Out Of The Clouds — Out Of The Clouds(Blu Ray)
Out Of The Clouds is a drama played out over a twenty-four-hour period in London Airport, which changed its name to Heathrow in 1966. The mid-50s British film is both a charming and rather fascinating affair, as it weaves together several( largely) engaging character stories and gives us a look at the early days of UK jet travel. Here from Powerhouse, only in the US, is a Blu-ray release of the film, taking in two cuts of the picture, and a selection of new & archive extras.
Out of the Clouds is an Ealing Studio production from 1955. It was filmed between Heathrow, Hounslow, London, and Earling Studios- with stock footage of London, Caro & Rome, which is (largely) utilised well/believable enough in the film's make-up.
The film was directed by West Cliff Sea-born Basil Dearden. Between the 1940s and mid-1970s, he had an impressive forty feature credits to his name. These went from Will Hay starting comedy Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942), onto horse racing drama The Rainbow Jacket (1954). Though to space race romance comedy Man In The Moon (1960), comedy action film The Assassination Bureau (1969), regarding a female journalist putting a spanner into the work of a group of hitmen. And the excellent psychological thriller/ mystery, The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970), which saw Roger Moore giving one of the key performances of his career.
Out of the Clouds has a large cast of nearly sixty actors- the focus is, I guess, 60% on the crew/pilots, and 40% on the passengers. The main story lines take in Chief Duty Officer Nick Millbourne( Robert Beatty), who is keen to get back up in the skies. Passengers Bill Steiner( David Knight) and Leah Rosch( Margo Lorenz) cross paths on opposite journeys- when their flights are grounded due to heavy fog, romance starts to blossom. Cocky Pilot Gus Randall (Anthony Steel) gets involved with a love triangle & a smuggling ring. And many hours in the sky, pilot Captain Brent(James Robertson Justice) is unsure that the plane he’s been given to fly is up to the job.
Aside from Mr Justice, there are a few other familiar faces to fans of British film, like Esma Cannon( more than a few Carry Ons) as a bumbling, highly strung woman. And blink & you’ll miss it, Sid James as a passenger.
The drama is woven through the backdrop of the airport, moving from the bustling concourse, onto the café & bar. Though to the control and back rooms. We also seemingly see flights landing in Caro and Rome- but as mentioned earlier, in reality, this was done with a mix of stock footage & sets at Earling Studios. Oh, and we also get a mocked-up trip into London- stopping at an East End pub, and a nighttime cab tour of the city itself.
There is no doubt that there are a lot of plot lines/characters crammed into the films around an hour and a half runtime. But for the most part, you can follow who's/ who and their stories. All in all, I found the film an engaging, if of its time drama, with some wonderful insights into the early days of jet travel.
This recent region A Blu-ray release takes in two presentations of the film: the original UK theatrical version (89 mins); and the shorter US theatrical cut (80 mins). I watched the longer cut, and its HD print has a nice bold & bright scan, with some great colourings.
On the extras side, we get a good selection of new and archive material. On the new side, we get the following: Making Connections (10.07): an interview with director and screenwriter James Dearden, who is the son of the film's director, Basil and his mother, Melissa Stribling, played one of the supporting roles in the picture. He talks about how his mother got the role, discussing the film's themes and its intertwining stories. We find out the film didn’t do too well in cinemas, as audiences were unsure what they were getting. So Divinely Bossy( 41.32) finds the always excellent film historian Jonathan Rigby discussing the film career/ life of actor James Robertson Justice, who managed to play both comedy & straight equally well. He starts by discussing the actor's most notable/ known role, as Sir Lancelot Spratt in the Doctor’s comedy film series. Moving on to talk about his varied pre-actor career, before discussing his filmography ( including the film to hand) with great clips/ comments on each of his notable films. This is an excellent, well-researched, and charming look at this instantly recognisable English character actor.
On the archive side, we have: A 1988 BEHP Interview with actor Robert Beatty ( 89.00), and Waverley Steps ( 31.12): a 1948 classic ‘city symphony’ portrait of Edinburgh, directed by Out of the Clouds screenwriter John Eldridge. Image galleries: promotional and publicity material, and dialogue continuity script.
The finished release comes with a forty-page booklet with a new essay by Robert Murphy, archival profiles of Eunice Gayson, Margo Lorenz, and James Robertson Justice, extracts from the film’s pressbook, Patrick Russell on Waverley Steps, and full film credits.
Out Of The Clouds is a charming & entertaining 1950s drama- weaving its storylines well around its airport setting. This new Powerhouse release features a bold and bright scan, with an interesting/ decent selection of new & archive extras.