A courageous crew led by the rugged and valiant Commander Michael Haydon (an excellent performance by Kieron Moore) guide a stratospheric jet rocket ship on the first space flight; their mission is the first outer space detonation of a tritonium bomb, but alas things go awry and the men find themselves in great peril. Director Paul Dickson, working from a bright and thoughtful script by John Mather, J.T. McIntosh, and Edith Dell, relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, puts a welcome and refreshing emphasis on the engaging characters during the opening half of the picture, and develops a reasonable amount of suspense in the second part of the movie. Moreover, there's uniformly sound and sincere acting from solid cast: Moore makes for a properly strong and stalwart hero, the lovely Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond films) delivers a winningly tart portrayal of snoopy reporter Kim Hamilton (she stows away on the ship), plus there are fine supporting turns by Donald Wolfit as the austere Professor Merrity, Bryan Forbes as the eager Jimmy Wheeler, Jimmy Hanley as the cheery Larry Noble, Barry Keegan as the dour, hardy "Lefty" Blake, Thea Gregory as Larry's snippy, fed-up wife Barbara, and Shirley Lawrence as Jimmy's sweet, cute girlfriend Ellen. The polished widescreen color cinematography by Georges Perinal and James Wilson makes artful occasional use of fades and dissolves while the stirring, majestic score by Albert Elms hits the spirited spot. The special effects are merely passable at best. An intelligent and entertaining little winner.
Review of Satellite in the Sky
