CRASH LANDING (1958)

Here is another disaster film about the fear of ever flying again. The double-billed film is based on the 1956 crash landing at sea of a Pan American Airlines Boeing Stratocruiser. The production team failed to garner any technical insights from that event, so the audience might better understand why an emergency landing on water was the best and only option. After an airliner loses numbers one and four engines during a flight from Lisbon—one prop cannot be feathered, causing drag to make New York risky—the infamous, overbearing flight commander flashes back before take off for the answer. He questions how this could ever happen to his plane and who or what is to blame. He learns little. The pilot is too busy preparing to crash land.

This film is consumed about preparations for a belly landing on water, and the flight is also my focus, not on the ticket-holders. The miscellaneous mix of passengers is B-movie and unknown television actors, representing a small cross-section of humanity with their own problems, guilts, and fears. Standard fare for nearly every flight disaster film before and since. One passenger, however, literally stands out at 6' 7”. The Orthodox priest with the foot-long beard is played by Frederick Ledebur. He was indelibly etched in viewer's minds as the spooky, heavily tattooed chief harpooner, Queequeg, in Moby Dick (1956).

Gary Merrill is equally in command of the film. Everyone is pale by comparison. Merrill was somewhat of a master at portraying stiff upper lip, hard-lined characters. A by-the-book guy where compromise is not an option. These are good qualities for a seasoned aircraft commander, but not the best for a flexible home environment. Notable co-stars are brief appearances by Nancy (Reagan) Davis, in her last film, as the wife, and an uncredited Kim Charney (Suddenly 1955), as the son who walks on eggshells around “Mr. Father.” Roger Smith gained fame in the cast of television's 77 Sunset Strip. He plays the co-pilot who locks eyes and lips with a stewardess.

Though I am not qualified to address the myriad of expected technical errors in this film about actual flying, I do know that when an engine fails in flight, it does not shake the plane so violently it would remove a crewmember's dentures. These scenes are hilarious. In addition, passengers moving to one side of the plane will not cause the plane to "tip over" as if in a rowboat. Nor would there be anything left of the airframe at the suggested high airspeed at the point of impact. The model bouncing on the water is obviously a different aircraft, the US Navy's proposed Lockheed Constitution. These flaws are characteristic of a cheap, quick production where accuracy takes a back seat to terror (such as it is). Finally, though the tail on the Douglas airliner is painted to represent a DC-7, the plane is actually a DC-6 series.

Merrill's instant transformation during the rapid closing indicates his life was forever altered by the harrowing experience. With over 15,000 flight hours, his first ditching at sea. A ship returns him to his family in Lisbon as a “Softer Father.” He wants his son to drop the “Sir” and just call him “Your Majesty.” Wait. That is no transformation. Just call him dad.

Note: The seventy-six-minute film was distributed by Columbia Pictures Corporation and directed by Fred F. Sears, well known for his rapid style, churning out countless tiny budgeted films. His opening narration is effective, however, in setting the film's premise. Filming was "in the can" in ten days. Crash Landing was written by Fred Freiberger and produced by Sam Katzman, who had a knack for turning a profit out of nothing. This film was to be released one year earlier, but was delayed because of Sears' sudden death.

JET OVER THE ATLANTIC (1959)

With obvious roots in The High and The Mighty, this B-movie uses the first few notes of that film's main theme. Not exciting enough to be a thriller, the film does fall into the disaster category. The script perforations are numerous and the only storyline of importance is whether Guy Madison will be arrested by FBI agent, George Raft, who resembles Inspector Gadget in the opening sequence. This review will be brief.

George McCready plays a wealthy deranged man who feels responsible for his young daughter’s death. It is not clear why. McCready had a distinctive voice, a menacing growl of respectability that sounded like he had not gotten over a massive head cold. He is convinced that killing all the people on the plane, including himself, will make amends. He meets a character before the flight who does his best Peter Lorre impersonation and hands over a wrapped chemical bomb or is it a deli-wrapped ham? As deadly as a five-pound frozen ham can be upside the head, this device triggers a toxic chemical into the cabin to kill the pilots but drowsiness is the only danger to the passengers. One asphyxiated pilot informs the passengers of their status in a voice of groggy, unintelligible doom. I suspect not very comforting. Autopilot saves the day.

There are the usual annoying characters onboard. All may remind you of the famous Zucker Brothers' air disaster comedy without the intended humor. There is a wedding for Madison and co-star Virginia Mayo during the flight in a "rear lounge" large enough for a cruise ship. Raft is nearly shot by McCready but Madison saves his life. Gunshots ring out several times while in flight. The script is bound and determined to bring the plane down one way or another. Fortunately, Madison flew 4-engine planes during the war. The airplane's interior studio cockpit has no windows for the pilot yet he still lands the plane safely. We learn that he was framed and having saved everyone on board, Raft has the last words about Madison, “Yeah. Quite a guy.”

This over-long ninety-five-minute film was typically a cornerstone of a double feature. Meaning the bottom. The production team includes director Byron Haskin, noted for the original The War of The Worlds classic, and was produced by Benedict Bogeaus. Distributed by Inter- Continent Releasing Organization, Irving H. Cooper is responsible for the screenplay as is the soap opera score by Louis Forbes. Guy Madison bailed out of American Films after this flight.

Notes: A pet peeve of mine is the inconsistent editing of airliners in most B-movies. There were other ways to transition a scene without splicing in the wrong airline or aircraft. This film is a prime example. The pilots begin taxing a Bristol Brittania airliner. The pilots are completely unaware that when their plane takes off, it becomes a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser. Continuing the poor editing trend, the plane is cruising at altitude but the insertion clip shows the landing gear down. They probably will not have enough fuel to make New York City anyway with all that drag.

The British-built Brittania, the pinnacle of turbo-prop travel, arrived too late to be a success. Jet airliners dominated the market. So the title of this film is out of whack. To be fair, many referred to turbo-props as jet-props in the day. Admittedly, “Turboprop over the Atlantic” does not roll off the tongue and the advertising department could not use “Turbo-prop” in place of “Jet-Hot.”