[dave walsh]

I caught "The Net" [1951] yesterday but not early enough to flag up. It only rated 2 stars and was described as an Espionage Drama in the schedule but there was the usual stiff upper lip romantic story to go with the setting which involved experimental trials with a new [swish] Aircraft that used "Atomic" Engines to go beyond the sound barrier, alternating between on board and "Ground Control" systems [I wondered if David Bowie had ever seen it?]. They tested pressure suits at Mach 5.

A bit clunky but like a lot of these films [surprisingly there does seem to have been quite a few that I've never come across before] a great deal must have been spent on the sets at least!
Were they supressed in some way? I've not seen a lot of them before either on TV or in the cinema. I found this one surprisingly enjoyable overall-there was some technical content and I would have rated it higher perhaps! When Close Encounters and all the subsequent new types of Sci-Fi films came out [post 1979] there was a suggestion that someone was trying to tell us something! It looks the same back then in a way! I've a feeling that these post war productions might have disappeared altogether without TPTV intervening. Herbert Lom is his usual smooth self, while Robert Beatty is the Security Man, a similar role to the one he plays at the Space Station in "2001 A Space Odyssey" [1968]. Wikki hardly mentions that which surprises me? Bowies "A Space Oddity" single came out in June 1969, in time for the Moon Launch.

Dave W