Admittedly, I'm a technically oriented person by profession but what can you say about a film in which its raison d'etre is an experimental jet aircraft which is portrayed as a caricature rather than an actual airplane capable of flight? Although the mockup is correctly shown with a tailpipe to provide an exit for the jet exhaust, the front of the plane is completely innocent of any air intake that, of course, all jet-powered aircraft must have in order to provide the pressurized air needed to mix with the jet fuel for combustion to take place. It's not located in the nose which is portrayed as needle-like, nor is it located underneath the nose, and certainly not as dual air intakes located on each side of the nose section. Real jet aircraft from the 1950 era mostly had the air intake located directly in the nose giving the front end of the plane a bulbous shape.
Note also that the aircraft is capable of flying at an altitude of 90,000 feet, impossible for any jet aircraft of its day, and maybe still impossible, and only achievable at the time by rocket-powered aircraft such as the experimental Bell X series then undergoing tests. Finally, mention is made that this magical plane is capable of airspeeds up to 1,400 mph - clearly another impossible feat at the time.
While I always enjoy Bogey and certainly think highly of Eleanor Parker, the technical absurdities, the silly dialogue between pilot and ground during flights, and the false heroics lent a cartoonish quality to the film which took away from my usual enjoyment of Bogart's work.
I often think that the producers of films such as these have considerable contempt for the movie-going public when they put out this kind of inaccurate work.
Note also that the aircraft is capable of flying at an altitude of 90,000 feet, impossible for any jet aircraft of its day, and maybe still impossible, and only achievable at the time by rocket-powered aircraft such as the experimental Bell X series then undergoing tests. Finally, mention is made that this magical plane is capable of airspeeds up to 1,400 mph - clearly another impossible feat at the time.
While I always enjoy Bogey and certainly think highly of Eleanor Parker, the technical absurdities, the silly dialogue between pilot and ground during flights, and the false heroics lent a cartoonish quality to the film which took away from my usual enjoyment of Bogart's work.
I often think that the producers of films such as these have considerable contempt for the movie-going public when they put out this kind of inaccurate work.