker Stanley Kubrick ("Day of the Fight") follows up his self-financed directorial debut with a rather uninspired documentary commission from RKO which the filmmaker himself would later describe as silly.

The film supposedly documents two ordinary days in the life of Catholic priest Father Fred Stadtmuller as he pilots his plane between his 11 mission churches spread out over a 4,000 square mile area of Harding county in north-eastern New Mexico but the whole thing feels staged .

Father Stadtmuller makes a surprisingly insipid presence behind the controls of the Spirit of St. Jospeh as we follow him from the solemn funeral of a ranch hand to evening devotions to pastoral duties to canary breeding to an emergency flight all to the dulcet tones of news reader Bob Hite.

The future filmmaking legend seems constricted by the news reel format and although he manages to build some convention defying atmosphere there is little of the visual or structural flourish that marked out his previous "day in the life of..." documentary as being from an emerging talent.

"There's no brass band here, no cheering crowds, no newspapermen clamouring for a headline..."

3 Kubrick shorts

[Michael_Elliott · 10 March 2008]

Flying Padre (1951)

** (out of 4)

Stanley Kubrick's first film is a documentary about a priest in New Mexico who needs a plane to keep up with all his people. This is a really boring and flat film even with its 9 minute running time. The priest really isn't that interesting and the narration is flat and stiff. God knows better things were to follow from Kubrick.

Day of the Fight (1951)

*** (out of 4)

Kubrick's second short shows us a day in the life of a middle-weight boxer as he prepares for a fight. Even with the boring narration, this film here moves a lot better and the fight scene is rather interesting because it's shown complete as it happened. You can spot Kubrick in a few scenes with his camera.

Seafarers, The (1953)

** (out of 4)

Overly long and dreadfully boring promotional film for the Seafarers Union, which basically tries to teach people why they should join. This is historically interesting only because it's Stanely Kubrick's first film in color. The rest is pure boredom and it's no wonder Kubrick doesn't want this film seeing the light of day.