If you can put aside all those AIRPLANE! moments based on the clichés found in a series of "Airport" films, you can enjoy some of the standard disaster story ingredients that appear throughout ZERO HOUR!
DANA ANDREWS is an ex-pilot trying to forget the horrors of his WWII flying experience when he was at the controls of a plane crash that killed all of his comrades. His lack of faith in himself as a pilot becomes the struggle he must overcome when the plane he and his wife (LINDA DARNELL) are on, suddenly loses its pilot and co-pilot to food poisoning. At the urging of a doctor aboard the plane, he is forced to take the controls during a bad storm. The suspense, of course, lies in whether or not the landing will be a safe one.
Based on a story by Arthur Hailey, this is by no means anything more than an efficient sky adventure briskly directed and acted competently enough by most of the cast. Linda Darnell has little more to do than look worried when she joins Andrews at the controls, so it's Andrews who has to keep the suspense as taut as possible and the story focused on the plight of the passengers aboard the plane--the usual cardboard cut-outs in supporting roles.
STERLING HAYDEN as the Canadian ground controller who helps the nervous Andrews accomplish his mission does a fine job with his assignment.
What hurts the film now are all the parodies that have spring up over the years, a factor which keeps many fans from enjoying the film on its own merits.
DANA ANDREWS is an ex-pilot trying to forget the horrors of his WWII flying experience when he was at the controls of a plane crash that killed all of his comrades. His lack of faith in himself as a pilot becomes the struggle he must overcome when the plane he and his wife (LINDA DARNELL) are on, suddenly loses its pilot and co-pilot to food poisoning. At the urging of a doctor aboard the plane, he is forced to take the controls during a bad storm. The suspense, of course, lies in whether or not the landing will be a safe one.
Based on a story by Arthur Hailey, this is by no means anything more than an efficient sky adventure briskly directed and acted competently enough by most of the cast. Linda Darnell has little more to do than look worried when she joins Andrews at the controls, so it's Andrews who has to keep the suspense as taut as possible and the story focused on the plight of the passengers aboard the plane--the usual cardboard cut-outs in supporting roles.
STERLING HAYDEN as the Canadian ground controller who helps the nervous Andrews accomplish his mission does a fine job with his assignment.
What hurts the film now are all the parodies that have spring up over the years, a factor which keeps many fans from enjoying the film on its own merits.