''Zero Hour!'' is a 1957 drama film directed by Hall Bartlett from a screenplay by Bartlett, Arthur Hailey, and John Champion. It stars

Dana Andrews Carver Dana Andrews (January 1, 1909 – December 17, 1992) was an American film actor who became a major star in what is now known as film noir. A leading man during the 1940s, he continued acting in less prestigious roles and character parts ...

Linda Darnell Linda Darnell (born Monetta Eloyse Darnell; October 16, 1923 – April 10, 1965) was an American actress. Darnell progressed from modeling as a child to acting in theater and film. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in ...

, and

Sterling Hayden Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor and decorated Marine Corps officer and an Office of Strategic Services' agent during World War II. A leading man for mos ...

and features

Peggy King Peggy King (born February 16, 1930) is a jazz vocalist and television personality. She was a member of big bands led by Charlie Spivak, Ralph Flanagan, and Ray Anthony. Career "Pretty Perky Peggy King", as she was called, appeared on ''The Geo ...

, Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch,

Geoffrey Toone Geoffrey Toone (15 November 1910 – 1 June 2005) was an English character actor and former matinee idol, born in Ireland. Most of his film roles after the 1930s were in supporting parts, usually as authority figures, though he did play the lead ...

, and

Jerry Paris William Gerald Paris (July 25, 1925 – March 31, 1986) was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next-door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', and for directing the majo ...

in supporting roles. It was released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. ''Zero Hour!'' was a remake of the Canadian television play ''

Flight into Danger ''Flight into Danger'' is a 1956 Canadian live television play starring James Doohan, Corinne Conley and Cec Linder. It was written by Arthur Hailey, produced and screened by CBC Television, and broadcast on April 3, 1956, on the ''General Motor ...

'', and was in turn used as the basis for the parody film ''

Airplane! ''Airplane!'' (alternatively titled ''Flying High!'') is a 1980 American parody film written and directed by the brothers David Zucker, David and Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams in their directorial debuts, and produced by Jon Davison (film prod ...

Plot

During the closing days of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, six members of the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

fighter squadron led by pilot Ted Stryker are killed because of a command decision he made. Years later, in civilian life in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Manitoba, a guilt-stricken Stryker goes through many jobs, and his marriage is in trouble. Stryker finds a note at home: his wife Ellen has taken their young son Joey and is leaving him, flying to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. He rushes to

Winnipeg Airport Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (commonly known as Winnipeg International Airport or Winnipeg Airport) is a Transport Canada designated international airport located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the seventh b ...

to board the same flight, Cross-Canada Air Lines Flight 714. He asks his wife for one last chance, but Ellen says that she can no longer love a man she does not respect. Stewardess Janet Turner begins the meal service, offering meat or fish as the choices. When a number of passengers and the co-pilot begin feeling sick, a doctor aboard determines that the fish is the cause. The pilot also become seriously ill and cannot fly the airplane. Before he passes out, he turns on the

autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator' ...

. The stewardess determines that Stryker is the only passenger with flying experience, but he has not flown in 10 years and has never piloted an aircraft of this size. Owing to dense fog, Flight 714 cannot land at

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

and any other airport east of the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part ...

, but must continue on to Vancouver. Stryker's superior in the war, the tough-minded Captain Treleaven, is summoned to

Vancouver Airport Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is located from Downtown Vancouver. It is the second busiest ...

. Treleaven blames Stryker for the wartime deaths and has no faith in him. However, he has no choice but to work with him, getting him familiarized with the airplane and teaching him how to land. Ellen joins her husband in the cockpit to handle the radio. As they approach Vancouver, it is shrouded in fog. Treleaven orders him to circle, for hours if necessary, in the hope that it will lift, but Stryker decides to try to land immediately because passengers will die if they do not get medical treatment soon. Stryker makes a rough landing, but none of the passengers are injured. He has conquered his demons and regained the respect of both Ellen and Captain Treleaven.

Cast

as Squadron Leader Ted Stryker *

as Ellen Stryker *

as Captain Martin Treleaven *

Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch Elroy Leon "Crazylegs" Hirsch (June 17, 1923 – January 28, 2004) was an American professional football player, sport executive and actor. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1 ...

as Captain Bill Wilson, Pilot *

as Dr. Baird *

as Tony Decker *

as Stewardess Janet Turner *

Charles Quinlivan Charles Quinlivan (1924–1974) was a film and television actor in the United States in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, best known as the star of the western movie ''Seven Guns to Mesa'', and of the short-lived 1960 TV series ''Mr. Garlund''. Perso ...

as Harry Burdick

Production

Writing

''Zero Hour!'' was an adaptation of Hailey's original 1956

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or an ...

,'' starring

James Doohan James Montgomery Doohan (; March 3, 1920 – July 20, 2005) was a Canadian actor, author and soldier, best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series '' Star Trek''. Doohan's characterization of the Scottis ...

as George Spencer, the original name for the Stryker character. Hailey also co-wrote a novel with John Castle based on the same plot titled ''Flight Into Danger: Runway Zero-Eight'' (1958).

Filming

Principal photography took place from May 8–28, 1957, with retakes on July 23–24, 1957. The primary filming location was

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

. Nightclub and television performer

made her feature film debut in ''Zero Hour!'', recording the song "Zero Hour" for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

to coincide with the film's release. John Ashley has a small role appearing on television as a pop star, although the vocals were provided by Duke Mitchell.

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reviewer

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

called ''Zero Hour!'' an "exciting contemplation of a frightening adventure in the skies" based on a "good terse script ... Dana Andrews as the hero and Sterling Hayden as the captain are first-rate in these roles, keeping them hard and unrelenting." ''Time'' magazine, however, called the script a "bloopy inflation of a 1956 television show" and said its "moral struggle comes off fairly well, but the general situation is as patently contrived as one of

Walter Mitty Walter Jackson Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's first short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", first published in ''The New Yorker'' on March 18, 1939, and in book form in '' My World—and Welcome to It'' in 1942. Thurber ...

's daydreams." In 1971, the film was remade as a

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

movie, ''

Terror in the Sky ''Terror in the Sky'' is a 1971 television film remake of 1957's ''Zero Hour!'', which itself was based on the 1956 television play ''Flight into Danger''. Arthur Hailey recycled the premise in his book ''Runway Zero-Eight'' which was co-written ...

'', a

Movie of the Week A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

special with

Doug McClure Douglas Osborne McClure (May 11, 1935February 5, 1995) was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s. He is best known for his role as the cowboy Trampas during the entire run from 1962 to 1971 o ...

in the Ted Stryker role (renamed George Spencer, as in the original).Pendo 1985, p. 282. ''Zero Hour!'' was also used as the basis for the parody film ''

'' (1980). Because ''Zero Hour!'' was owned at the time by

, the makers of ''Airplane!'', also a Paramount feature, were able to use the screenplay almost verbatim, including the hero again being named Ted Striker.Tyner, Adam
"Airplane! (Blu-ray)."
''DVD Talk'', September 25, 2011. Retrieved: October 20, 2014. Screenplay writer Hailey went on to write the popular 1968 novel ''

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

'', which revisited the air disaster genre and led to a

film franchise A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

that was also spoofed by ''

'' and its own sequel.

References

Notes Citations Bibliography * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. .

External links

* * * * {{Hall Bartlett 1957 films 1950s disaster films 1950s thriller films American aviation films American disaster films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films Films about aviation accidents or incidents Films based on television plays Films directed by Hall Bartlett Films set on airplanes Films with screenplays by Arthur Hailey Paramount Pictures films Films set in Vancouver Films set in Winnipeg 1950s American films