PROFILBARU.COM

Jet Over the Atlantic
Jet Over the Atlantic
	Theatrical poster
Directed by	Byron Haskin
Written by	Irving H. Cooper
Produced by	Benedict Bogeaus
Starring	Guy Madison; Virginia Mayo; George Raft; Ilona Massey
Cinematography	George Stahl
Edited by	Thomas Pratt
Music by	Louis Forbes
Production; companies	Inter-Continent Films, Inc.
Distributed by	Inter Continent Releasing Organization
Release date	November 4, 1959;
Running time	95 minutes
Countries	United States; Mexico
Language	English

Jet Over the Atlantic (also known as High Over the Atlantic) is a 1959 drama film directed by Byron Haskin and stars Guy Madison, Virginia Mayo, George Raft and Ilona Massey. The film's title was misleading as the airliner was a Bristol Britannia turboprop-engined, not "pure" jet-powered aircraft.^{[Note 2]} George Raft's biographer Everett Aaker called Jet Over the Atlantic "a precursor of the disaster genre."^[1]

Plot

Wanted on a charge of murder, Brett Matton, a Korean War U.S. Air Force veteran, has fled the country to Spain, where he has been living for two years and is engaged to wed Jean Gurney, a former showgirl. FBI Agent Stafford arrives in Spain to arrest Brett and extradite him to the United States.

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, landing in Montreal, 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

Guy Madison as Brett Matton, aka Brett Murphy ^{[Note 3]}
Virginia Mayo as Jean Gurney
George Raft as Stafford
Ilona Massey as Mme. Galli-Cazetti
George Macready as Lord Robert Leverett
Anna Lee as Ursula Leverett
Margaret Lindsay as Mrs. Lanyard
Venetia Stevenson as June Elliott
Mary Anderson as Maria
Brett Halsey as Dr. Vanderbird
Argentina Brunetti as Miss Hooten
Frederic Worlock as Rev. Dean Halltree

Production

A Bristol Britannia from Aeronaves de México was featured in *Jet Over the Atlantic*.

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.^[2]

Principal photography on Jet Over the Atlantic took place from April 27 to early June 1959 in Mexico City.^[3]

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.^[4]^[5] The film was also notable for Ilona Massey's return to films after a 10-year absence, and as Guy Madison's last American film.^[6]

Reception

Jet Over the Atlantic was primarily a B film 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 of The New York Times 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"^[7] 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.^[6]

References

Notes

^ The film is also listed as 91 or 92 minutes.
^ An airport announcement in the film refers to the aircraft being a "prop-jet".
^ In reviews, the character's name was also written as "Matoon" or "Mattoon".

Citations

^ Aaker 2013, p. 169.
^ Scheuer, P. K. (Apr 21, 1959). "Grainger, bogeaus start new company". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 167491385.
^ "Original print information: Jet Over the Atlantic." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: October 24, 2014.
^ Aaker 2013, pp. 169–170.
^ Vagg, Stephen (February 9, 2020). "Why Stars Stop Being Stars: George Raft". Filmink.
^ ^a ^b Kingsley, Liz. "Jet Over the Atlantic (1959)." And You Call Yourself a Scientist!, January 10, 2012. Retrieved: October 23, 2014.
^ Crowther, Bosley. "Jet Over the Atlantic; Also on double bill." The New York Times, January 7, 1960.