Don't listen to the negative reviews

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

This is an impressively made movie from 1952 spanning the years between the end of WW2 and the Sputnik era. In some ways, it is a science fiction movie. It has the right spirit for a classic, "real" sci fi novel or movie, as distinguished from almost all of those produced in the last 25+ years, which are primarily filled with irony, self- deprecating humor, pessimism, decadence, and gratuitous violence. Everyone born since, say, 1965, should see this to get the real spirit of science fiction.As others have posted, it really is fiction. The fact that Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947 was kept top-secret for several years. This movie was in the middle of production when the story broke. According to Robert Osborne on TCM, the director and producer considered including a reference to Yeager, but wisely, I think, decided to continue with the original plot and screen play. It is also fictional in the explanation for how to control the plane as it passes Mach 1, but that is a minor point.However, it is also based on fact. The problems and fears about exceeding Mach 1 were very real. Some of the basic characters are clearly modeled on Geoffrey de Havilland, father and son. It would be almost, but not quite, a spoiler to read about them before seeing the movie.The script and acting are excellent. It is very good that they emphasize the tension between the father and daughter. The resolution of that tension is very good indeed.About the only criticism I can make is the choice of the actress to play Susan, the daughter and wife. She seems too old, and in real life, was only seven years younger than her "father." I am very glad that I saw this optimistic, yet realistic, look at the motivation and risks of aeronautic and space exploration, coming from the golden age of British cinema.henry

Although many people will naturally think the claim that Britain broke the sound barrier before the Americans is its most obvious flaw, the really serious mistake in this film is the death of Denholm Elliott as a student pilot whilst making his first solo. The aircraft concerned was a De Havilland Tiger Moth. Not only is this easier to fly than any modern light aircraft, but no student pilot in history - to my knowledge - has ever died on a first solo, and certainly not in a Tiger Moth! No aircraft could possibly be more pleasant to fly, as any ex-Tiger pilot will tell you...If you want proof of this, shortly before he died, I spoke to John Justin, who played the pilot who broke the sound barrier in this film. He told me that he learned to fly in Argentina aged 12. He was taught on a Moth, and his instructor wanted to send him solo. However, the authorities found out he was only 12, and refused permission...I hope readers enjoy this anecdote! Paul Murphy (ex Tiger Moth pilot).

The opening of the film, when a World War II fighter pilot hit what used to be called "compressibility," was a suspenseful interlude for the audience, particularly since it wasn't explained at the time.The film was shot in monochrome, and was produced during a time that technology was accelerating, and this was one of the early films outside some of the science-fiction films of the era that was pro-technology. It is interesting that most of the major characters were obsessed with pushing the envelope.As has been mentioned elsewhere, the "solution" presented to maintaining control of a supersonic aircraft actually is inaccurate. When a reporter asked the person who first actually broke the sound barrier, Gen. Chuck Yaeger, about that "solution," he indicated that doing what was proposed would have ensured the death of the pilot.The film is well worth watching, if for no other reason than to get a taste of people taking baby steps in the new world of postwar technology.

The movie really does capture a sense of time and the tremendous bravery of those involved in the breaking of the sound barrier.The cast is excellent and as usual Denholm Elliot steals every scene he's involved in. I feel this film is under-rated and is typical of much of the good work of British Cinema in the 50's