MOOM PITCHER REVIEW! JET OVER THE ATLANTIC (1959)Aw chee Bill, why did you hafta send this 'un? Not that there were a dearth of zilch-grade fifties features you could have sent, but why the worst Sunday afternoon UHF tee-vee timefiller you could find?!?!? JET's what you think it is, one of many airplane flicks where a not-quite-exciting array of central casting types are on an intercontinental flight, only there's some sicko on board just waiting to destroy the plane thus sending all of those character actor types to their next cheapo!
Guy Madison's the escapee from justice who's really innocent (of course!) while George Raft's the FBI agent bent on bringing him back, whereas an aging and not that hotcha anymore Virginia Mayo's the exotic dancer and finacee who buys a ticket last minute because of Madison's abrupt sayonara. There's also the vain opera singer, the prissy old maid, the reverend, some bratty kid and of course the old guy who has a neat trap set in the luggage area which seems to be smoldering and burning for at least half the movie before any real effect takes place. All that's missing is the young kid from Brooklyn with a smile on his lips and a song in his heart who never had a chance in life. Just the kinda people you see on real-life flights, only I'll bet they all smelled better'n the garlic aroma guy you got to sit next to on your last overseas romp.
It's not actually puke-inducing or anything, but JET (which actually takes place on a propeller plane so don't get too worked up aviation freaks!) is one of those by-the-numbers flicks that really doesn't offer much including a neat plot or interesting twists. Mind-numbing gunch that went perfect for your Sunday afternoon nothing-else-to-do pleasure (or at least it was fun watching because you knew they were gonna fill up the hour with a LITTLE RASCALS short!). However, once you get down to it I must say that I prefer the spoof of this genre that appeared in THE RETURN OF A MAD LOOKS AT OLD MOVIES way back when...after all, at least that 'un got all of the obvious fun-poking moments these films exuded (from the originals up through the AIRPORT and AIRPLANE spoofs) down pat, and it only took me a good fifteen minutes to get through the entire thing unlike this dog which dragged on a good hour and a half!
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1 comment:
Chris, to me, the cliches and the by-the-numbers working out of the plot of this film are just what make it interesting. It's essentially a poor man's High And The Mighty (just listen to that hyperactive musical score if you have any doubts about it ripping off HATM). Also, the film was made in Mexico, so the sets have a different look to them than what you'd find in the typical American B-movie (which works well since the film is supposed to be set in Spain). And what a B-movie dream cast we have here----I could watch Guy Madison and George Raft read the phone book, and maybe this would have been more exciting if they had done that. Also, Brett Halsey is usually excellent in anything, but here he's saddled with such a bland character and a weak script that his character is not very interesting. I'd love for this film to be substituted in some multiplex for the new film from Sofia Coppola or some bloated superhero CGI-fest...what I'd give to see the reactions of the audience...
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