Der unbekannte Feind (1952)
21KDer unbekannte Feind: Directed by David Lean. With Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, Nigel Patrick, John Justin. Fictionalized story of British aerospace engineers solving the problem of supersonic flight.
“The opening of the film, when a World War II fighter pilot hit what used to be called u0026quot;compressibility,u0026quot; was a suspenseful interlude for the audience, particularly since it wasnu0026#39;t explained at the time.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film was shot in monochrome, and was produced during a time that technology was accelerating, and this was one of the early films outside some of the science-fiction films of the era that was pro-technology. It is interesting that most of the major characters were obsessed with pushing the envelope.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs has been mentioned elsewhere, the u0026quot;solutionu0026quot; presented to maintaining control of a supersonic aircraft actually is inaccurate. When a reporter asked the person who first actually broke the sound barrier, Gen. Chuck Yaeger, about that u0026quot;solution,u0026quot; he indicated that doing what was proposed would have ensured the death of the pilot.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film is well worth watching, if for no other reason than to get a taste of people taking baby steps in the new world of postwar technology.”
