''The Net'' (a.k.a. ''Project M7'' (U.S. distribution)) is a 1953 British

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

made by

Two Cities Films Two Cities Films was a British film production company. Formed in 1937, it was originally envisaged as a production company operating in the two cities of London and Rome which gave the company its name. The driving forces behind the company were ...

, directed by

Anthony Asquith Anthony William Landon Asquith (; 9 November 1902 – 20 February 1968) was an English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on ''The Winslow Boy'' (1948) and '' The Browning Version'' (1951), among oth ...

and starring

James Donald James Donald (18 May 1917 – 3 August 1993) was a Scottish actor. Tall and thin, he specialised in playing authority figures, particularly military doctors. Early life Donald was born in Aberdeen, the fourth son of a Scottish Presbyterian m ...

Phyllis Calvert Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill (née Bickle; 18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002), known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 19 ...

Robert Beatty Robert Rutherford Beatty (19 October 1909 – 3 March 1992) was a Canadian actor who worked in film, television and radio for most of his career and was especially known in the UK. Early years Beatty was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, O ...

and

Herbert Lom Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru (11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012), known professionally as Herbert Lom (), was a Czech-British actor who moved to the United Kingdom in 1939. In a career lasting more than 60 ye ...

. The film is set in the world of aviation research and was based on the 1952 novel of the same name by

John Pudney John Sleigh Pudney (19 January 1909 – 10 November 1977) was a British poet, journalist and author. He was known especially for his popular poetry written during the Second World War, but he also wrote novels, short stories and children's fict ...

Plot

At "Port Amberley", a secret aviation research station somewhere in England, a group of scientists are working on the

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

of a revolutionary new aircraft, a

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

nuclear-augmented

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, je ...

code-named M7, taking off and landing on water and capable of flying at up to 2,000 miles per hour. The project is intended to lead to M8, a

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...

to explore space. The atmosphere at the laboratory is competitive rather than co-operative, with rivalry between the various scientists. The project leader Michael Heathley (

) is so wrapped up with the M7 that his wife Lydia (

) feels neglected and that she is being sidelined in favour of her husband's work. At a social gathering, she strikes up a conversation with Michael's colleague Alex Leon (

), and the pair are soon circling one another. Meanwhile, Michael is desperate to test the M7, but is over-ruled by facility director Carrington (

Maurice Denham William Maurice Denham OBE (23 December 1909 – 24 July 2002) was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes in his long career. Family Denham was born on 23 December 1909 in Beckenham, Kent, the son ...

). The M7 is finally given its first test flight, and a perilous situation is only just survived. The group continue to work on modifications to iron out minor problems identified on the test flight. Matters take a sinister turn when Carrington dies after an accident. Meanwhile, the project's security members strongly suspect there is a spy in their midst and deploy agents to follow the scientists when away from the station. The finished version of the M7 then takes to the sky, along with the spy who has talked his way on board. The spy tries to hijack the aircraft, but is foiled by pilot Michael Heathley.

Cast

as Michael Heathley *

as Lydia Heathley *

as Sam Seagram *

as Alex Leon *

Noel Willman Noel Willman (4 August 1918 – 24 December 1988) was an Irish actor and theatre director. Born in Derry, Ireland, Willman died aged 70 in New York City, United States. Willman's films included '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956), '' Across ...

as Dennis Bord *

as Carrington *

Muriel Pavlow Muriel Lilian Pavlow (27 June 1921 – 19 January 2019) was an English actress. Her mother was French and her father Russian. Film and television career Muriel was born in Lewisham, south-east London, to Boris Pavlov, a Russian émigré and ...

as Caroline Cartier *

Walter Fitzgerald Walter Fitzgerald Bond (18 May 1896 – 20 December 1976) was an English character actor. Early life Born in Stoke, Plymouth, Fitzgerald was a former stockbroker before he began his theatrical training at RADA. He joined the British Army dur ...

as Sir Charles Craddock *

Patric Doonan Patric Doonan (George William Doonan) (18 April 1926 in Derby, Derbyshire – 10 March 1958 in London) was a British stage and screen actor. He was the son of comedian George Vincent Doonan and Doris Mary (Nee Endsor) he was the brother of ...

as Brian Jackson *

Marjorie Fielding Doris Marjorie Fielding (known as Marjorie) (17 February 1892, in Gloucester, Gloucestershire – 28 December 1956, in London) was a British stage and film actress. Marjorie Fielding was the second daughter of John & Ellen Fielding (née Miles). ...

as Mother Heathley * Herbert Lomas as George Jackson *

Cyril Chamberlain Cyril Chamberlain (8 March 1909 – 5 December 1974) was an English film and television actor. He appeared in a number of the early ''Carry On'', ''Doctor'' and ''St. Trinian's'' films. Chamberlain was born on 8 March 1909 in London and died ...

as Inspector Carter *

Hal Osmond Hal Osmond (27 May 1903 – December 1959) was a British stage, film and television actor. He played Anselm in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' episode "Errand of Mercy" (1956). Selected filmography * '' Once Upon a Dream'' (1949) * ''Vote for H ...

as Agent Lawson *

Marianne Stone Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone appe ...

as Maisie * Geoffrey Denton as Fisher

Production

Although ''The Net'' deals with contemporary aviation technology, there are no aircraft to be seen, other than photographs on walls and a model of the top-secret

delta-wing A delta wing is a wing shaped in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta (Δ). Although long studied, it did not find significant applications until the Jet Age, when it proved suitabl ...

M7 aircraft. At one point, the aircraft is seen resting on water, giving it the potential of being a flying-boat. All the interiors of the M7 are studio-constructed mock-ups. At least one take-off from water of the M7 is shown using special effects. The waterborne segment simply shows the increasing slipstream effect on water to the rear of the craft as it increases speed, with no view of the M7 itself. The airborne segment is viewed from several ground locations showing either the M7 zooming overhead or the M7's shadow.

Reception

Aviation historian Michael Paris, in ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema'' (1995) was positive in his review of the film. "''The Net'' is essentially a thriller owing a great deal to contemporary Cold War tensions, but interestingly, it still pays homage to the notion of progress and utopianism through aviation and suggests that Britain is in the forefront of space research."Paris 1995, p. 176. In ''Aviation in the Cinema'' (1985), aviation film historian Stephen Pendo, however, considered ''The Net'', "... a poor effort; its only distinction is that it was the first aviation film to be photographed in Technicolor 3 D."Pendo 1985, p. 26. In fact, ''The Net'' was photographed in black-and-white and was not in 3-D.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. . * Skogsberg, Bertil. ''Wings on the Screen: A Pictorial History of Air Movies''. London: Tantivy Press, 1987. .

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Net (1953 film), The 1953 films British drama films British aviation films British black-and-white films Two Cities Films films Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films directed by Anthony Asquith Films scored by Benjamin Frankel Films based on British novels Films set in England British thriller films 1950s thriller films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films