Rosies of the North (1999) User Reviews

This is a witty film with heart. Fantastic archival and strong characters.

[shebafilms-1 · 10/10 · 19 April 2005]

This film gracefully combines good characters, writing, music and great archival film footage to tell the story of Elsie MacGill, North America's first woman chief aeronautical engineer and airplane designer. It also tells the remarkable story of the women on the shop floor who built hawker hurricanes for the British and Curtis Hell Divers for the US Navy. The best part of the film takes place when the women, now in their seventies, get to see a Curtis Helldive fly once more over their city. Marg Cook gets a ride in the gunner seat and it gives her pause to think about the young men she met on the shop floor who later sacrificed their lives fighting fascism. Beautifully shot by Ian Elkin and written by Robert Lower. The women are the true stars of the show as they recount their days as Rosie the riveter, battling sexism, sparks and paint fumes to do the best jobs of their lives.