No Highway in the Sky

In this unusual and engaging 1951 drama, James Stewart stars as Theodore Honey, an American engineer working in a British aviation firm. Honey, an eccentric genius who has disconnected himself emotionally from the world since the death of his wife, is currently conducting a stress test on the tail section of the company's latest plane, which he believes will fail after 1,440 hours in flight, but sees no urgency in completing the test despite the number of planes in the air approaching that limit. On a flight to Newfoundland to examine a crash site, he discovers that he is on one such plane and it is no longer simply an intellectual exercise. After failing to convince the pilot to turn back, Honey explains his hypothesis to a kindly young and sympathetic stewardess (Glynis Johns) and a famous Hollywood actress in First Class (Marlene Dietrich, playing off her own image), who are convinced by his assurance if not his science. Based on Nevil Shute's 1948 novel No Highway, this is a cool, dispassionate mix of disaster film and engineering drama, with Stewart in fine form as a somewhat absent-minded professor who is determined to save the lives of his fellow passengers. Directed by Henry Koster and costarring Jack Hawkins, this minor but interesting film will likely appeal to fans of Stewart and intelligent Hollywood dramas. Bowing on Blu-ray with an audio commentary by film historian Jeremy Arnold and Henry Koster's son Bob Koster, this is a strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)