| The Sound Barrier | |
|---|---|
 Poster for Breaking the Sound Barrier, the U.S. title |
|
| Directed by | David Lean |
| Produced by | David Lean |
| Written by | Terence Rattigan |
| Starring | Ralph Richardson Ann Todd Nigel Patrick John Justin Denholm Elliott |
| Music by | Malcolm Arnold |
| Cinematography | Jack Hildyard |
| Editing by | Geoffrey Foot |
| Distributed by | London Films British Lion Films United Artists |
| Release date(s) | 22 July 1952 (UK) 6 November 1952 (New York only) 21 December 1952 (wide) |
| Running time | 118 min. (UK) 109 min. (US) |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Sound Barrier is a British 1952 film directed by David Lean. It is a fictional story about attempts by aircraft designers and test pilots to break the sound barrier. In the US it was retitled Breaking the Sound Barrier. The story was written before the aircraft flew at supersonic speeds.
David Lean's third and final film with his wife Ann Todd was also his first for Alexander Korda's London Films, following the break-up of Cineguild. The Sound Barrier was a great box-office success, but it is now rarely seen (recently it has been released in both VHS and DVD home versions) and has become one of the least-known of Lean's films. It is also Lean's only venture into this type of genre.
Contents |
Plot
The plot involves John Ridgefield (Ralph Richardson), a wealthy oil magnate who, as the owner of an aircraft company, also designs airplanes. Nigel Patrick plays test pilot Tony Garthwaite, a successful fighter pilot during the Second World War who is employed by Ridgefield after marrying Susan (Ann Todd), Ridgefield's daughter. Tensions between father and daughter are accentuated by Garthwaite's dangerous job of test flying.
The film explores the company's hopes for a new jet fighter, the "Prometheus" and the problems faced by the then-new jet aircraft in encountering the speed of sound, the so-called "sound barrier." In an attempt to break the sound barrier, Garthwaite crashes and is killed. Shocked at the death of her husband and her father's single-minded and heartless approach to the dangers his test pilots face, Susan walks out on her father and goes to live with Jess (Dinah Sheridan), the wife of Philip Peel (John Justin), another company test pilot. Ridgefield approaches Peel with the challenge of piloting his test aircraft, and this time the experiment is successful and the sound barrier is broken without loss of life.
Accepting that her father cared about those whose lives were lost in tests, Susan changes her plan of moving to London and takes her young son with her back to home and Sir John.
Cast
As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):[1]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Ralph Richardson | John Ridgefield |
| Ann Todd | Susan Garthwaite |
| Nigel Patrick | Tony Garthwaite |
| John Justin | Philip Peel |
| Denholm Elliott | Christopher Ridgefield |
| Joseph Tomelty | Will Sparks |
| Dinah Sheridan | Jess Peel |
| Jack Allen | Windy Williams |
| Anthony Snell | Peter Makepeace |
| Donald Harron | ATA officer |
| Vincent Holman | Factor |
| Ralph Michael | Fletcher |
| Douglas Muir | Controller |
| Leslie Phillips | Controller |
Production
The strong relationship to aviation history in The Sound Barrier has led to its being characterized as a "semi-documentary." The screenplay by playwright Terence Rattigan was loosely based on newspaper articles of the time, and bases some of its plotline on the real-life story of aircraft designer Geoffrey de Havilland and the loss of his son (Geoffrey de Havilland, Jr.), the de Havilland company's test pilot who died attempting to fly faster than sound in the DH108.[2][3]
Contrary to what is depicted in the film, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier was the Bell X-1 flown by Major General Chuck Yeager of the United States Air Force in 1947. According to Yeager, any pilot who attempted to break the sound barrier in the manner portrayed in the movie would have been killed.[4]
Footage of early 1950s jet technology in Great Britain includes scenes of the de Havilland Comet airliner, the world's first jet passenger airliner.[5] At the time the film was made, jet travel was being made available to the public for the first time in the form of the de Havilland Comet. In the film Tony Garthwaite (Patrick) flies Susan (Todd) from England to Egypt in a two-seater de Havilland Vampire, returning later the same day, a graphic illustration of the possibilities of the new jet technology.
The Prometheus jet aircraft that appears in the film was one of the prototypes of the Supermarine Swift (VV119), itself a particularly troublesome aircraft design.[6]
Awards
Academy Awards
- Winner Best Sound Recording
- Nominee Best story written directly for the screen (Terence Rattigan)
With this film, Ralph Richardson became the first actor to win the New York Film Critics Award for Best Actor who did not also go on to win an Oscar nomination.
BAFTA Awards
- Winner Best Film from any Source
- Winner Best British Film
- Winner Best British Actor (Ralph Richardson)
- Nominee Best British Actor (Nigel Patrick)
- Nominee Best British Actress (Ann Todd)
US National Board of Review
- Winner Best Actor (Ralph Richardson), Best Director, Best Foreign Film
New York Critics Circle
- Winner Best Actor (Ralph Richardson)
References
- Notes
- ^ The Sound Barrier Full credits
- ^ Davenport-Hines, Richard. "Havilland, Sir Geoffrey de (1882–1965)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University, 2004.
- ^ de Havilland, Geoffrey. Sky Fever: The Autobiography of Sir Geoffrey De Havilland. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK: Crowood Press Ltd., 1999. ISBN 1-84037-148-X.
- ^ Yeager and Janos 1986, pp. 206–207.
- ^ Davies and Birtles 1999
- ^ Winchester 2005, pp. 312–313.
- Bibliography
- Davies, R.E.G. and Philip J. Birtles. Comet: The World's First Jet Airliner. McLean, Virginia: Paladwr Press, 1999. ISBN 1-888962-14-3.
- Hardwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Viewer's Guide to Aviation Movies." The Making of the Great Aviation Films. General Aviation Series, Volume 2, 1989.
- Winchester, Jim. The World's Worst Aircraft: From Pioneering Failures to Multimillion Dollar Disasters. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2005. ISBN 1-904687-34-2.
- Yeager, Chuck and Leo Janos. Yeager: An Autobiography. New York: Bantam Books, 1986. ISBN 0-553-25674-2.
External links
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by La Ronde |
BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source 1953 |
Succeeded by Forbidden Games |
| Preceded by The Lavender Hill Mob |
BAFTA Award for Best British Film 1953 |
Succeeded by Genevieve |
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