cgyford 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..."

Michael_Elliott 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.

ackstasis 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.

heathblair 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).