| Jet Storm | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lobby card | |
| Directed by | Cy Endfield |
| Written by | Cy Endfield Sigmund Miller |
| Produced by | Steven Pallos |
| Starring | Richard Attenborough Stanley Baker Hermione Baddeley Bernard Braden |
| Cinematography | Jack Hildyard |
| Edited by | Oswald Hafenrichter |
| Music by | Thomas Rajna |
Production company | Pendennis Pictures |
| Distributed by | United Producers Releasing Organization |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Jet Storm (also known asJet Stream orKilling Urge) is a 1959 Britishthriller film directed and co-written byCy Endfield.Richard Attenborough stars withStanley Baker,Hermione Baddeley andDiane Cilento. The film is a precursor to the later aviation disaster film genre such asAirport (1970).[1]
Ernest Tilley, a former scientist who lost his daughter two years earlier in a hit-and-run accident, tracks down James Brock, the man he believes is responsible for the accident and boards the same airliner on a transatlantic flight, flying fromLondon toNew York.
Tilley has hidden a bomb on board and threatens to blow it up in an act of vengeance, not only killing Brock but also all passengers and crew.
When Captain Bardow and the passengers realise that he is serious, and they cannot find the bomb (which Tilley had attached to the underside of the airliner's left wing), they begin to panic. Some want to pressure him into revealing the location of the bomb, while others such as Doctor Bergstein try to reason with the now silent Tilley. Mulliner, a terrified passenger, attempts to kill Brock to stop Tilley from setting off the bomb.
Acting out of fear, Brock is killed when he smashes a window and is blown out of the airliner. Tilley comes to his senses when a young boy passenger, Jeremy Tracer, soothes him. He then disconnects the remote control for the bomb, and commits suicide by poison. As the airliner approaches New York, the passengers realise that they will survive.
The type of aircraft depicted is a Soviet-builtTupolev Tu-104. Although the airline and its crew are clearly British, having departed from London and a BEAVickers Viscount is also seen, the aircraft shown at the beginning is sporting the Soviet Union's flag on the tail. This twin-jet airliner was only used by airlines in the Soviet bloc. A medium-range airliner, the Tu-104 also could not have been used on transatlantic routes.[Note 1][2]
In theTime Out review, John Pym sawJet Storm as, "A British prototype for theAirport disaster movies of the '60s and '70s." He went on to note, "... like its later supersonic counterparts, Endfield's film is naive and contrived, but not without interest as the alarmed passengers soon divide into groups: reactionary (advocating torture) and liberal (patience and persuasion)."[3]
TheTV Guide critic wrote, "... thanks to an outstanding cast, this air-disaster film manages to limp to a landing with its 'thriller' status intact."[4]The Radio Times applauded "... a star turn for Attenborough, who brings a convincing complexity to the role of bomber and bereft father."[5]