Broken Journey

Broken Journey (1948)

** (out of 4)

Forgettable "disaster" film has a plane crashing in the Alps and the variety of people on board must try to figure out a way to rescue themselves as well as not fight each other. The entire disaster genre has always been popular whether it was in the silent era, those films of the 30s like SAN FRANSISCO or IN OLD CHICAGO and going all the way up to the craze in the 1970s. With that said, most of these films are still well remembered by film buffs but I guess it's easy to see why BROKEN JOURNEY has pretty much been forgotten. This really does seem like a drawn out, boring version of FIVE CAME BACK and this here doesn't feature a single character to care for. I thought the entire group of survivors were either annoying, boring or they just weren't anyone to root or care for. This is certainly a death nail in a disaster picture like this because the fun thing is seeing the wide range of people trying to cope with the situation and each other but there's just no one here to care about. Another problem is that the entire situation is just way too pretty. I mean, just take a look at the crash sequence, which seems like a simple landing on the side of a mountain because of how easy and pretty it all looked. The situation that the people are in is never dramatic because no matter what happens something good will take place so you never once feel as if these people are in danger. The performances range from good to decent and the cinematography is without question the best thing going for the film. The non-stop dialogue has the characters saying one boring thing after another and in the end there's just no reason to watch this.

I assume it is not a spoiler to say this film is about a plane crash in the alps.

If you are a fan of 1940s british films you will recognise most of the cast and perhaps the writer ,the director and the writer of the music.

I am a big fan of old British films,and films featuring forms of transport so I like seeing this one.

I am not saying it is an undiscovered classic but I think it is watchable.

Some of the comments on here are rather harsh.

I watch a lot of old films and this easier to enjoy in 2023 than many made at this time.

The script writer was Robert Westerby whose work I have come to like and look out for.

This was made in 1948 and characters are still going on about the war.

As in most later disaster film the characters are mixed bunch,I can't say they a believeable mix but we must remember that at this time foreign travel was not common for ordinary people.

IMDB is full of people who know a lot about cinema history,can anyone think of any older disaster films than this one?

Enjoyable retread of an archetypal situation generally traced back to 'Five Came Back' in 1939 and best known these days for 'The Flight of the Phoenix'. The British stiff upper lip isn't much in evidence as this lot squabble amongst each other on top of a mountain on which they've crashed in the Alps, which makes an interesting change. (Top-billed Phyllis Calvert also wears her hair far longer and looser in the early scenes than one is used to seeing air hostesses in the movies.)

A small plane crash lands in the snowy, desolate Alps. Luckily, the mostly British passengers and crew survive with nary a scratch. They don't even seem to mind the cold very much. Her fur coat keeps movie star Margot Grahame (as Joanna Dane) warm. But the lack of cigarettes, lipstick and record albums gets some passengers testy. Operatic voiced Francis L. Sullivan (as Perami) plays his surviving vinyl. How to get civilization to notice and rescue them becomes a major concern. Survival and self-sacrifice are themes. These are nicely evidenced by "iron lung" man Grey Blake (as John Barber). Pretty stewardess Phyllis Calvert (as Mary Johnstone) falls in love with heroic pilot James Donald (as Bill Haverton). Their "Broken Journey" is slow and uninvolved, but nicely edited.

***** Broken Journey (4/14/48) Ken Annakin ~ Phyllis Calvert, Margot Grahame, James Donald, Francis L. Sullivan

A group of folks are on a plane that crash lands high in the Swiss Alps. Their radio is flat so they have to decide whether to stick it out in the (relative) safety of their aircraft or set off to find help. It's got quite a good British cast - a starring performance from Francis L. Sullivan with Guy Rolfe & Phyllis Calvert et al but the characters are all pretty unattractive and by the end I really didn't much care if they survived or not... It is also quite dialogue heavy with precious little actual action once the plane has skidded to it's lofty stop..........................................