| The Sound Barrier | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | David Lean |
| Written by | Terence Rattigan |
| Produced by | David Lean |
| Starring | Ralph Richardson Ann Todd Nigel Patrick John Justin Denholm Elliott |
| Cinematography | Jack Hildyard |
| Edited by | Geoffrey Foot |
| Music by | Malcolm Arnold |
| Color process | Black and white |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | British Lion Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £250,000[1] |
| Box office | £227,978 (UK)[2] |
The Sound Barrier is a 1952 British aviation drama film directed by David Lean. It is a fictional story about attempts by aircraft designers and test pilots to break the sound barrier. It was David Lean's third and final film with his wife Ann Todd but it was his first for Alexander Korda's London Films, following the break-up of Cineguild. The Sound Barrier stars Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, John Justin and Nigel Patrick. It was known in the United States as Breaking Through the Sound Barrier and Breaking the Sound Barrier.
The Sound Barrier was a box-office success on first release but it has become one of the least-known of Lean's films. Following on In Which We Serve (1942), the film is another of Lean's ventures into a genre of film making where impressions of documentary film are created.[3]