Chain Lightning (1949)
(Released: January 24, 2012 by The Warner Archive Collection)
Another looong DVD Review by Joe Torcivia
Summary: Brash test pilot flies experimental jet for post-war aircraft manufacturer… Meets a dying alien crash victim… Becomes Green Lantern!
Oh, wait… That’s Hal
Our story is about retired Air Force Lt. Col. Matt Brennan (Humphrey Bogart)!
Well, it’s KINDA the same… except for that “Green Lantern part”.
“How do ya want it, Willis? The EASY WAY, or the HARD WAY?”
“I don’t want any more TESTS! …Understand, Brennan? No more TESTS!”
“Okay, Willis… the HARD WAY!”
…As if we’d expect anything less from Bogie!
In a flashback to World War II, Bogart’s Brennan is introduced to “Carl Troxell” (Michael Whorf) one of the primary designers of the B-17 aircraft. Having risked his life and those of his fellow airmen in B-17s, Brennan is more than pleased to show Mr. Troxell the faults and shortcomings of his creation, off the proving grounds and under actual combat conditions. Needless to say, the two become “grudge rivals” for life.
There’s also Eleanor Parker as “Joan Holloway” (No, not the bombshell redhead from TV’s MAD MEN pictured below!), better known as “Jo” – attached to the Air Force, and the girl Brennan leaves behind in
After kicking around the States in the immediate post-war years, Brennan is asked to join the “Willis Aircraft Corporation” – a manufacturing firm headed by bombastic “Leland Willis” (Raymond Massey) – whose secretary just happens to be “Jo”.
As if to support some cosmic “Small World Theory”, Willis’ chief designer is also Brennan’s old pal Carl Troxell – who has pulled stings to recruit Brennan – because he’s the only one good enough to test Willis and Troxell’s new experimental jet: The “JA-3”. Brennan will either make it work, or die in the attempt… a seeming “win/win” for Troxell – as he, Brennan, and Jo form the film’s expected romantic triangle.
To this end, rivals Brennan and Troxell even show up at Joan’s house at the SAME TIME, as if they were Popeye and Bluto courting Olive Oyl!
GREAT LINE: Brennan to Troxell (upon discovering each other): “Well, do we leave together – or do we try to OUTSIT each other?”
Troxell’s “JA-3” comes up short in testing, causing Brennan to crash-land, so he begins work on a new and improved “JA-4” complete with a power-boosted ejection system.
However, just as in WW II, Brennan sees the flaws in Troxell’s designs. He goes to directly to Willis with improvements of HIS OWN – engine modifications, wings filled with fuel for longer range, a pressurized suit for high altitude and extreme speeds, and other ideas to make the “JA-3” work.
Troxell gets wind of this, pushes his “JA-4” into production at a breakneck pace, and will be making a competing flight of his own – leaving poor Joan, once again caught in the middle of the rivalry.
Who wins? Who loses? Who lives? Who dies? Who gets the girl? …And, does anyone become Green Lantern during their test flight?
Ya ain’t gonna find out from me! We try to be Spoiler-Free at TIAH Blog! You’ll have to see this forgotten Bogart classic on your own.
What I WILL say is that, for 1949, the special effects are quite good! Expert model-work of experimental jets, used in conjunction with actual aircraft footage, nicely creates the illusion of vehicles soaring at dizzying air speeds! Indeed, one rarely thinks of Golden Age Warner Bros. films and special effects – but they certainly come together here. Particularly effective is the opening shot of a Willis-made jet flying through a formidable thunder and lightning storm, as the title sequence rolls. |
| Yeah, it's the SAME PLANE as above! No Thunder. No Lightning. |
Supplementing the visual effects are some rather familiar SOUND EFFECTS to fans of Warner’s Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons!
Throughout this film you can hear “jetting” sounds that would soon be used for the Road Runner (The first entry in that series, “Fast and Furry-ous” would also debut in 1949), the unforgettable “bomber power dive” taken by Bugs Bunny and a wily Gremlin in the cartoon “Falling Hare” (1943), accelerations and decelerations later repurposed for flying saucers in such Bugs Bunny and Marvin Martian outings as “Hasty Hare” (1952) – and, most noticeable of all, the “accelerated spinning” sound later made famous by the Tasmanian Devil! Look (actually, listen) for that at about 01:28:40.
