Jet Storm (1959)

U.S. One Sheet Poster

Jet Storm, a British thriller directed in black and white by Cy Endfield, is the story of Ernest Tilley (Richard Attenborough), whose young daughter was killed by a hit-and-run driver.  Tilley, a chemical engineer with an expertise in explosives has tracked down his daughter's killer, James Brock (George Rose), and has placed a bomb on the airplane on which they are both traveling.  Tilley confronts Brock, telling him that he is going to kill him, which sets in motion a panic that spreads among the passengers.  When word gets out that there is a bomb somewhere on the plane, the passengers generally split into two camps, those who want to torture Tilley to get him to say where it's hidden, and those who want to let Captain Bardow (Stanley Baker) handle the situation.  To some extent, the film plays out as a character study of the diverse group of passengers and how they handle the stress of a bomb threat at 40,000 feet.

Attenborough is good as the mentally unbalanced Tilley, and Baker is good as the calm, strong, and collected Captain.  The rest of the cast performs admirably, with Hermione Baddeley as an old, out-of-control woman being of particular note.  Jocelyn plays Clara Forrester, the new wife of a young singing star, Billy Forrester (newcomer Marty Wilde).  Jocelyn, as usual, is the prettiest female in the cast and does a respectable job in her small role.  She has a few lines in several scenes (with only a slight British accent), but she is really never part of the main action driving the story.  Jet Storm is a generally well-made and entertaining thriller that is worth a viewing by Jocelyn fans, even if her role is relatively minor.

Jet Storm likely was filmed in the Spring of 1959, as Variety on April 15 was reporting it (as Jetstream) on a list of MGM projects in Britain for the year.

Variety reviewed the film based on an August 25, 1959 viewing in London at Studio One.  The reviewer noted positively that the film had been trimmed from 99 minutes to 90 minutes.  In summary, it noted that "'Jet Storm' explores, once again, the not over-original idea of a bunch of strangers sharing a common danger in an enclosed space.  The pic is built on their various reactions to this sticky situation.  Though the film lacks pace, and has several loose ends, there are so many excellent acting jobs from an impressive cast that it is sound entertainment and should prove a worthwhile b.o. proposition in both Britain and the U.S."  While mentioning most of the cast by name, the reviewer makes no mention of Jocelyn.

Jet Storm premiered in London on September 16, 1959, and it was released in the fall of 1961 to theaters in the U.S.  From what little information that I have seen about the box office returns, it appears to have only done "fair" business on both sides of the pond. 

I have not seen evidence of any home video releases through the years, but the film is finally scheduled to be released on DVD in the UK on August 17, 2015.  It does not appear that any extras will be included on the DVD.

Here are a few screen caps of Jocelyn:

Here is a trailer that someone posted on youtube:

Here is a link to a photo of Jocelyn on the set:

Jocelyn on the Jet Storm set

The U.S. half sheet poster and lobby card set.  Note that Jocelyn is featured on the first lobby card, but that scene does not actually appear in the movie (or at least it was not in the print that I viewed).

U.S. stills (none of which feature Jocelyn):

A British poster and pressbook:

An Italian poster:

A Danish poster: