Broken Journey

Morane-Saulnier-built version of the Fieseler Storch STOL aircraft, similar to ones used in the actual mountain rescue of the 1946 C-53 Skytrooper crash on the Gauli Glacier.[6]

The plot of Broken Journey closely approximated the 1946 C-53 Skytrooper crash on the Gauli Glacier, Switzerland in November 1946.[7] The improvised operation that eventually resulted in the successful rescue of eight passengers and four crew members, considered the "birth of air-rescue in Switzerland", garnered worldwide publicity and led to the fictionalised account of Broken Journey.[8]

Sydney Box became head of production of Gainsborough Studios in 1946. He commissioned Robert Westerby, who had a reputation for writing contemporary thrillers, to do a script. Michael Balcon was also developing a film based on the same story, and registered an idea with the British Producers Association, but once he heard Box was doing a film as well he withdrew his project.[9]

Westerby did a treatment in six days, then proceeded to a full draft. He wrote a role specifically for Phyllis Calvert, then one of the studio's biggest stars. Calvert was reluctant to make the film but Box managed to persuade her.[9] It would be the last film Calvert made under her contract with Gainsborough.[10]

Ken Annakin had a background in documentary filmmaking and had just directed his first feature for Sydney Box, Holiday Camp (1947), so Box assigned the film to him. While Westeby wrote his script, Box sent Annakin out to Mount Blanc to look for possible locations and gave him funds to purchase an old Dakota airplane.[11]

When Annakin returned to London, Westerby had written a first draft in two weeks. Annakin said the script "read beautifully" with "twelve picturesque characters" who "all had what seemed to be interesting gimmicks, but when I got down to filming them, I found they were cardboard characters. No matter how neatly they were dovetailed into the plot, one didn’t care for them. It was a hard lesson I learned: never to trust a script which appears on the surface to be professionally written with flowery descriptions – but has no heart."[12] Annakin and Westerby rewrote the script to account for the locations the director had found but the director says he never fixed "this basic flaw" of the script.[13]

The film was originally called Rescue.[14]

The film was shot over 14 weeks in 1947. Calvert was only available for half that time. There was location filming in Switzerland with studio work at Shepherd's Bush. Gainsborough had just finished making a film in the Alps called Snowbound (1947) so Annakin could draw on their expertise for the best locations.[9][15]

Filming was difficult due to the location and incidents such as the Dakota plane being torn apart several times by the mountain wind. Annakin's wife accompanied him on location and suffered a miscarriage. When filming took place back in the studio, London was having a heatwave and the actors had to perform wrapped up in snow gear, making it uncomfortable for them. Francis Sullivan had a minor heart attack. Annakin says that Margot Graham and Phyllis Calvert did not get along, "driven by the competitive star system of those days." He says both constantly requested changes to the script which he put down "badly written" scenes. A stuntman was injured performing a stunt for James Donald.[16]

Broken Journey was a commercial disappointment recording a loss of £63,900.[1] According to one set of records, the film earned producer's receipts of £91,300 in the UK and £41,800 overseas making a total of £133,100. Considering the budget was £197,000 it made a loss of £63,900.[2] This performance was attributed in part to the fact that the film came out 18 months after the accident which inspired it and was no longer topical.[9]

Broken Journey was critically received as a disaster film. Reviewer A.H. Weiler of The New York Times observed that the film was effective: "... (an) intelligent script and a uniformly excellent cast serve to make the import a diverting entertainment. And, the rugged, spectacular mountain backgrounds are an added note of authenticity to the yarn which accents character study rather than melodramatics." The reviewer, however, had a caution that the film "which might have been a top-flight, thoroughly exciting excursion, is simply a meticulously-planned trip in which the travellers are more interesting than the itinerary."[17]

Kine Weekly wrote that the film: "opens spectacularly, but the main story, woven from the reactions of 13 oddly assorted people suddenly cut off from the outside world and faced with almost certain death, contains many theatrical characters and moments, and peters out without recapturing the realistic initial thrills. Done many times before inslightly different guises, its tangled tale is much more suited to the stage than screen.[18]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This is a sentimental yet well-constructed film, each little tale being carefully co-ordinated, and each bit of life neatly dovetailed. There are moments of great beauty, such as when Romer recites a poem as a funeral oration over John's grave. This is poignant and gripping in the extreme. The mountain scenes are obviously accurate – they were taken in Haute-Savoie – and the photography is clear and good. The competent cast play intelligently.[19]

Steven H. Scheuer in Movies on TV, 1986–87 noted that the film was "tense, well acted melodrama."[20]