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| ...Do me hear Bogie's plane? |
On that topic, Looney Tunes’ film editor Treg Brown clearly raided Warner Bros. movies for many of the sound effects heard in the cartoons… cannons firing, gunshots, gates crashing down, arrows flying, etc. The more old Warner films I watch, from this perspective, the more I notice that.
Familiar Warner Bros. MUSIC also pervades “Chain Lightning”, such as rousing performances of “
Finally, the great movie and entertainment site and invaluable resource, IMDB lists “Chain Lightning” as a 1950 film – but its actual on-screen credits say 1949. (Or MCMXLIX) So, I’m stickin’ with that!
“Chain Lightning” is a release of “The Warner Archive Collection”. Please GO HERE to read more about this relatively new enterprise from Warner Home Entertainment.
As is our custom in these reviews, we’ll break it into CONS and PROS.
The CONS.
It's Warner Archives: That means virtually nothing in the way of Extra Features. No commentary track, subtitles, logical chapter skips -- or even MENUS specifically designed for this movie. No background or "Making Of" featurette. No “Warner Night at the Movies” that I’ve loved so much in other packages! And, there is a needlessly limited choice of devices on which to play it (no computers), vs. standard DVD.
The CONS.
It's Warner Archives: That means virtually nothing in the way of Extra Features. No commentary track, subtitles, logical chapter skips -- or even MENUS specifically designed for this movie. No background or "Making Of" featurette. No “Warner Night at the Movies” that I’ve loved so much in other packages! And, there is a needlessly limited choice of devices on which to play it (no computers), vs. standard DVD.
Picture and Sound Quality: Warner Archives releases have, for the most part, received exceptional treatment when it comes to remastering. Often, to a degree well beyond what might be expected for films of their age and relative obscurity.
In the case of “Chain Lightning”, alas, there are occasional (but decidedly recurring) flaws and visual imperfections manifesting themselves primarily on the right side of the screen. This is all the more odd, because “Chain Lightning” was produced in 1949, while considerably older WAC films have looked better. The SOUND is also somewhat low, requiring me to push my TV’s volume up to max.
Chapter Skips: Though mentioned above, “Chapter Skips” gets a special mention in our CONS section for “Chain Lightning” because the situation has actually REGRESSED from prior WAC releases. The earliest WAC DVDs came with fixed 10-minute interval Chapter Skips – regardless of where that put viewers logically within the film. A later wave of WAC releases seemed to correct this situation, offering Chapter Skips that worked more logically with the film – as in the Bogart film “The Two Mrs. Carrolls” (1947).
But, Warner Archives now returns us to the “10-minute intervals”, with both “Chain Lightning” and in the simultaneous release of Bogart’s 1945 “Conflict”, and that is an unfortunate step backward for WAC – and a CON for this review.
But, all is not lost...
Oddly, the Pat O'Brien / Bogart film "The Great O'Malley" (subsequently released August 28, 2012) corrects and restores the more scene-logical chapter skips. Go fig!
Menu: (Singular): The Main (and only) Menu also takes a step back for this series of releases. (James Cagney’s 1932 film “Taxi” and the 1945 Bogart film “Conflict”, released by WAC on the same day, also exhibit the same regression in menu design. So this can be considered a backward trend). Recent WAC menus offered a nice departure from the original standard, stark dark blue Warner Archives menu.
To the left, there was an attractive photo of “The Warner Bros. Theatre” (Was there actually such a thing?), with the marquee reading: “Now Playing: [Insert Name of Film Here], and a large image of the DVD box cover is pictured on the right of the menu.
Now, it’s just an image of an indistinct brick building at left, the iconic Warner Water Tower at right, with a medium blue sky backdrop. There is NO picture of the DVD box cover – or ANY mention of the particular film you have purchased! Only the options to “Play Trailer” and “Play Movie” are offered on this single generic menu.
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| The Old Blue Menu! |
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| The NEWER, "WB Theatre" Menu! |
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| Let's hear it for "The Great O'Malley"! |
It must be noted that both “Chapter Skips” and “Menu” had become “PROS” in the last wave of WAC releases. Both regressed into “CONS” for this series of releases -- but both have ADVANCED back to "PROS" in following releases. I'm almost ready to stop keeping score.
The PROS:
It's Warner Archives: That means we get a film that would probably not garner sufficient support for a general release. Given a choice between “Chain Lightning”, as a Warner Archive Collection release, or no release at all, I’ll gladly take a WAC version.
Robo-Promos: The usual “Warner Archive Collection” Robo-Promo, standard on earlier releases, appears to have been eliminated.
