Zero Hour! (1957)

Directed by Hall Bartlett. Starring Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, Sterling Hayden, Geoffrey Toone, Elroy Hirsch, Peggy King, Jerry Paris, Charles Quinlivan, Patricia Tiernan.

It’s hard to believe that this stiff, straight-faced suspense melodrama could have succeeded on its own terms upon its initial release, but it’s outright impossible to take seriously now thanks to the spoof film Airplane!, which copied dialogue and scenes nearly verbatim when pointing out how overripe (and even ludicrous) the storytelling and characterizations are. Tale of anxious air combat veteran Ted Stryker (Andrews) being called upon to land a commercial airliner after the pilots and several passengers get food poisoning is filled out by unconvincing special effects and episodes of cardboard soap opera. As Stryker’s superior in the war (brought to the air control tower to assist the landing), Hayden intensely sweats and barks with little let-up; Andrews is chiseled out of basalt, and perspires his fair share, too. Inadvertent laughter keeps this one from crashing and burning, but it starts to drag even at under ninety minutes. Based on a Canadian teleplay called Flight into Danger; remade for American television in 1971 as Terror in the Sky.

52/100