Good start, but then it gets ruined

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

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.

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)

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.

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.