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1961 film by Reginald Le Borg

The Flight That DisappearedTheatrical release posterDirected byReginald Le
BorgWritten by
Ralph Hart
Judith Hart
Owen Harris
Produced byRobert E. KentStarring
Craig Hill
Paula Raymond
Dayton Lummis
CinematographyGilbert WarrentonEdited byKenneth CraneMusic byRichard
LaSalleProductioncompanyHarvard Film CorporationDistributed byUnited ArtistsRelease
date
September 13, 1961 (1961-09-13)
Running time72 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish
The Flight That Disappeared (a.k.a. Flight That Disappeared) is a 1961 American
science fiction film, produced by Robert E. Kent, directed by Reginald Le Borg,
that stars Craig Hill, Paula Raymond, and Dayton Lummis. The film was released by
United Artists.[1]

The film's storyline deals with an alien abduction. When his flight disappears, a
rocket scientist finds himself on trial in the future for his part in designing a
weapon that has destroyed all life on Earth.
Plot[edit]
Trans-Coast Airways Flight 60 leaves Los Angeles on a flight to Washington, D.C.
Three scientists on board the transcontinental flight have been summoned to a
classified meeting at the Pentagon, concerning the "beta bomb", a new bomb design
and the rocket to deliver it. Mid-flight, the Douglas DC-6 airliner mysteriously
begins to climb, to over 10 miles high. Back at the airline headquarters,
Operations Manager Hank Norton (John Bryant) tries to keep in contact with the
flight, but is sure that nothing can be done to save the passengers and crew.
The engines stop, and passengers pass out due to lack of oxygen. Crazed passenger
Walter Cooper (Harvey Stephens) who has tried to convince others that using the
secret bomb is essential, jumps from the aircraft. Three scientists, Dr. Carl
Morris (Dayton Lummis), Tom Endicott (Craig Hill) and Marcia Paxton (Paula Raymond)
find themselves in a limbo state, watches stopped and no heartbeats.
Meeting the Examiner (Gregory Morton), the trio of scientists leave the aircraft
for judgement from those of the future. They find themselves in a moment between
time, which explains the stopped watches and lack of heartbeats. They are shown, in
brief, a future where their bomb has been used and having destroyed the atmosphere,
has killed off all life on the planet. They are judged guilty and sentenced to live
in the moment with no time for the rest of eternity, where the future and past
meet.
After the Sage (Addison Richards) objects that the scientists from the past cannot
be judged by a future society, they are returned to the present on this
technicality. The passengers have no memory of any of the actions on board before
passing out, with the exception of Endicott, the rocket engineer and Dr. Morris.
Marcia Paxton only thinks that the event was a dream. Walter Cooper reappears, and
the flight crew do not seem to have any recall of the emergency that took place on
the flight.
When Captain Hank Norton (John Bryant) calls for landing instructions, the airline
office is perplexed. When their airliner lands at Washington, the passengers and
crew discover that they are 24 hours late, thus proving Endicott's fantastic story
of the trial and judgement. Dr. Morris, the nuclear bomb designer, disposes of his
notebook containing the formulas and designs for the bomb.

Cast[edit]

Craig Hill as Tom Endicott

Paula Raymond as Marcia Paxton
Dayton Lummis as Dr. Carl Morris
Meg Wyllie as Helen Cooper
Gregory Morton as The Examiner
Harvey Stephens as Walter Cooper
John Bryant as Hank Norton
Nancy Hale as Barbara Nielsen
Addison Richards as The Sage
Brad Trumbull as Jack Peters
Bernadette Hale as Joan Agnew
Roy Engel as Jameson (credited as Roy Engle)

Production[edit]
The inflight scenes of The Flight That Disappeared were photographed in a studio-
made airliner fuselage, passenger section, lounge and cockpit section, while
background scenes were shot at Los Angeles Airport.[2][Note 1] The 2 by 2 seating
is correct, but the single aisle is wider than on the prototype, possibly to
facilitate camera work.

Reception[edit]
TV Guide gave the film 2-out-of-4 stars and wrote that The Flight That Disappeared
becomes "more relevant with time".[3] Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo, in his
critique of this low-budget film, wrote, "The incredible plot makes the film all
but unwatchable",[4] and the poster showing a "jetliner" didn't help matters.

See also[edit]
List of American films of 1961
References[edit]
Notes[edit]

^ The use of stock footage was problematic as the DC-6 airliner, at times, was
shown as a Douglas DC-7, and even a Douglas DC-3.

Citations[edit]

^ "Overview: 'The Flight that Disappeared'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved:

March 21, 2017.

^ Santoir, Christian. "Review: 'The Flight That Disappeared'." Aeromovies.

Retrieved: March 21, 2017.

^ "Review: 'The Flight That Disappeared'." TV Guide. Retrieved: March 21, 2017.

^ Pendo 1985, p. 284.

Bibliography[edit]

Pendo, Stephen. Aviation in the Cinema. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985.
ISBN 0-8-1081-746-2.
Warren, Bill. Keep Watching The Skies, American Science Fiction Movies of the
1950s, Vol II: 1958 - 1962 (covers late 1950s movies not released until the early
1960s). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1986. ISBN 0-89950-032-3.

