In the recent film The Aviator, one of the points of Howard Hughes's life that was gone into great detail was his post World War II airplane crash in Beverly Hills while testing a new model.
From what was shown in Leonardo DiCaprio's hauntingly accurate portrayal of Hughes, the casting of Raymond Massey in a paper thin version of the flamboyant aviator/businessman is pretty laughable. I'm sure Howard must have seen Chain Lightning and didn't like it a bit.
Jets were certainly a new phenomenon in those years and had the Germans developed them sooner and additionally had invested in aircraft carriers, the course of history would have been markedly and tragically different.
Humphrey Bogart is not bad as the Chuck Yeager like test pilot, in fact Yeager's historic flight breaking the sound barrier is referenced in the plot. Warner Brothers would have been better served with a straightforward biographical film about that flight.
Richard Whorf is the earnest aircraft engineer who worries that Massey is sacrificing safety for flashy headlines. Sad to say, but Howard Hughes would have been the first to agree with Massey's position. Headlines did and still do sell military hardware, just a fact of life.
Warner Brothers cheated on the aerial footages, you can plainly see the stuff is pretty routine. Now one thing about Howard Hughes, he certainly did know how to make aerial films exciting.
Fairly clichéd subplot about Bogart reuniting with war time love Eleanor Parker who is now Massey's secretary.
I would recommend it for fans of Bogey and that's about it.
From what was shown in Leonardo DiCaprio's hauntingly accurate portrayal of Hughes, the casting of Raymond Massey in a paper thin version of the flamboyant aviator/businessman is pretty laughable. I'm sure Howard must have seen Chain Lightning and didn't like it a bit.
Jets were certainly a new phenomenon in those years and had the Germans developed them sooner and additionally had invested in aircraft carriers, the course of history would have been markedly and tragically different.
Humphrey Bogart is not bad as the Chuck Yeager like test pilot, in fact Yeager's historic flight breaking the sound barrier is referenced in the plot. Warner Brothers would have been better served with a straightforward biographical film about that flight.
Richard Whorf is the earnest aircraft engineer who worries that Massey is sacrificing safety for flashy headlines. Sad to say, but Howard Hughes would have been the first to agree with Massey's position. Headlines did and still do sell military hardware, just a fact of life.
Warner Brothers cheated on the aerial footages, you can plainly see the stuff is pretty routine. Now one thing about Howard Hughes, he certainly did know how to make aerial films exciting.
Fairly clichéd subplot about Bogart reuniting with war time love Eleanor Parker who is now Massey's secretary.
I would recommend it for fans of Bogey and that's about it.