{"id":39289,"date":"2017-09-16T15:15:09","date_gmt":"2017-09-16T22:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=39289"},"modified":"2024-02-10T01:37:09","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T08:37:09","slug":"breaking-the-sound-barrier-the-1952","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=39289","title":{"rendered":"Breaking the Sound Barrier (1952)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;It was almost as if I&#8217;d suddenly run into a solid sheet of water.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-39295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Poster-768x1154.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Poster-682x1024.jpg 682w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Poster.jpg 1995w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn RAF pilot (Nigel Patrick) marries the daughter (Ann Todd) of an airplane manufacturing magnate (Ralph Richardson) who is determined to send a test pilot through the sound barrier.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Airplanes and Pilots<\/li>\n<li>David Lean Films<\/li>\n<li>Denholm Elliott Films<\/li>\n<li>Ralph Richardson Films<\/li>\n<li>Science Fiction Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nInspired by the life of British aviation pioneer <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Geoffrey_de_Havilland\">Geoffrey de Havilland<\/a>, this David Lean flick is an interesting mix of revisionist history and science fiction. By claiming victory over one of the most profound challenges of aeroscience (<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Speed_of_sound\">flying faster than &#8220;Mach 1&#8221;<\/a>), <em>Breaking the Sound Barrier<\/em> plants a false narrative of how this endeavor was achieved; those wanting a more authentic history must watch <em>The Right Stuff<\/em> (1983) about <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chuck_Yeager\">Chuck Yeager<\/a>. With that enormous caveat in mind, this film succeeds in showing how a &#8220;stiff upper lip&#8221; is apparently an endemic British cultural trait, and how the desire to advance scientific knowledge sometimes trumps common sense and one&#8217;s personal survival-instinct. Less compelling is the overall storyline about a tough-as-nails magnate (Richardson) who seems willing to risk the happiness of both his son (Denholm Elliott) and daughter (Ann Todd) for the sake of his empire (and knowledge); if this were based on a true story, it would be easier to accept the conveniently plotted twists and turns &#8212; but, it&#8217;s not. The direction and cinematography are excellent, though. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Many expertly filmed dramatic moments<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Pilot.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Pilot.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-39291\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Pilot.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Pilot-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Pilot-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Drama.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Drama.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-39294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Drama.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Drama-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Drama-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Jack Hildyard&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Cinematography1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Cinematography1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-39292\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Cinematography1.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Cinematography1-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Cinematography1-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-39293\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Cinematography2.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Cinematography2-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Breaking-Sound-Barrier-Cinematography2-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo. Listed as a film with Historical Importance in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0044446\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1952\/11\/07\/archives\/the-screen-a-quality-british-import-breaking-through-the-sound.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=10839&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2753war.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/moria.co.nz\/sciencefiction\/sound-barrier-1952-breaking-the-sound-barrier.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;It was almost as if I&#8217;d suddenly run into a solid sheet of water.&#8221; Synopsis: An RAF pilot (Nigel Patrick) marries the daughter (Ann Todd) of an airplane manufacturing magnate (Ralph Richardson) who is determined to send a test pilot through the sound barrier. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Airplanes and Pilots David Lean Films Denholm Elliott Films Ralph Richardson Films Science Fiction Films Review: Inspired by the life of British aviation pioneer Geoffrey de Havilland, this David Lean flick&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=39289\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39289"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95484,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39289\/revisions\/95484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}