Chain Lightning (1950)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

. . . to make way for the new: this is one of the messages of CHAIN LIGHTNING. I've had some connections with military people in my life, and from that I can tell you that this under-appreciated Humphrey Bogart vehicle perfectly captures their spirit (no matter how ridiculous the plotting becomes from time to time). Quibblers may carp that a few of the military details are not perfect, but these are the sort of people who don't care if the Chinese and Russians steal all of our American know-how when our flicks are exported overseas. No, dummy, Hollywood will NEVER share the blueprints for our latest secret weapons with everyone bearing the price of a theater ticket, no matter how much you scream and pull out your hair and stomp your feet and turn blue in the face over so-called "goofs!" The one thing that best exemplifies U.S. military thinking is how neither of the main two pilots gives a second thought to ditching a multi-million dollar jet (they're multi-billion each today, with inflation) to prove a point. Your tax dollars at work, folks!

Admittedly, I'm a technically oriented person by profession but what can you say about a film in which its raison d'etre is an experimental jet aircraft which is portrayed as a caricature rather than an actual airplane capable of flight? Although the mockup is correctly shown with a tailpipe to provide an exit for the jet exhaust, the front of the plane is completely innocent of any air intake that, of course, all jet-powered aircraft must have in order to provide the pressurized air needed to mix with the jet fuel for combustion to take place. It's not located in the nose which is portrayed as needle-like, nor is it located underneath the nose, and certainly not as dual air intakes located on each side of the nose section. Real jet aircraft from the 1950 era mostly had the air intake located directly in the nose giving the front end of the plane a bulbous shape.Note also that the aircraft is capable of flying at an altitude of 90,000 feet, impossible for any jet aircraft of its day, and maybe still impossible, and only achievable at the time by rocket-powered aircraft such as the experimental Bell X series then undergoing tests. Finally, mention is made that this magical plane is capable of airspeeds up to 1,400 mph - clearly another impossible feat at the time.While I always enjoy Bogey and certainly think highly of Eleanor Parker, the technical absurdities, the silly dialogue between pilot and ground during flights, and the false heroics lent a cartoonish quality to the film which took away from my usual enjoyment of Bogart's work.I often think that the producers of films such as these have considerable contempt for the movie-going public when they put out this kind of inaccurate work.

I thought I had seen the worst when watching Errol Flynn in "Escape Me Never" right after "The Adventures of Robin Hood". Apparently it could get worse, I'm almost sorry I didn't see "The Big Sleep" before this, I would have died laughing."Chain Lightning" is another story about test pilots and new air plains, lot of air stunt footage, men talking men talk, sing war songs and the typical boy-loses-girl-boy-gets-girl-back routine.And I really wonder why Boggie made this movie - I thought he was a Hollywood royalty and commended top salary? Surely Lauren Becall's dresses and his cigars don't cost THAT much for him to agree to do this film?!

This was an interesting film, especially to those with a keen interest on the early development of Jet technology. It was predictable, but had its moments. I loved it, but I love ALL things Bogart. Julie Bishop was good as the girl of Bogarts interests and a few tense moments in the air and on the ground hold your interest to the end.