Two nights ago we watched "Cone of Silence"(1960), an Aviation Disaster flick from Britain about the repeated accidents of a veteran commercial pilot flying a new model jet. Bernard Lee stars as "Captain Gort" (no, not that Gort, don't gimme no Klaatu Barada Nikto). As the movie opens, he's the subject of a legal inquiry into the cause of a runway mishap in which a flight officer was killed. Prosecutor George Sanders stylishly propounds the theory that the crash was caused by pilot error. Capt. Gort stands his ground, with a moment by moment dissection of the timeline and a textbook answer for every technical question. The result is a hung jury made up of aircraft safety judges. Now it's up to Gort's boss "Captain Manningham" (Andre Morrell) to decide whether or not to suspend him. Morrell casts the decision to his young assistant "Captain Dallas" (Michael Craig), the pilot training officer for the airline.
Dallas at first agrees with Sanders - Gort is unfit to fly. He's old (51, looks 65), and the new jet technology is beyond his capability. Capt. Manningham concurs, but feels a responsibility to honor Gort's 14,000 flight hours. He orders Dallas to give the man one more chance for fairness' sake. "Take him up and test him again". The test is to be made using "instruments only". Gort will wear blinders and headphones and will have to home in on a radio signal to locate "the cone of silence", a bearing at the center of the signal. He has to find it using only his hearing. Capt. Dallas is thinking he can't do it, but Gort surprises him and his assistant by locating the Cone at the last minute, by a novel flight route, which he chooses for the sake of weather safety.
Capt. Dallas is impressed and reports back to Manningham. "He not only passed, sir, but passed with flying colors. He took the long way around and at first I misunderstood what he was doing, but he avoided a storm front with cumulus that could've torn the wings off the airplane". Manningham is satisfied but remains wary. "I suppose I've no choice but to reinstate him".
"I don't think he's any risk at all sir. Quite the opposite. I rather think that he could be a steady influence on some of our younger pilots".
"Yes, well tell that to the family of the dead flight officer".
Gort resumes flying, but on his very next departure he once again has trouble getting the jet airborne. He's already noted the maxed-out weight load. "Same tonnage we had last time". This time, once aloft, he also takes notice of the weather. "Hot and humid. Come to think of it, it was like this when we ran off the runway". Hmmm, similar conditions in weight and weather on both flights. Gort doesn't say so, but you can tell he believes there may be proof that the runway crash was mechanical in nature.
A spoiler is coming up, so stop reading if you don't want to know.
Though he has the jet in the air, this second flight is not uneventful. In fact it's a near disaster. At altitude, Gort and his crew run into another storm front. Suddenly they're being pelted by hail the size of golf balls. It must be mentioned that the special effects here are excellent. Soon there's a crack in the windshield. It worsens until the glass shatters. With freezing air rushing in, Gort struggles to maintain stability. His co-pilot jams a seat cushion into the opening. Gort manages to land the plane.
The passengers are largely unaware how close they just came to dying. They know, however, that they passed through stormy weather, and consider Gort a hero for guiding them to a safe landing. Back at airline headquarters, Capt. Manningham is not so complimentary. A stewardess complains that she won't fly with Gort anymore. "I don't know if he's jinxed or what. But I do know that Capt. Dallas is looking the other way. He's involved with Gort's daughter, are you aware of that, Capt. Manningham"?
That may or may not be true. Yes, Capt. Dallas is seeing "Charlotte Gort" (Elizabeth Seal), but it's mainly to keep her up to date on her father's runway case and subsequent reinstatement. The stewardess interprets this as romance. She believes Dallas is giving Gort a pass on account of this.
It is true that Gort is captaining flights that have been in serious trouble. But is it his fault or is something wrong with the airplane? The jet's designer swears it's been through every imaginable safety check, ten times over. "What do you think we have wind tunnels for"? he asks Dallas. "If you knew how much I worry over every possible failure - and we're talking about 46, 000 parts! - then you'd know that I'd never release it for manufacture unless I was well and truly satisfied".
Capt. Manningham doesn't like being caught in the middle of this situation, so he decides to bring in an assessor, another veteran pilot named Captain Judd (Peter Cushing). A second test flight is ordered, with Judd in the co-pilot's seat. Judd knows and respects his colleague Gort, but you get the sense he's looking for a reason to fail him. He finds one, too. When the test is over, Judd enters the office to show Captain Manningham a curled piece of shubbery. "Do you know where this came from"?, he asks sternly. "It's part of a hedge. Gort clipped it at the start of the runway. He came in too low, I tried to warn him".
"Did he land safely or not"?
"He did......but it could've been catastrophic".
Captain Manningham has finally had enough. He plans to ground Captain Gort as soon as he comes into the office. But Captain Dallas is suspicious of the origin of the shrubbery. He decides to conduct his own investigation into where it came from.
That's all I'm gonna tell you about the plot. The flying sequences are the movie's main strength. The emergency conditions that arise are real nail-biters. Do you remember the harrowing plane crash in "Cast Away"? That was one of the best ever filmed, as far as realism, but the near crashes in "Cone of Silence" are right up there. For 1960, they're exceptionally well done. The investigative scenes are compelling also. The story has many aspects, including the court drama with George Sanders and the subplot involving the designer. Millions have been spent developing this jet. Will he accept blame if it's warranted? Will the manufacturer recall the airplane? Or will they just hang Captain Gort out to dry in order to save their company? It's a multi-tiered plot that I found most gripping. One small complaint involves the downtime when the minor relationship theme is intercut. There's a jealousy issue between the stewardess and Charlotte Gort that plays a role in her father's fate. It could've been left out, or presented in brief, but that's just a small complaint in an otherwise top-notch motion picture.
According to Wiki, the story of the troubled plane is based on the deHavilland Comet, the world's first commercial jet aircraft. It entered service in 1952, but had three accidents within a year. This is the basis of "Cone of Silence", which gets Two Big Thumbs Up. If you like big league aviation movies, "Cone" will be right up your alley. The picture is close to razor sharp. It's very highly recommended. /////
That's all for tonight. I'm sorry I only have the single movie. Last night I was finishing my Robert McCammon book "Queen of Bedlam". I got so caught up in it that I didn't notice the time. Then I did my CSUN walk and listened to the rest of the Dodger game (Chris freakin' Taylor!), and by the time I got back it was too late to watch a flick. Now, tomorrow I'm going to Disneyland again with my sister, so I won't have two movies in the next blog either, but I will have a Disneyland Report. It should be a good one, too, this being Halloweentime at the park. I haven't been to Disneyland at Halloween since 2011, so of course I'm totally stoked. As far as movies go, we'll get back to twinbills after that. I hope you had a nice day. Have a great weekend also.....
I send you Tons of Love, as always! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment