The Flight That Disappeared

It's a theme we've seen many times before. Scientific advances can carry significant and disastrous consequences when used for bad purposes - such as weapons of war and mass destruction.

What responsibility do the inventors and purveyors of such technology owe to the future? And who will be making the decisions on how the technologies will be put to use?

The film manages to establish a good sense of mystery and other-worldly goings on. Considering that most of the film takes place inside an airplane, this is an accomplishment.

Craig Hill might be the biggest star in this feature, but I'd never heard of him. Surprising, considering his Robert Conrad-like good looks. But all the acting is good.

There's a lot of exposition going on here, establishing the characters, and the interesting coincidence of having three accomplished professionals in the fields of science, engineering and mathematics on the same flight, heading to a meeting in Pentagon Washington DC.

The message is a little heavily-handed in its other-worldly delivery, but I think this was characteristic of the time. It was made in 1961, when nuclear weapons were considered an imminent threat to humanity. (They still are, but we seem to have gotten more used to them.) But, I think the overall look and feel of the movie seems like it could have been made in the 1940s.

Overall, it's not too thrilling or insightful, but it IS interesting.

This film will definitely remind you of a slightly longer Twilight Zone episode. It could be described as an interesting B movie, which would accompany a major film back in the old days. Nothing spectacular about this film, with its barely hidden moral message, but it was a pleasant enough viewing for the short time it was on.

This independent film released by United Artists is a real sleeper It asks some thought provoking questions. The lack of name players in the cast makes it all the more real. That works many times in movies.

Flight That Disappeared starts out like a bargain basement The High And The Mighty. But among the passengers are scientists Craig Hill, Paula Raymond, and Dayton Lummis. Unexplainedly the propeller driven plane starts rising in altitude beyond what a jet rise to and in rocket ship territory and ground radar loses all communication.

When everyone loses consciousness the three scientists go before a celestial tribunal and are examined about a proposed super atomic bomb they are in the theoretical stage of development. It's quite intense.

The thought provocation comes here. Just what is the role of science and scientists in this world? Is making better weaponry its only purpose. What we do today has a bearing on the life our descendants. It's a representation of those descendants that is doing the examining of our three protagonists.

Production values Flight That Disappeared has not. But it has some great performances from the protagonists and the rest of the cast. This one should not be missed.

One question was there another tribunal called for some Soviet scientists?

A cross-country airliner, whose passengers include a nuclear physicist, a rocket expert, and a mathematical genius, is drawn beyond radar range by an unknown, unbreakable force.

Others have compared this film to "The Twilight Zone", and rightly so. I am almost surprised no one from the show was involved in this film, because the plot and political point of view is exactly the same. The only difference is that this is much longer (and maybe not necessarily so -- I can see this story being told in 25 minutes).

If the film has any real flaw, it is that the morality is a bit over the top and extreme. The message is a good one, and one that hardly anyone could disagree with. But it comes off almost preachy and condescending because there is not one ounce of subtlety in it at all. (I am being vague here so as not to spoil anything, though the plot is about as obvious as possible.)

Remarkably talented unknowns present a potentially hokey story that, in fact, holds up.

In 1961 the threat of devastating nuclear war hung and/or was held over the heads of every resident of Earth. This script asked the question, How guilty are the scientists who help create the weaponry that can destroy the human race, and destroy the future of yet unborn humans?

Author Fredric Brown asked a similar question in his short-short story, "The Weapon," in a very small setting with only three people.

"Flight" has a large cast that presents what might seem to be another doomed airplane story, but that turns out to be the shell containing the setting for asking our question.

There is a science-fictiony feel to this story, but there is probably no other way to deal with the subject: WHO is guilty when the "ultimate weapon" is created? Bureaucrats who demand such a weapon? Military and political people who will be responsible for its use? Or the scientists who do the actual intellectual work of bringing it into existence?

The question is the same as that dealt with in the Brown short-short, and is still one, after 60 years, that needs answering. And needs dealing with even by us who are not in those three categories, but who supply the tax dollars and the cannon fodder for what might well be very short, but totally destructive, wars.

One complaint I have about this excellent motion picture: The cast members are so overwhelmingly capable and even talented, each and every one should be a household name -- but isn't.

A copy of "Flight" is at YouTube and I urge you to watch it.