AMELIA PORTRAYS A PUBLICITY HOUND DYING IN OBSCURITY
Amelia Earhart died somewhere between New Guinea and Howland Island during 1937. The biopic Amelia, directed by Mira Nair, explains that she (played by Hilary Swank) has a passion to fly but no money to pursue that career until she runs into George Putnam (played by Richard Gere), a publicist who first makes her famous, marries her, and then derives revenue for her career from product endorsements. Although there are snippets of Amelia in such places as Africa that are not connected to a narrative of her career, the film finally focuses on her last days and tries to explain why she died—navigator Fred Noonan (played by Christopher Eccleston) was drunk, clouds covered the small island, and a signal malfunctioned from an American ship docked near the island because the operator left the device on all night, thereby depleting the battery. MH