The British air command in Japan is searching for a missing plane. A man walks in, tells them they're looking in the wrong place, and soon they are looking someplace else entirely. We then flash back and see the man telling an interesting cast (including Michael Redgrave, Sheila Sim, Alexander Knox and a very young Denholm Elliot) about his prophetic dream of their crash... and watch as the unlikely details of that event build up.
One of the things that annoy me about movies in this period is their sloth. Of course, someone who appreciate such things will refer to it as 'a leisurely pace', but to me the time has to be filled up with something cinematically interesting: good performances, or striking visuals. This movie, filmed almost entirely on interior sets including more than half in the narrow confines of an airplane interior. With a lack of unusual things to shoot, and little taste for Dutch angles, the visuals are lacking. Likewise the characters are little more than brief sketches, although Knox is excellent as a man who falls under the sway of superstitious fear as events unfold.
Of course, that slow pace can be used to build up suspense, but that needs to be handled delicately, allowing a certain amount of doubt to linger. There's very little of that here.
One of the things that annoy me about movies in this period is their sloth. Of course, someone who appreciate such things will refer to it as 'a leisurely pace', but to me the time has to be filled up with something cinematically interesting: good performances, or striking visuals. This movie, filmed almost entirely on interior sets including more than half in the narrow confines of an airplane interior. With a lack of unusual things to shoot, and little taste for Dutch angles, the visuals are lacking. Likewise the characters are little more than brief sketches, although Knox is excellent as a man who falls under the sway of superstitious fear as events unfold.
Of course, that slow pace can be used to build up suspense, but that needs to be handled delicately, allowing a certain amount of doubt to linger. There's very little of that here.