Chain Lightning is a drama film from 1950 starring Humphrey Bogart which was to be his last film that he did for Warner Brothers. In this film he spends much of the picture in the air as a pilot in the aviation race!
The focus of Chain Lightning is on World War II flying ace Matt Brennan (Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca) who accepts a position as the head test pilot for the Willis Aircraft Company, a commercial aircraft corporation head by Leland Willis (screen legend Raymond Massey, The Old Dark House). He is asked to test JA-3 fighter planes designed by Carl Troxell (Richard Whorf, Yankee Doodle Dandy) and the newer JA-4 fighter planes. Drama ensues as Matt wants to continue testing the JA-3 because he feels it is not safe enough to fly, while the company is pushing the newer JA-4 as it has an escape pod. While testing the planes, Matt runs into an old flame, Joan “Jo” Holloway (Eleanor Parker, Detective Story), who is the company’s receptionist, potentially opening the doors for some romance between the two.
Chain Lightning is a decent, somewhat of an obscurity of a film, and certainly not one of Humphrey Bogart’s best films, even though he is excellent as always in his role. This is the type of film where he shows some versatility, playing a role outside of the gangster or a cynical anti-hero. I really believe this film will not be everyone’s cup of tea, depending on one’s tastes in military-esque films. The romance aspect of the film was weak and after one pivotal scene between Bogart and Parker, was downplayed to the point where it meant basically nothing. The cast all hand in excellent performances. One on particular that always catches my eye is Morris Ankrum who became a staple in 50’s B science fiction monster movies, often playing a general!
Chain Lightning gets a surprising Blu-ray release from Warner Archive. The video presentation is stupendous with a clear crisp black and white image. Scenery shows a lot of detail, and the high contrast levels enable the picture to visually shine, adding a great wealth of sharpness to the image. Black levels are rich with a balanced grey scale. No print damages were detected. It could not look any better than this.
The English DTS-HD master audio 2.0 track is solid with no hissing or other issues detected. The dialog, action sounds such as fighter jets in the air all come in flawlessly. English subtitles are available.
Extras include a Warner Brothers Cartoon, Bear Feet, a Joe McDoakes Short, So You Want To Be An Actor and also a theatrical trailer.
No matter your thoughts on Chain Lightning, you cannot deny just how good the audio and video quality are for this release. Easily a recommended release and curious “Bogie” fans should give this one a spin!
Chain Lightning
Director- Stuart Heisler
Cast- Humphrey Bogart, Eleanor Parker
Country of Origin- US
Distributor –Warner Archive Collection / Warner Brothers
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date-7/12/21