Review of The Night My Number Came Up

This fantastic almost documentary film of a flight incident with its metaphysical preludes is like a corollary to "The High and the Mighty" of the same year, but this is in black and white and much more to the point. The real argument is about a dream. An officer (Michael Hordern) dreams about an air accident which troubles him, and he commits the mistake of communicating the details of his dream. Eventually, the flight with Michael Redgrave from Hong Kong to Tokyo develops into this nightmare flight with almost every detail corresponding exactly to those of the dream. While above all it's a great air flight thriller, it's also something of an experiment and a thorough speculation in the phenomenon of dreams coming true. The actors are all perfect and natural, and leading actors like Alexander Knox and Denholm Elliott (quite young here) have a very hard time, especially the pilot Nigel Stock, who more than sweats it out. It's a film you wouldn't have missed for your life - if you survive it.