Toward the Unknown
Encyclopedia
Toward the Unknown is a 1956 movie about the dawn of supersonic flight filmed on location at Edwards Air Force Base
. Starring William Holden
, Lloyd Nolan
and Virginia Leith
, the film features the screen debut of James Garner
. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy
and written by Beirne Lay, Jr.
who had also penned the novel and screenplay for Twelve O'Clock High
(1949), and later screenplays for Above and Beyond
(1952) and Strategic Air Command
(1955).
and subjected to torture, finally "cracking" after 14 months and signing a "confession" used for propaganda
. Upon his release, he took a year to recover from the ordeal before showing up at the Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, hoping to return to work as a test pilot. His old buddy, Colonel McKee (Charles McGraw), tries his best for him, but the base commander, Brigadier General Banner (Lloyd Nolan), turns him down because he cannot trust him to be stable. A complication is that the general's secretary and love interest, Connie Mitchell (Virginia Leith), is an old flame. Bond presses for a job and accepts the general's offer of routine flying in support. Banner is a hands-on leader, taking the most dangerous assignments himself.
When Bond flies the new Gilbert XF-120 fighter, he finds dangerous structural problems that threaten its imminent acceptance by the Air Force. However, nobody really believes his claim that he did not subject the fighter prototype to stresses beyond its design specifications, especially H. G. Gilbert (Ralph Moody), the head of the company that built the fighter. When the general tries to replicate Bond's maneuvers, nothing untoward happens. Afterward, Bond sees Banner nearly collapse in the locker room, but Banner shrugs off the incident.
The two begin to trust each other, especially when Banner is endangered in a test flight, and Bond calmly and expertly comes to the rescue. Then Major Joe Craven (James Garner), another close friend of Bond's, is killed when a wing of his XF-120 tears away, confirming Bond's warning. Bond's rehabilitation is endangered when a drunk Major "Bromo" Lee (Murray Hamilton), Banner's top test pilot, tries to pick a fight with him at the officers club. Bond reacts badly to being held by a bystander, invoking memories of his Korean War imprisonment, and punches Bromo twice.
With an appreciation that both men were to blame for the altercation, Banner gives Bond the assignment he craves: the rocket-powered X-2, which is designed to fly to the edge of outer space. The general insists, however, on piloting the first test flight at full power, despite strong pressure from his superior, Lieutenant General Bryan Shelby (Paul Fix), to let a younger man take on the dangerous job. When Bond is assigned to fly the last half-power test before the main flight, he goes to full power without authorization and barely survives a high-altitude bailout when the aircraft goes out of control. The base flight surgeon tells Banner that only a young, fit person could have survived, leading the general to accept a promotion and transfer. He recommends Colonel McKee as his successor. Although Banner offers to take Connie with him to his new assignment, she decides to stay with her former love.
Toward the Unknown was produced with the full cooperation of the United States Air Force with principal photography taking place over the winter in 1955. As the first film to exploit the USAF's race into space in the X-plane program, the Toward the Unknowns tagline stated: "The screen's first story of man-piloted rocket ships, U.S.A.!" The extensive use of the Edwards AFB facility and its emergency dry lake beds, Rosamond Lake
and Rogers Dry Lake
, as well as the related air force community area, led an air of authenticity to the production. Air Research and Development Command
(ARDC) Technical Advisors Major Price Henry, Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Martin and Lieutenant Colonel Frank Everest Jr. served as technical advisors to the production.
Right out of the headlines of the day, Toward the Unknown also was dealing with the controversial aspects of military personnel undergoing torture and brainwashing, with the marketing campaign exploiting the mental anguish the character felt. Holden's character closely parallels two USAF pilots, Colonel Walker "Bud" Mahurin
, an Air Force double ace who was shot down in Korea and tortured before signing confessions of war crimes and Lieutenant Colonel Everest, who had a similar prison experience after being shot down in China during World War II. Holden and Everest, who was acting as the film's "air boss", became close friends during the production. In a similar manner, General Banner's character was based on Major General Albert Boyd
, the first Commander of the USAF Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB.