Warnings: The overabundance of Warnings, present on standard Warner commercial releases, in more languages than most consumers could EVER comprehend, has not manifested itself on Warner Archive Collection product.
The Extra Feature (Singular): Theatrical Trailer for “Chain Lightning”: (02:30)
…How I wish I could have written some of these! Cue the Large On-Screen Text:
“For the thrill of a lifetime, he gambled with destiny!
“For the thrill of a moment, he gambled with a woman’s love!”
CLIP OF BOGIE (in an embrace with Eleanor Parker): “There I was, up sixty-thousand feet…It was the quickest way to get down to you!”
Text continues:
“It’s that famous Bogart brand of rousing romance…
“…Plus that famous Bogart brand of pulse-pounding action!
“…Brought to the screen by Warner Bros., in an ELECTRIFYING BOLT of entertainment… CHAIN LIGHTNING!” (Thunderclap sounds!)
More Text: “Co-starring Eleanor Parker as the redhead in his colorful life…
“The lightning paced story of a guy who made ADVENTURE his career… and WOMEN his hobby
[JOE’S NOTE: Damn! Why did *I* have to choose COMIC BOOKS as a hobby!]
[JOE’S NOTE: Damn! Why did *I* have to choose COMIC BOOKS as a hobby!]
“It’s Humphrey Bogart as you DESIRE HIM…
[JOE’S NOTE: Now, let’s not get carried away, folks! Sure, I LIKE the guy, but…]
[JOE’S NOTE: Now, let’s not get carried away, folks! Sure, I LIKE the guy, but…]
“Topping the unforgettable thrills of CASABLANCA LARGO
[JOE’S NOTE: Again, let’s not get carried away!]
“…CHAIN LIGHTNING!”
The Film: For a film about a test pilot that does not become Green Lantern, this is pretty cool! Then again, what Bogart film isn’t! He’s almost a “superhero” in his own right. It’s only fitting that one of the greatest film stars of the WW II era brings us OUT of that period and into a new day -- tapping into the postwar world’s fascination with jet aviation.
The Cast:
· Humphrey Bogart as “Matt Brennan”.
· Eleanor Parker as “Joan (Jo) Holloway”.
· Richard Whorf as “Carl Troxell”.
· Raymond Massey as “Leland Willis”.
Also, among the cast is ‘50s Sci-Fi film player Morris Ankrum (“Earth vs. the Flying Saucers”, “The Giant Claw”, “Kronos”, “Rocketship X-M”, and more), who was also a semi-regular as a courtroom judge on PERRY MASON, as a Willis Aircraft engineer – and Irwin Allen TV Sci-Fi frequent guest star John Crawford (“Dr. Chronos” on LOST IN SPACE, etc.), uncredited as a “radio operator”. Look for Crawford at 01:09:50.
Overall:
The package says: “There’s a new Bogart thrill in the sky!” And, they were right!
Taking into account the (by now) expected shortcomings of a Warner Archive product, as opposed to a “standard” Warner Home Video release, “Chain Lightning” still comes across as a very worthwhile package.
Its running time of 01:34:41 is more reflective of 1949 production standards, than the shorter films of the ‘30s and earlier ‘40s – and the special effects are better than you’d expect from a film of that vintage.
As I’ve hinted at throughout the review, there is an added dimension for comic book fans… echoes of the origin of the Silver Age Green Lantern.
Considering there was only about a decade or less separating “Chain Lightning” and the saga of comic-book test pilot Hal Jordan, it is easy to speculate that this film might have been an influence on DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz, writer John Broome, and artist Gil Kane toward their efforts to bring Green Lantern into the post-war, Jet Age.
The very CADENCE of key character names and places in both film and comic book indicates something more than coincidental. Speak them aloud, and see for yourself…
Matt Brennan – Hal Jordan
Seems to me, we’ve got something just different enough to avoid any sniffs of plagiarizing, to serve as the basis for one of comicdom’s all-time greatest series.
And, just as the work of Disney comic legends Carl Barks and Floyd Gottfredson were influenced by the cinema of their day… is the possibly similar influence of “Chain Lightning” on the talents of early Silver Age DC Comics THAT much out of the question. …I leave it to you, folks!
“Chain Lightning” is recommended for fans of Humphrey Bogart, the excitement of post-war America and the resulting “Jet Age”, Golden Age Warner Bros. filmmaking, and even (a not-so-strenuous stretch into) Silver Age comic books!
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| Did someone say STRETCH? |
