''Jet Over the Atlantic'' (also known as ''High Over the Atlantic'') is a 1959

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film directed by

Byron Haskin Byron Conrad Haskin (April 22, 1899 – April 16, 1984) was an American film and television director, special effects creator and cinematographer. He is best known for directing '' The War of the Worlds'' (1953), one of many films where he ...

and stars

Guy Madison Guy Madison (born Robert Ozell Moseley; January 19, 1922 – February 6, 1996) was an American film, television, and radio actor. He is best known for playing Wild Bill Hickok in the Western television series ''The Adventures of Wild Bill Hicko ...

Virginia Mayo Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones; November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Brothers' biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s. ...

, George Raft and

Ilona Massey Ilona Massey (born Ilona Hajmássy, June 16, 1910 – August 20, 1974) was a Hungarian-American film, stage and radio performer. Early life and career She was born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary (now in Hungary). Billed as "the new Die ...

. The film's title was misleading as the airliner was a Bristol Britannia turboprop-engined, not "pure" jet-powered aircraft. George Raft's biographer Everett Aaker called ''Jet Over the Atlantic'' "a precursor of the disaster genre."

Plot

Wanted on a charge of murder, Brett Matton, a

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

veteran, has fled the country to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, where he has been living for two years and is engaged to wed Jean Gurney, a former showgirl.

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

Agent Stafford arrives in Spain to arrest Brett and

extradite Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

him to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. On their commercial flight to New York, the passengers include Jean, who bought a ticket at the last minute, and Lord Leverett, a man deranged by his daughter's death. Leverett brings aboard a chemical poison hidden in his bag. The handcuffed Brett is given a few minutes by Stafford to explain to Jean about his past life. His story is that two men killed a bartender, knocked him out and placed the gun in his hand. Certain he would never get a fair trial, Brett ran away. A minister on board marries Brett to Jean with the agent's permission. Brett steals a pistol from a partner of Stafford's who is asleep. He tells Jean, to avoid going to jail, he intends to hijack the airliner to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, landing in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, at an airport he knows. The poison leaks from Leverett's case, emitting toxic fumes, and causing a fire in the cabin, killing the pilots and navigator. Former combat pilot Brett is asked to fly the aircraft. He must make an emergency landing on water and without a radio, which Leverett has damaged. Brett ends up shooting Leverett, although a grateful Stafford still insists on being given the gun. Brett takes pity on the dying passengers and lands the jet. Authorities on the ground inform Stafford that another man is being charged with the bar murder and Brett will be cleared.

Cast

Production

The film was the first production from Inter-Continent Films and Inter-Continent Releasing, two companies formed by Benedict Bogeaus and James R. Grainger. They announced a series of films, including ''Jet Over the Atlantic'', ''The Gold Bug'', ''Shoot Out!'', ''Early Autumn'' and ''The Glass Wall''. Principal photography on ''Jet Over the Atlantic'' took place from April 27 to early June 1959 in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. ''Jet Over the Atlantic'' marked George Raft's final major appearance in a film. His role was limited and a visibly ill Raft required oxygen on the set.Aaker 2013, pp. 169–170. The film was also notable for

's return to films after a 10-year absence, and as Guy Madison's last American film.Kingsley, Liz
"Jet Over the Atlantic (1959)."
''And You Call Yourself a Scientist!'', January 10, 2012. Retrieved: October 23, 2014.

Reception

''Jet Over the Atlantic'' was primarily a

B film A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

relegated to the bottom half of double bills. With television stars Ilona Massey and Guy Madison in featured roles, the film was one of a cycle of late-1950s films that had the feel of a television episode. Reviewer

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' merely called the film "a melodrama in which George Raft, Guy Madison and Virginia Mayo get caught aloft in a crippled plane... by some miscarriage of justice they all get down alive"Crowther, Bosley
"Jet Over the Atlantic; Also on double bill."
''The New York Times'', January 7, 1960. Later reviews focused on the inadequacies of the script, casting choices and low production values, dismissing the film as woefully inadequate as either a thriller or disaster film.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Aaker, Everett. ''The Films of George Raft''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2013. .

External links

* * * *
Film clips of Aeronaves de México Bristol Britannia from ''Jet Over the Atlantic'', 1959
{{Byron Haskin 1959 films Films directed by Byron Haskin American aviation films American black-and-white films Films shot in Mexico Films set on airplanes Films about aviation accidents or incidents Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Films set in Spain Films about veterans Films set in the Atlantic Ocean Films set in New York City Films shot in Mexico City 1950s English-language films 1950s American films