User reviews

It was awarded the prize of the Office Catholique Du cinema at the festival de Cannes ,1953 ;hindsight shows that this biopic thoroughly deserved it ; it has worn quite well , and it's at once a tribute to Helene Boucher her comrades called "Leno" and to all those daring female pilots ,like Maryse Bastié , who dared to enter a world which was reserved for men .

The film deals about the pioneer's career , without any embellishment ,any love affair , or story -like elements ;the film is often closed to documentary ,with frequent use of Gérard Oury's voiceover ; no macho comments ;only André Danet (Jean Chevrier) is skeptical : "they would never hire a female pilot"; all around her, there is much camaraderie and the supporting cast rises to the occasion ,particularly Pierre Trabaud as "Pierrot " who turns cartwheel across the floor when Helene triumphs , René Blancard as her devoted instructor and a young Maurice Ronet as a not so self-assured engineer .Gisèle Pascal portrays the heroine with a great dignity , an admirable modesty : they do not pass over in silence the fact that she was a heavy smoker,for instance .

From a shop assistant at a milliner's to a speed champion at icy altitudes, what a career !from 1930 to 1934, she went from strength to strength. She saw two of her dearest companions die : she learned Pierrot's fateful accident on a newspaper which wrapped a ham sandwich ; and her instructor's death by watching the sad faces .The first time she's visited the airport , death was already present. But she carried it on .

Jean Dreville 's career was uneven but some of his movie do not deserve to fall into oblivion: this one,"le visiteur" "la ferme du pendu" "les affaires sont les affaires" ....

Jean Dréville truely succeeded in directing this biopic of a famous french woman pioneer of airplane in the 30's, Hélène Boucher. Only 3 years of world records before her tragic death. If you know the story of Hélène Boucher, this movie is a must : authentic equipment and planes, inspired direction, casting truely involved in this great adventure with lot of glancing communication, and superb cinematography (André Bac who did "Le jour se lève" and "Le monte-charge") and editing. Jump on it, it's a forgotten must.

During the Occupation,Jean Gremillon 's "le Ciel Est à Vous" paid tribute to all those daring women ,who had a dream to fly."Horizons sans fin" is more of the same.Helene Boucher was one most famous French pilot:she became for a while the fastest pilot in the world.A sales assistant ,she spent her free time learning all about the planes.Unfortunately her career would be short-lived : three years.

Jean Dreville made a lovely film about this endearing character.Gisèle Pascal ,who plays the lead,has fallen into oblivion nowadays ,except for the nostalgics for the fifties ,but her co-star ,Maurice Ronet would become an important actor whose career was stopped by his premature death.