''Wings of Danger'', released in the United States as ''Dead on Course'', is a 1952 British

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

directed by

Terence Fisher Terence Fisher (23 February 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Films. He was the first to bring gothic horror alive in full colour, and the sexual overtones and explicit horror in his films, ...

and starring

Zachary Scott Zachary Scott (February 21, 1914 – October 3, 1965)Obituary '' Variety'', October 6, 1965. was an American actor who was known for his roles as villains and "mystery men". Early life Scott was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Sallie L ...

Robert Beatty Robert Rutherford Beatty (19 October 1909 – 3 March 1992) was a Canadian actor who worked in film, television and radio for most of his career and was especially known in the UK. Early years Beatty was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the son of ...

and Kay Kendall.Erickson, Ha
"Overview: 'Wings of Danger' (1952)."
''AllMovie'', 2019. Retrieved: 13 July 2019. The screenplay concerns a pilot who is suspected of smuggling.

Plot

At Spencer Airlines in England, American pilot Richard "Van" Van Ness (

) tries to stop his friend, Nick Talbot (

), from taking off in a storm. Nick threatens to tell their boss, Boyd Spencer ( Arthur Lane), that Van suffers from blackouts. Next morning, Van's fears come true when debris from Nick's aircraft wash ashore. Van tells Spencer who does not seem to care about Nick dying. Van asks Spencer's girl friend, Alexia LaRoche ( Kay Kendall) to exchange pounds for dollars. The following night, he visits his girl friend, Nick's sister Avril (

Naomi Chance Naomi Chance (born Naomi Freeman, December 1927 – 18 March 2003) was an English film and television actress. Chance was at one time married to the film director Guy Hamilton. She appeared in many television shows, including The Plane Makers, ...

) who is being blackmailed by a man named Snell (

Harold Lang Harold Lang (December 21, 1920 – July 26, 1985) was an American dancer, singer and actor. Life and career Lang began his professional career as a ballet dancer, making his professional debut with the San Francisco Ballet in 1938 and then goi ...

) to keep her father from discovering Nick's post-war black market business. Van forces Snell to confess and learns that a set of tools are to be delivered to Cherbourg for Spencer. Van locates the box of tools in the storage room, however, another man runs from the room and escapes on a motorcycle. Customs officer, Inspector Maxwell (

Colin Tapley Colin Edward Livingstone Tapley (7 May 1909 – 1 December 1995) was a New Zealand actor in both American and British films. Born in New Zealand, he served in the Royal Air Force and an expedition to Antarctica before winning a Paramount Pictur ...

) discovers the tools are made of solid gold. Later, the bellboy is shot driving Van's car to the front door, and Van has Snell arrested. Alexia reveals that Spencer has in his office, a coded notebook with financial information. Van breaks into Spencer's darkened office and finds the notebook, but hears Spencer collapse and sees the man from the storage building rush out to his motorcycle. Van follows but suffers a blackout and crashes his car. The mysterious man rescues him and takes him the cottage that Nick and his girl friend Jeanette (

Diane Cilento Diane Cilento (2 April 1932 – 6 October 2011) was an Australian actress. She is best known for her film roles in '' Tom Jones'' (1963), which earned her an Academy Award nomination, '' Hombre'' (1967) and ''The Wicker Man'' (1973). She also r ...

) share. Nick admits he faked his death because was wanted by the French police and Spencer knew that. Nick also knows Spencer has been making counterfeit dollars from old

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

forging plates. Van and Nick confront Spencer but Nick is shot. Van leaves Nick with Jeanette and Avril and returns with Maxwell. Together they chase Spencer to the airport. He flies away, but his engines fail and he quickly crashes and dies. Nick is also dying but tells Avril that Van is afraid to marry her because of his blackouts. Van tells Avril that he is leaving town for a while to think things over but just as his aircraft is about to take off Avril tells the pilot to leave without him.

Cast

as Richard Van Ness *

as Nick Talbot *

as Avril Talbot * Kay Kendall as Alexia LaRoche *

as Inspector Maxwell * Arthur Lane as Boyd Spencer *

as Snell, the blackmailer *

as Jeannette * Jack Allen as Tniscott * Douglas Muir as Doctor Wilner *

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., an ...

as Talbot *

Larry Taylor Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee L ...

as O'Gorman, henchman *

Darcy Conyers Darcy Conyers (1919–1973) was a British screenwriter, actor, producer and film director. He is sometimes credited as D'Arcy Conyers. He was the founder and creator of Bistro Vino in South Kensington, London, in 1964 - possibly the first casu ...

as Signals Officer *

Sheila Raynor Sheila Raynor (15 March 190617 February 1998) was a British actress. She appeared in Jack Clayton's adaptation of '' Room at the Top''. One of her notable roles was that of Alex's (Malcolm McDowell) mother in ''A Clockwork Orange ''A Clockwork ...

as Nurse *

Nigel Neilson Nigel Fraser Neilson (12 December 1919 – 3 June 2000) was a British television and film actor of the 1940s and 50s. Neilson was born in Aldershot in Hampshire in 1919.Trevor Dudley Smith and Packham Webb. The film was made by

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

and shot at the

Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having closed for redevelopment ...

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...

. Production began in late September 1951 with

location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for ex ...

in Rye,

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

. The aircraft used in ''Wings of Danger'' are: * De Havilland DH.89A Dominie, c/n 6886, G-AGSI * Percival Proctor Mk II, c/n H548, G-AIIL

Reception

In Britain ''Wings of Danger'' was released on a

double bill The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with '' FBI Girl'' (1951), enjoying a certain amount of success at the box office. Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo in ''Aviation in the Cinema'' (1985) compared ''Wings of Danger'' to the "dull" '' Arctic Flight'' (1952), stating, that ''Arctic Flight'' "... was still better than 'Wings of Danger', a British film with Zachary Scott as an airline pilot mixed up in a smuggling web or counterfeiting ring, depending on how one interprets the vague plot."Pendo 1985, p. 26.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. .

External links

* * {{Terence Fisher 1952 films 1952 crime drama films 1950s crime thriller films British aviation films British crime drama films British crime thriller films Films directed by Terence Fisher Films scored by Malcolm Arnold Films based on British novels British black-and-white films Films set in England Films shot in East Sussex Films shot at Riverside Studios Hammer Film Productions films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films