External links[edit]
The Flight That Disappeared at the TCM Movie Database
The Flight That Disappeared at IMDb
vteFilms produced by Edward Small1910-20s
Who's Your Neighbor? (1917)
The Sporting Lover (1926)
The Cohens and Kellys (1926)
The Gorilla (1927)
McFadden's Flats (1927)
Ladies' Night in a Turkish Bath (1928)
The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris (1928)
My Man (1928)
Companionate Marriage (1928)
Song of Love (1929)
1930s
Clancy in Wall Street (1930)
Igloo (1932)
I Cover the Waterfront (1933)
Palooka (1933)
The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934)
Let 'Em Have It (1935)
Red Salute (1935)
The Melody Lingers On (1935)
The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
The Bride Walks Out (1936)
We Who Are About to Die (1937)
Sea Devils (1937)
New Faces of 1937 (1937)
Super-Sleuth (1937)
The Toast of New York (1937)
The Duke of West Point (1938)
King of the Turf (1939)
The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)
1940s
My Son, My Son! (1940)
The Son of Monte Cristo (1940)
South of Pago Pago (1940)
Kit Carson (1940)
International Lady (1941)
The Corsican Brothers (1941)
A Gentleman After Dark (1942)
Twin Beds (1942)
Miss Annie Rooney (1942)
Friendly Enemies (1942)
Up in Mabel's Room (1944)
Abroad with Two Yanks (1944)
Brewster's Millions (1945)
Getting Gertie's Garter (1945)
Temptation (1946)
The Return of Monte Cristo (1946)
T-Men (1947)
The Black Arrow (1948)
The Fuller Brush Man (1948)
Raw Deal (1948)
Walk a Crooked Mile (1948)
Black Magic (1949)
1950s
Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950)
The Iroquois Trail (1950)
Valentino (1951)
Lorna Doone (1951)
The Texas Rangers (1951)
Indian Uprising (1952)
Scandal Sheet (1952)
The Brigand (1952)
Cripple Creek (1952)
Kansas City Confidential (1952)
The Bandits of Corsica (1953)
Captain John Smith and Pocahontas (1953)
Dragon's Gold (1953)
Gun Belt (1953)
The Neanderthal Man (1953)
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Raiders of the Seven Seas (1953)
Sabre Jet (1953)
The Steel Lady (1953)
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Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl (1954)
Khyber Patrol (1954)
The Lone Gun (1954)
Overland Pacific (1954)
Return to Treasure Island (1954)
Southwest Passage (1954)
Down Three Dark Streets (1954)
New York Confidential (1955)
The Naked Street (1955)
Top Gun (1955)
Comanche (1955)
Gun Brothers (1956)
UFO (1956)
Chicago Confidential (1957)
5 Steps to Danger (1957)
Gun Duel in Durango (1957)
The Iron Sheriff (1957)
Monkey on My Back (1957)
Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)
Hong Kong Confidential (1958)
It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
Toughest Gun in Tombstone (1958)
Witness for the Prosecution (1958)
The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)
Guns, Girls and Gangsters (1959)
Inside the Mafia (1959)
Invisible Invaders (1959)
Pier 5, Havana (1959)
Riot in Juvenile Prison (1959)
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Timbuktu (1959) (had name removed from credits)
Vice Raid (1959)
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Cage of Evil (1960)
A Dog's Best Friend (1960)
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The Music Box Kid (1960)
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The Walking Target (1960)
Boy Who Caught a Crook (1961)
The Cat Burglar (1961)
Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961)
Frontier Uprising (1961)
Five Guns to Tombstone (1961)
The Flight That Disappeared (1961)
The Gambler Wore a Gun (1961)
Gun Fight (1961)
Mary Had a Little... (1961)
Operation Bottleneck (1961)
Police Dog Story (1961)
Secret of Deep Harbor (1961)
The Snake Woman (1961)
Three on a Spree (1961)
When the Clock Strikes (1961)
You Have to Run Fast (1961)
The Greengage Summer (1961)
Beauty and the Beast (1962)
The Clown and the Kid (1962)
Deadly Duo (1962)
Gun Street (1962)
Incident in an Alley (1962)
Jack the Giant Killer (1962)
Saintly Sinners (1962)
Tower of London (1962)
Diary of a Madman (1963)
Twice Told Tales (1963)
I'll Take Sweden (1965)
Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966)
Frankie and Johnny (1966)
The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968)
The File of the Golden Goose (1969)
The Christine Jorgensen Story (1970)

vteFilms directed by Reginald Le Borg

Calling Dr. Death (1943)
San Diego, I Love You (1944)
Weird Woman (1944)
Jungle Woman (1944)
The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
Dead Man's Eyes (1944)
Destiny (1944)
Honeymoon Ahead (1945)
Joe Palooka, Champ (1946)
Little Iodine (1946)
Susie Steps Out (1946)
Fall Guy (1947)
The Adventures of Don Coyote (1947)
Philo Vance's Secret Mission (1947)
Trouble Makers (1948)
Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad (1948)
Joe Palooka in Winner Take All (1948)
Port Said (1948)
Fighting Fools (1949)
Hold That Baby! (1949)
Young Daniel Boone (1950)
Wyoming Mail (1950)
G.I. Jane (1951)
The Flanagan Boy (1953)
The Great Jesse James Raid (1953)
Sins of Jezebel (1953)
The White Orchid (1954)
The Black Sleep (1956)
Voodoo Island (1957)
War Drums (1957)
The Dalton Girls (1957)
The Flight That Disappeared (1961)
Deadly Duo (1962)
Diary of a Madman (1963)
The Eyes of Annie Jones (1964)
So Evil, My Sister (1972)

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Categories: 1961 films1960s American films1960s English-language films1960s science
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