Flammes dans le ciel

If Andrew Stone had ever worked for Ealing he would have come up with something like this neglected gem, which for over an hour keeps you on the edge of your seat as with elegant simplicity it deftly juggles Jack Hawkins' attempts (reminiscent of 'Doris Day in Julie') to land a damaged plane and his even more harrowing problems at home; the plane's ominous creaks echoing Stone's skilful use of sound.

Made in the days when Sonic Booms were called 'Bangs' and the make-or-break sum in a house purchase was £500; it has a contemporary resonance in the cynical response of a newspaper editor that "If he doesn't crash there's no story".

Recommended.

Thanks to Planktonrules for the thoughtful analysis/appreciation. However, there are just a few comments I'd like to add to his review.

"The Man in the Sky" (a.k.a. "Decision Against Time") is a fairly representative example of the kinds of dramas that Ealing produced in addition to their better-known comedies. In fact, out of the 96 feature-length films that Ealing released between 1938 and 1959, only about 15 to 20 were comedies, depending on what you count. The other 80% was made up of virtually every kind of movie that was being made in Britain at the time: war pictures, crime thrillers, period pieces, and even a couple of literary adaptations, musicals, and horror films. So it's not really correct to claim that "most" of Ealing's output was comedy -- though the comedies have come to overshadow everything else that Ealing did.

Since this movie is representative of Ealing's dramatic style, it's a good place to start if you only know the comedies. Like "The Cruel Sea" (an Ealing war film with Jack Hawkins), this one is primarily about the human stories that lie at the heart of tragedies or potential tragedies. We first see Hawkins' character as a family man facing typical problems, like being unable to purchase a new home, before we see him in the crisis situation that dominates the film. So like many of Ealing's dramas, this one is primarily about how an ordinary man meets an extraordinary situation. In many ways, Hawkins' character is not unlike one of Hemingway's "code" heroes. In order to succeed, he must maintain self-control and absolute professionalism. It's easy to dismiss films like this as uncritical celebrations of the stereotypically British "stiff upper lip." But in fact, the film is really about how its characters handle emotions that cannot be talked about because those emotions are conflicting and difficult to understand anyway. When the resolution comes, it is played out in silence -- a daring choice on the part of director Charles Crichton, but one that results in greater profundity than you might expect.

Finally, it's worth noting that this was the first movie that Ealing produced/released after it sold and left its home studio. In 1956, producer Michael Balcon was forced to negotiate a new distribution deal. (The British film industry was going through one of its frequent crises.) As a result, Balcon moved his production unit to MGM's British base, where Balcon had worked briefly in the mid-1930s before moving on to Ealing. After this film, Ealing would make only six more before closing down for good in 1959, thus ending one of the most brilliant chapters in British film history. Movies like "Man in the Sky," which examines reticence and self-control, just weren't what younger British audiences wanted to see, and the age of James Bond, the Beatles, and the "angry young men" was just around the corner.

I agree with all the user comments above and enjoyed this film immensely.It's amazing I have never seen it before, it certainly is not an any DVD I have seen.It kept my attention for the full 80 minutes and I did not mind the filming in B&W as it gave the film a stark reality, missing in many 21st century films with their CGI/Special effects.

Britain had developed quite a lead internationally in aero engine design in the mid-late 1950s, and the air industry's export earnings were vital to the country's economy to help repay the massive overhang of WWII debts not finally repaid until 1996.The film mentioned a sobering statistic one out of three test pilots lost their lives flying new aircraft being produced at this time.This is another Jack Hawkins Ealing film classic is his portrayal of captain Ericcson in "The Cruel Sea" (1952).Look out for John Stratton who also appeared in the latter film and who this time plays the number two test pilot.

Nothing could be more straightforward than this story-line : a pilot - alone in the aircraft - is unable to land it. Yet the director and cast not only build up the suspense, but they also present to the audience, through the opinions of those on the ground, conflicting interpretations of what is going on in the pilot's mind. The result is that the simple story-line is seen to contain moral dilemmas which have no simple solution.

I have just watched the film again because it brings back memories for me. I lived in Wolverhampton then only a mile or two from the airfield and I recognise where much of it was filmed. I frequently saw the plane flying around, sometimes with smoke trailing as it passed over the playing field of my school. Watching it again after all this time, I was surprised not only by how well it stood up, but also how much of it was clearly shot on location, including the air control tower. The other notable feature for me is the quality of the cast: just about everyone in it had significant acting careers, Donald Pleasance, Lionel Jeffries etc. It's also fascinating to hear such details as rent prices (£200 for a year's rent, I think was mentioned) and to see how deserted the roads were then.