| No Highway in the Sky | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Henry Koster |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on | No Highway by Nevil Shute |
| Produced by | Louis D. Lighton |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Georges Périnal |
| Edited by | Manuel del Campo |
| Music by | Malcolm Arnold |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. |
Release dates |
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Running time | 98 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.1 million (US rentals)[1][2] |
No Highway in the Sky (also known as No Highway) is a 1951 black-and-white aviation drama film directed by Henry Koster from a screenplay by R. C. Sherriff, Oscar Millard, and Alec Coppel, based on the 1948 novel No Highway by Nevil Shute. The film stars James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, Glynis Johns, Jack Hawkins, Janette Scott, Elizabeth Allan, Ronald Squire, and Jill Clifford.
It was one of the first films that depicted a potential aviation disaster involving metal fatigue. Although the film follows the plot of Shute's novel in general, No Highway in the Sky notably omits references to the supernatural contained in the original novel, including the use of automatic writing to resolve a key element in the original novel's story. Also, the role of Scott, the recently appointed administrator who narrates the novel, is curtailed in the film version; which means that the featured scientist, Mr Honey, comes across as more eccentric than in the novel, changing the relationship between them.
The film also introduces the term "boffin" for the under-appreciated and seemingly self-centred and eccentric scientist, as distinct from earlier usage to describe a scientist who is making vital (and appreciated) contributions.
- ^ Solomon 1989, p. 224
- ^ "The Top Box Office Hits of 1951." Variety, 2 January 1952.