Chain Lightning (1950 film)

Chain Lightning
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Stuart Heisler
Written by	Lester Cole (from story "These Many Years") Liam O'Brien (screenplay) and Vincent B. Evans (screenplay)
Produced by	Anthony Veiller
Starring	Humphrey Bogart Eleanor Parker Raymond Massey
Cinematography	Ernest Haller
Edited by	Thomas Reilly
Music by	David Buttolph
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	February 25, 1950 (1950-02-25) (U.S.)[1]
Running time	94 minutes 90 minutes (Germany)
Country	United States
Languages	English Multiple translations
Budget	$1,477,000[2]
Box office	$2,555,000[2]

Chain Lightning is a 1950 American aviation film based on the story "These Many Years" by blacklisted writer Lester Cole (under the pseudonym "J. Redmond Prior"); the screenplay was written by Liam O'Brien and Vincent B. Evans. During World War II, Evans had been the bombardier on the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Memphis Belle.

The film stars Humphrey Bogart as a test pilot along with Eleanor Parker and Raymond Massey. Cole's credit on the film was officially restored by the Writers Guild of America in 1997.^[3]

Created in the postwar era to reflect progress in aviation and aeronautics, the film is a fictional account of an American company that builds high-speed jet aircraft. Chain Lightning was one of Bogart's final Warner Bros. films, ending a 20-year association.

The film was released in multiple versions for 11 different countries; in Germany, it was known as Des Teufels Pilot.

Plot[]

Lt. Colonel Matt Brennan, a bomber pilot discharged from the military, runs a civilian flying school, where he is reunited with an old US Army Air Force buddy, Major Hinkle.

Brennan is offered a job at the Willis Aircraft Company as chief test pilot for an experimental high speed jet fighter known as the JA-3, designed by Carl Troxell, who knows Brennan from the war. A flashback to B-17 missions over Germany reveals Brennan to be a top-notch pilot.

In order to prove the capabilities of the new JA-3, capable of speeds up to 1,400 mph (2,300 km/h), Brennan convinces Willis that a record-breaking flight from Nome, Alaska to Washington D.C. via the North Pole will impress the government. At the same time, Troxell tries to develop a safer version of the revolutionary aircraft JA-4, equipped with an escape pod, but he is killed during a test flight.

The record flight is a success, and Brennan earns $30,000, enough to marry Jo Holloway, his former flame who is now Willis' secretary. Despite his earlier reservations about the need for safety systems and with Troxell's death in mind, Brennan files another JA-4 for government demonstration, using the escape pod to prove that the new aircraft is safe. On landing, he falls into Jo's arms.

Cast[]

Production[]

Production still showing Willis JA-3 miniature

Principal filming took place from April 16, 1949 to July 1949, but final production was held back from release until 1950. In order to realistically depict the flight testing, permission was obtained to film at various Air Force bases, including Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base). Location shooting also occurred at the San Fernando Valley Airport (now Van Nuys Airport).^[4] A realistic full-scale JA-3/JA-4 model created by Paul Mantz, the aerial sequence director,^[4] was built for $15,000. The origins of the film model stemmed from a derelict Bell P-39 Airacobra fuselage that had been reworked by Vince Johnson, an expert "lofter".^[5] The Warner Bros. contract called for completion of a realistic (if futuristic) fighter able to taxi and deploy parachutes. Besides the full-scale model used for most of the ground sequences, a number of scale models were built. A Willis JA-3 fibreglass miniature used in the production, measuring 80 in. long and a wingspan of 59 in., was auctioned in 2009 for $1,300.^[6]

Revisiting his use of the wartime fleet of aircraft that he had obtained for films such as Twelve O'Clock High (1949), Mantz's B-17F, 42–3369, appearing as “Naughty Nellie,” recreated the wartime missions that the central character recalls in a flashback sequence.^[4] Stock footage of bomber missions over Germany includes a brief view of the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket fighter that is the inspiration for the later postwar supersonic fighter that one of the central characters envisions.

Reception[]

The film fared well with the public, as record-breaking aircraft were often in the news. When Chain Lightning premiered at the recently renamed Edwards Air Force Base, where location shooting had taken place, veteran pilots such as Chuck Yeager were able to easily spot the film's artifice, especially in a scene in which the Willis JA-3 is towed down the runway with the tow cable clearly evident.^[5]

Box Office[]

According to Warner Bros. accounts, the film earned $1,665,000 domestically and $890,000 foreign.^[2]

Critical[]

Chain Lightning is considered by some as among Bogart's lesser features, and some have argued that it has the look of a B film.^[7] The main criticism stems from a limited plotline that does not fully allow for the characters' development.^[8] A contemporary review in The New York Times stated that the true star of the film was the technology on display: "Like its title, this vehicle moves with exciting speed when it is airborne, but it slows down to a plodding walk... when it hits the ground."^[7]

With the incorporation of highly advanced technology and equipment including escape pods, braking parachutes, G-suits and mixed jet/rocket power plants, some reviewers considered the film to be of the science-fiction genre.^[7] The film's aviation advisor Paul Mantz envisioned an "aircraft of tomorrow" when designing the centerpiece aircraft models and accurately predicted much of today's modern jet-aircraft technology.^[5]

Home media[]

Chain Lightning was released in VHS format in 1992 by MGM/UA Home Entertainment, though without the corrected writing credit for Lester Cole.^[9] Warner Archives released an official DVD on January 24, 2012 and Blu-ray on June 22, 2021.^[10]

References[]

Notes[]

Bibliography[]

External links[]

• Chain Lightning at the TCM Movie Database
• Chain Lightning at IMDb
• Chain Lightning at AllMovie
• Chain Lightning at the American Film Institute Catalog