The Sound Barrier (1952)

The Sound Barrier is a British science-fiction film first released in 1952, directed by David Lean.  The film stars Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, Nigel Patrick, John Justin and Dinah Sheridan.  Our overall rating for this film is: very good.


During WWII, fighter pilot Tony Garthwaite meets and falls in love with Susan, the daughter of the oil magnate John Ridgefield.  After the war, now married to Susan, Tony finds himself employed by Ridgefield as a test pilot for the jet aeroplanes that he is developing at his burgeoning aeronautics factory.  After the death of her brother, who died learning to fly aeroplanes to please his father, Susan is afraid that her husband may go the same way.  Her worries grow when she learns that her father is determined to build an aeroplane that can fly faster than the speed of sound, a feat that some believe to be technically impossible.  Despite the dangers, Tony is as determined to break the sound barrier as his father, although Susan’s worst fears are soon borne out...

One of the least known and most underrated of David Lean’s films, The Sound Barrier offers a fascinating glimpse of Britain in the early 1950s, particularly in regard to the faith that many Britons had in their country’s capability to participate in, if not lead, the technological revolution that was coming.  In the early years of that decade, nothing symbolised modernity more than the jet aeroplane, and over the following two decades, Britain would be at the forefront of aircraft technology, culminating in the development and exploitation of the world’s first commercially operated supersonic aeroplane, Concorde.   The Sound Barrier captures the spirit of the moment and the hope that many felt, not just in Britain’s future, but in what science had to offer the world, bringing a decisive end to a period of gloom and uncertainty that followed the end of the Second World War.  Little wonder that the film was a box office hit in the UK.

Although what the film presents is entirely fictional and highly inaccurate in its technical detail, it succeeds in telling a compelling story which doesn’t shy away from the human cost of research.  The film argues that whilst a few lives may be lost along the way, this is more than outweighed by the knowledge that man gains through his understanding of the natural world, enabling him to achieve a superior quality of life and make further strides in areas of science and technology.  In a sense, this is a propaganda film – militating not for war, but for science, a film that seeks to persuade us of the necessity of scientific research, however risky, if we are to move forward as a species and better equip ourselves for whatever nightmares Nature may have in store for us in the future.

The Sound Barrier may not match up to the artistic and technical excellence of some of David Lean’s previous films, but it is a well-crafted and gripping piece of drama, with excellent performances from Ralph Richardson and Ann Todd, and some stunning photography.  The film’s one moment of genius is sequence in which the demonic sound of a jet aeroplane is played over static shots of the ancient world, a powerful reminder of the way in which our world is changing, bringing advances that only a few decades before would have been unthinkable.  Here is the future, our future – and it is both awesome and wondrous.

© James Travers 2009

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