Cone of Silence (film)

Cone of Silence
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Charles Frend
Produced by	Aubrey Baring
Written by	Robert Westerby David Beaty (novel)
Starring	Michael Craig Peter Cushing Bernard Lee
Music by	Gerard Schürmann
Cinematography	Arthur Grant
Edited by	Max Benedict
Production company	Aubrey Baring Productions Bryanston Films
Distributed by	Universal–International Films
Release dates	10 May 1960 (1960-05-10)
Running time	88 min. Black and white (UK) 76 min. Black and white (US)
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Cone of Silence is a 1960 British drama film directed by Charles Frend and starring Michael Craig, Peter Cushing and Bernard Lee. The film is about the investigation into a series of crashes involving the fictional 'Atlas Aviation Phoenix' jetliner. Cone of Silence is loosely based on the 1952 crash in Rome and investigations into the structural integrity of the de Havilland Comet.^[1] The film was based on David Beaty's novel, Cone of Silence (1959), later renamed Trouble in the Sky, the title of the film as released in the United States.

Plot

Captain George Gort (Bernard Lee) is a pilot for British Empire Airways, flying their route London - Rome - Cairo - Ranjibad - Calcutta - Singapore. He is found to have been at fault after his Phoenix 1 jetliner crashed on takeoff from [fictional] Ranjibad airport, killing his co-pilot. He is accused of rotating too early, increasing drag to such an extent that the aircraft could not achieve flying speed.

Gort is reprimanded and reduced in seniority but is allowed to return to flying the Phoenix after a check flight under Captain Hugh Dallas (Michael Craig). Meanwhile, Gort's daughter Charlotte (Elizabeth Seal) refuses to believe he was at fault. Gort's flying skills are again called into question when a piece of hedge is found wrapped around an undercarriage leg after an unusually low approach to Calcutta. However, it is later discovered that there is no hedge at the threshold of the Calcutta runway, and that the piece of hedge round the undercarriage had actually come from Ranjibad, where the take-off had been flown by Captain Clive Judd (Peter Cushing). This reveals that Gort is not the only pilot to have problems on take-off with the Phoenix.

Gort is later involved in a second crash, this time killing all on board. The crash is remarkably similar to the first: both involve a fully loaded aircraft on a hot night, taking off under Captain Gort from the same runway at Ranjibad airport. Dallas eventually discovers that the aircraft's designer had deliberately withheld information on potential take-off difficulties in hot conditions. A third crash is avoided by seconds when a message from the aircraft designer comes through to a crew about to take off in the same problematic weather conditions, advising them to add eight knots to the calculated unstick speed and keep the nose-wheel on the ground until just before unstick speed is reached. The take off is successful.

Cast

As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):^[2]

The film was loosely based on the de Havilland Comet crashes.

Production

The film was based on David Beaty's novel, Cone of Silence (1959), also known as Trouble in the Sky. Beaty was an ex-military and commercial pilot with BOAC who became an expert on human error in aviation incidents and accidents.^[3] After beginning a writing career with his first novels revolving around aviation themes, Beaty went back to college to get his degree in psychology and became a civil servant in 1967. He wrote his first non-fiction work, The Human Factor in Aircraft Accidents, in 1969, and followed that with other works before he returned to the subject of his first non-fiction book in The Naked Pilot: The Human Factor in Aircraft Accidents (1991). The film Cone of Silence represented his concern that human factors were being ignored in the aviation industry.^[4]

Budgetary restraints led to the production using miniatures to depict airfields and aircraft, although principal photography took place at Filton Airport in North Bristol with the cooperation of the Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd. (BSEL). The majority of the film was shot on the sound stages at Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, United Kingdom.^[5] Captain John C. Crewdson of Film Aviation Services was the technical coordinator for the production.^[6]

Avro Ashton aka "Atlas Aviation Phoenix 1" airliner

Representation of the 'Phoenix' in the film

The 'Phoenix' airliner is represented by the Avro Ashton WB493, in use since 1955 as a testbed by the engine manufacturer Bristol Siddeley (now part of Rolls-Royce plc).^[7] The real aircraft, named the 'Olympus-Ashton', was powered by two Olympus turbojet, podded, underwing engines in addition to four Nenes mounted in the standard wing root location. For its starring role as the 'Phoenix' airliner, the Olympus-Ashton was painted in a special livery to represent the fictional 'Atlas Aviation'. It was the only full-scale aircraft seen in the film.^[8]

Reception

After its premiere in London, reviews of the Cone of Silence were generally positive. Gerard Schurmann's film score was notable "...film music which divorces it from the routine and the prosaic ... the scores are infused with a dynamism, an energy, which is not only compelling but impelling, the music always a cogent force on the soundtrack, driving all before it."^[9] The authoritative Flight magazine concentrated on the aviation elements, stating, "Coming at a time when jet runway lengths, ground stall effects and unstick manual speeds are again under close review, this is a timely and exciting film; no pilot could see it without mentally following through every action of each take-off and landing sequence."^[6]

Other reviews noted, "Somewhat talky with a lot of technical jargon thrown into the screenplay (based on actual events), ... a fairly straightforward drama aided by a top notch cast of familiar Brit character actors."^[10]T.V. Guide, however, was not impressed. "This average drama has simplistic characterizations and poorly written dialogue." ^[11]

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Cone of Silence at the Internet Movie Database
• Cone of Silence at the TCM Movie Database
• Cone of Silence at AllMovie
• Air-Britain Photographic Images: Avro 206 Ashton 3, WB493, Bristol Siddeley Engines