Non-Stop New York

This unknown classic is a must see. It is fast paced in the Hitchcock style and well acted with a lot of droll sequences intertwined between. Anna Lee couldn't be prettier or more charming. The entire cast including the villain Francis Sullivan are great. The British attempt at American slang is slightly noticeable but otherwise the direction is top notch. I just love that luxury aeroplane and wish that it was a reality to the present air traveller to rid him of the monotony of long travel. The storyline may be a little slow paced but is offset by the acting. Certainly a movie far before its period and not necessarily a curio but most interesting to watch.

I saw this film some years back on PBS and only wish I could find a copy of it now. A young woman witnesses a murder in New York, and promptly leaves for England. She sees the news in a London paper about a man in New York about to be executed for the murder, and she knows he is innocent. She has to get back to NY as fast as possible to save an innocent man from the electric chair, and so she stows on the Air Boat, Non-stop to New York. Some of the lines are so good that years later, they still echo in my head.

Much of the movie takes place on this incredible aircraft, which takes off from the Thames in London, and is like a flying..., well, boat. Dining room, state rooms, close quarters, nasty travel companions. It's all here.

Borders on Film Noir, but with a wry sense of humor.

If you like the style of the 1940s, and slightly outlandish stories so characteristic of the period, I dare say you will enjoy this English trifle quite a bit!

I won't reveal the ending, so you'll have to see the film to know if she arrives in time!

English and American characters and accents mingle in this lively thriller about a murder witness on the run.…from and then back to New York.

Anna Lee is our heroine, a young English chorus girl; hungry and out of luck in New York and about to board ship for home, she is befriended by a young lawyer who invites her over for a meal. Once inside his apartment, however, the man is promptly murdered by a gang of thugs headed by big smoothy Francis L. Sullivan. Noting that Lee is "the only person alive who knows that we were in that apartment last night"—at least that's what he thinks at the time—Sullivan subtly trails her.

The action moves to London, where the gang attempts to prevent Lee from returning to New York, where the imminent execution of an innocent fall guy will close the case. Will Lee's character realize the situation? And will she be able to reach America in time to save the innocent man's life? –This is where the story takes off: when all of the major characters board a trans-Atlantic airplane that is easily the most memorable element of this movie.

The plane is like no other: ordinary airliner on the outside, on the inside it's more like an ocean liner—complete with staterooms instead of rows of seats. It's even got a sort of porch—an observation deck—for characters who care to step outside, mid-Atlantic Ocean, and get a breath of wind in the face.

Among the cast, Anna Lee is quite dashing as the girl with a brain and some courage. John Loder is fine as a handsome young police inspector who is drawn into the case and onto the plane; Loder and Lee don't have a whole lot of scenes together but share a cute scene on the observation deck.

Francis L. Sullivan is excellent as the boss gangster. With the looks of Sidney Greenstreet and a voice like George Sanders, he is indeed a memorable villain. Young Desmond Tester is also a lot of fun to watch—a violin prodigy traveling with a grumpy aunt, the kid is prone to snooping and illicit saxophone playing.

A nice variety of characters, a decent plot, and that fantastic airliner make this one a winner.

From the moment starving chorus girl Anna Lee spends her last 20 cents in a grimy New York coffee joint to the crazy Mission Impossible style finale, this is wall to wall entertainment. A really fabulous fun adventure.

What makes this special is that ALL the characters are properly written characters, they've all got personalities and all those personalities are interesting and quirky. Not only is the writing outstanding (with a genuinely amusing script) but so is the acting. OK, most of them are pretty over the top but also believable as real people. The villains are especially villainous especially Mr Jaggers who is gloriously sinister.

When some 1930s pictures, especially American ones, profess to be funny they try much too hard so end up being annoyingly stupid. Character driven humour is only funny if you can believe the characters are people and that's what this achieves. The humour in this is refreshingly subtle, it's dark and witty. As the story evolves, its credibility is stretched to breaking point but as far-fetched as it becomes, Robert Stevenson directs the increasing absurdity as seriously as any drama which adds another dimension to its depth.

I've previously not been too impressed by Anna Lee but in this she's the perfect, wide-eyed thirties movie damsel-in-distress. She's very believable as one of those hundreds of adventurous English girls who ran off to tread the boards in the twenties and thirties. You can really engage with her. Even the precocious child is not annoying!

(No idea why some people have called this is a sci-fi movie?????)

In NYC, struggling actress Jennie Carr (Anna Lee) finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery, with her own life in imminent danger. After fleeing to London, and getting little help from Scotland Yard, Jennie stows away on the transatlantic mega-plane of the title.

The NON-STOP NEW YORK is a sort of luxury liner in the sky. It gets very interesting when both the killers and a Scotland Yard Inspector happen to be aboard for the flight.

Packed with intrigue, thrills, and humor, this movie deserves to be rediscovered...