The JA-3’s tests go well and Willis has an idea to show it off by flying it from Los Angelos to Honolulu. Matt has other ideas, thinking that with some modifications the JA-3 could set out from Nome, Alaska, fly over the North Pole and land in Washington D.C., a trip over double the original plan. The trip will only be possible with modifications to the fuel tanks and the addition of detachable rockets to get the plane to 90,000 feet where it will meet less wind resistance and thus save fuel. Carl is against the flight, though, wanting to push his new plane, the JA-4 that he feels will be ready and superior to the JA-3.
When this film is focusing of flight sequences it is taught and engaging. The scenes, especially the testing of the JA-4 and the flight over the North Pole, are exciting and well staged. The effects are dated but still effective in instilling a sense of being there during the actual flights. Unfortunately the film cannot take place entirely in the air. Some drama must play out on land. That is where the film’s biggest weaknesses lie. While the scenes in the air are well played and filmed, the scenes on land are bland and poorly portrayed. Most of the film takes place on land and because of the weakness of these scenes it sinks the film when it otherwise was soaring.
Chain Lightning is a prime example of a film with not enough story stretching things out to meet a runtime. The inevitable result is a film that drags for large periods of time and few scenes to liven it up. Further dampening this is a total lack of chemistry between the two leads. Humphrey Bogart and Eleanor Parker are not a good match and scenes meant to instill an emotional response in the audience fall flat as we feel nothing from them. There is no heat like we would see in To Have and Have Not or The Big Sleep. Eleanor Parker is no Lauren Bacall. We are asked to care for this couple but it just isn’t there on the screen. With all that dead weight holding it down, Chain Lightning must rely on the much more interesting test piloting to stay afloat and there is far to little of that here to keep the ship right.
The pacing in this film is glacial most of the time, livening up only during the flight scenes. This makes for an uneven film that mainly struggles because it has too little story for the subject matter. This could have been rectified had we had main characters in whose relationship we had a vested interest. Maybe it is the performers’ fault for failing to liven up their scenes. More likely it is a fault of the screenwriters for not giving juicy enough dialogue and scenes for the actors to sink their teeth into. After all, Bacall was a new actress when she lit up the screen in To Have and Have Not. Parker was no newby here. She had been acting since 1942 and at one point was considered one of the greats. She’s fine here but nothing more than that. The film needed to be either tightened up or give the her more story to work with.
The story is too slow and the actors don’t seem all that motivated to elevate a mediocre script. That coupled with a thin story that would have made a fine short film makes Chain Lightning a real disappointment. It has many things to recommend it, not the least of which is the taut final reel, but ultimately it cannot hold interest in more than a series of fits and starts. Better chemistry amongst the leads would have smoothed that out some but that doesn’t happen here. Instead what we have is a mediocre film. Bogart would follow this up immediately with the far superior film In a Lonely Place and leave this forgettable film forever in his past.
Release Date: February 25, 1950
Running Time: 94 minutes
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Eleanor Parker, Raymond Massey
Directed By: Stuart Heisler
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