The Flight That Disappeared

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.

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?

The Flight That Disappeared (1961)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Low-budget but very interesting fantasy/drama about a plane that keeps going higher and higher into the sky but no one on the ground or on-board understands why. I could tell a little more about the plot but that would take away from one's entertainment. This certainly isn't a perfect movie or even a good one but it's got an interesting idea that makes for an entertaining movie. There's no doubt that this isn't going to win any awards but I think fans of the bizarre should have a good time. This thing really plays out like an episode of The Twilight Zone but instead of going into a different galaxy, the plane here just keeps going further up in the sky. I'm not going to spoil why all of this happening but I will say that the final twenty-minutes are the weakest of the film. Considering the small budget, the majority of the running time deals with the variety of passengers and we spend most of the time listening to them talk. We hear about their personal lives, the business their in and of course issues dealing with the atomic bomb, which was a hot subject during this period. The movie's screenplay really does a pretty good job at building up the fantasy elements because you're never fully understanding what's going on or how the plane is going higher. Sure, if you start to think about logics then you can rip the film apart so it's really best that you turn your brain off, sit back and just enjoy. None of the actor's are going to be familiar faces but I thought each of them did fine with their roles. There's certainly nothing too demanding here but the actors fit their parts nicely and manages to make you believe what's going on with their characters. THE FLIGHT THAT DISAPPEARED probably could have benefited from another rewrite and again I think the final twenty-minutes are rather weak. Still, considering what they had to deal with you can't help but feel that the filmmakers did a pretty good job and delivered an entertaining film.

Little-known film about a cross-country flight that is transported to another dimension where time stands still. There are some scientists on board the flight that are responsible for building a new kind of nuclear weapon. They are put on trial in this other dimension by people from the future. It's a talky movie about ideas and Cold War fears that gets a little heavy-handed at times. The "logic" of the prosecutor is riddled with holes. The first half-hour is pretty dull before it slowly starts to pick up. Still, it's nearly an hour into the film before the trial starts. All of the characters are as exciting as cardboard. There are no big actors associated with this, though I did recognize a few faces. It's an interesting idea for a movie or even an episode of the Twilight Zone. I could see Rod Serling doing a lot with it. It's a slog to get through the buildup but the last 20-30 minutes is worth watching.