Andy Howlett Ernest Tilley (Attenborough) has discovered the identity of the man who drunkenly killed his baby daughter in a hit-and-run, and armed with a bomb boards the same flight as him. Tilley is deeply depressed and obsessed with killing this man at any cost, even if it means killing his own family and everyone on board. Attenborough plays Tilley very quietly, a man hollowed out by his depression and hatred, not only for the hit-and-run driver, but for the whole world. As the film progresses, it is very easy to feel real sorrow for him. The writer and the director keep the lid firmly on for most of the time, only allowing the anger and fear to burst out in small doses. The other seats on board are occupied by many faces of the time, including Dame Sybil Thorndyke and Harry Secombe, who sit together and do a grand job of lightening the mood with their witty and charming performances. Husband and wife Bernard Braden and Barbara Kelly don't do much and neither does Marty Wilde. Very nice to see Stanley Baker playing against the usual 'thick ear' parts he normally gets, and he turns in a very good part. This film will not appeal to modern audiences who need an explosion or slanging match every five minutes. It's a character study, and a very British one at that. If you like your thrillers with a bit of humanity and depth, I can thoroughly recommend this impressive film. DVD from Simply.

howardmorley "Kidboots" critique above informs us adequately of the basic plot.However I would like to concentrate more on the actors and their performances.This is rather a cloistrophobic production since 95% of the action is filmed at Shepperton studios in a mock-up of the interior of a passenger jet airliner in 1959.It was rather sad to note the passing of so many famous actors among them, Stanley Baker, Hermione Baddeley and Harry Seacombe teamed with Dame Sybil Thorndyke.Regarding the latter, I had only seen her playing the mother of the Rev. Marston in "Gone To Earth" (1949); but here she shows her acting versatility by adopting a rather humorous role, while Harry Seacombe couldn't resist the odd "Goon" like facial gesture.It was surprising to see the obviously suited Canadian married couple of Barbara Kelly (who I had only ever seen in the 1950s TV panel game "What's My Line") and her husband Bernard Braden (tv's "The Braden Beat"), acting together as a divorcing couple.Stanley Baker keeps impeccably calm as the airliner captain and there is a rather touching romance between Virginia Maskell and the American co-pilot.The "Brummy" actor who plays the hit-and run driver played a very similar role in "The Night My Number Came Up" with Sir Michael Redgrave.I had never seen Marty Wilde in a film acting role, of course playing a pop star, and noted he composed the opening popular theme music.With all the actors competing for dialogue, no one should be singled out as that would be unfair since they all give professional performances.The "Brummy" hit-and run driver met an end like Gert Frobe's "Auric Goldfinger".

kidboots As the cast list rolls up in front of a background of clouds, I thought could this be the first All Star Disaster Epic Movie? The action takes place on an airliner bound for New York and the passenger list reads like a who's who of up and coming names - Diane Cilento, Virginia Maskell, Marty Wilde, future TV star Paul Eddington, established stars - Mai Zetterling, Elizabeth Sellers, Megs Jenkins, David Kossoff, Stanley Baker and acting royalty in the form of Dame Sybil Thorndyke. In the 40s and 50s, before he became a "grand" director, Richard Attenborough was one of the best young character actors in Britain. In 1948 he came to notice in 3 outstanding Rank films - "Brighton Rock" (playing a baby faced psychopath), "London Belongs to Me" (a bumbling murderer) and "The Guinea Pig" (a poor school boy who is given a scholarship to an exclusive boy's school). His name in a film cast came to be associated with diverseness and versatility.Among the passengers are the usual suspects, harassed parents, a jet setting pop star, a TV comedian (Harry Secombe), sensible elderly citizen, people with secrets etc. Among the latter is Ernest Tilley (Richard Attenborough) a rather worried looking man, traveling with his caring wife (Mai Zetterling). He is a man on a mission - he has followed a man on board who he believes is responsible for killing his little girl in a hit and run. He is bitter at the world and has had a vendetta against this man for two years. He has bought on board a device that he intends to use to blow up the plane but his ramblings are heard by two other passengers and they alert the Captain.Sharing dramatic kudos with Attenborough is Stanley Baker (who else?) as the caring level headed Captain, who tries to talk some commonsense into Tilley, but to no avail. As the film progresses the passengers get to hear of it and the plane divides into the Sensible and Dignified Verses the Fearful and Excitable (Hermione Baddeley is great as a hysterical passenger). The F and E stage a revolt but the plan goes wrong and the man at the centre of the dispute (the hit and run driver) is sucked out of the plane window. As a last resort, a little boy is sent down to Tilley, to appeal to his deep down kindness of heart. "Jet Storm" is an excellent blend of excitement and intense suspense, the sort of film that Britain did so well.Highly Recommended.

Single-Black-Male Following the success of 'The League of Gentlemen', Dickie Attenborough began mobilising his own films and appeared in other films to raise the money to continue making his own (in the same way that Laurence Olivier was acting in films in order to finance his own stage productions at the National Theatre). This film is one of them.