Toward the Unknown was a showcase of the contemporary United States Air Force fleet of combat aircraft: Convair C-131 Samaritan, Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, Douglas B-66 Destroyer, Lockheed F-94 Starfire, McDonnell F-101 Voodoo, North American F-86 Sabre, North American F-100 Super Sabre, Republic F-84F Thunderstreak and Sikorsky H-19D Chickasaw, shown on the ground and in the air. Unusual stock footage includes a rocket sled
being tested, the use of the Boeing YKB-29T Superfortress aerial tanker with a F-100, F-101 and B-66 being fueled, and a Republic EF-84G Thunderjet in a Zero length launch
. Also appearing in background shots were the Beech C-45 Expeditor
, Boeing B-47 Stratojet, Convair B-36
Peacemaker, Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star, North American B-25 Mitchell, North American B-45 Tornado and the Republic F-84 Thunderjet. The final aerial sequence is derived from an air show held at the base and depicts the 1955 version of the Thunderbirds air demonstration team, flying Republic F-84F Thunderstreak fighters in a scene described as "special airiobatics."
The Bell X-2
, its Boeing EB-50D
mother ship
, Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket and Douglas X-3 Stiletto are also featured as the experimental aircraft being tested at Edwards AFB. Footage of the mock-uped Convair XF-92
was used to depict the later F-102 fighter in the opening crash scene while the Martin XB-51
bomber prototype stands-in as the fictional "Gilbert XF-120" fighter.
who were the subjects of headlines all over the world. Bosley Crowther summed up its impact, however, as "The principals, to put it briefly, are never as fascinating as the aircraft pointed at the future in 'Toward the Unknown'." Considered on its merits as a "flying" film that is "well worth seeing," later aviation film reviewers likewise bemoaned the "typical story about personal conflict and a woman's faith that infected all too many flying films."Following up on the art-or-artifice depiction, Christopher McQuain notes that, "Finding anything of interest in 'Toward the Unknown' depends on whether you consider the film as art or artifact; it is not a good movie, but it is a fascinating, revealing one. It is utterly transparent Cold War propaganda, with delighted displays of military aircraft in action, an eager, anxious glimpse forward to the Space Race, and an interest in human-scale affairs so desultory as to make the machines and the ability to build and fly them seem much more important than the complications and consequences of militarism and war waged ..."
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
. Starring William Holden
William Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
, Lloyd Nolan
Lloyd Nolan
Lloyd Benedict Nolan was an American film and television actor.-Biography:Nolan was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Margaret and James Nolan, who was a shoe manufacturer...
and Virginia Leith
Virginia Leith
Virginia Leith is an American film and television actress.Born in Cleveland, Ohio, she starred in a few films, with her most productive period coming in the 1950s....
, the film features the screen debut of James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy was an American film director, producer and sometime actor.-Early life:Born to Jewish parents in San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake...
and written by Beirne Lay, Jr.
Beirne Lay, Jr.
Beirne Lay, Jr., was an author, aviation writer, Hollywood screenwriter, and combat veteran of World War II with the U.S. Army Air Forces...
who had also penned the novel and screenplay for Twelve O'Clock High
Twelve O'Clock High
Twelve O'Clock High is a 1949 American war film about aircrews in the United States Army's Eighth Air Force who flew daylight bombing missions against Nazi Germany and occupied France during the early days of American involvement in World War II. The film was adapted by Sy Bartlett, Henry King ...
(1949), and later screenplays for Above and Beyond
Above and Beyond (film)
Above and Beyond is a 1952 film about Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb. It starred Robert Taylor as Tibbets and Eleanor Parker as his wife. James Whitmore played security officer Major Bill Uanna.-Cast:...
(1952) and Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (film)
Strategic Air Command is a 1955 American film starring James Stewart and June Allyson, and directed by Anthony Mann. Released by Paramount Pictures, it was the first of four films that depicted the role of the Strategic Air Command in the Cold War era....
(1955).
Plot
Air Force Major Lincoln Bond (William Holden) was captured during the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and subjected to torture, finally "cracking" after 14 months and signing a "confession" used for propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
. Upon his release, he took a year to recover from the ordeal before showing up at the Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, hoping to return to work as a test pilot. His old buddy, Colonel McKee (Charles McGraw), tries his best for him, but the base commander, Brigadier General Banner (Lloyd Nolan), turns him down because he cannot trust him to be stable. A complication is that the general's secretary and love interest, Connie Mitchell (Virginia Leith), is an old flame. Bond presses for a job and accepts the general's offer of routine flying in support. Banner is a hands-on leader, taking the most dangerous assignments himself.
When Bond flies the new Gilbert XF-120 fighter, he finds dangerous structural problems that threaten its imminent acceptance by the Air Force. However, nobody really believes his claim that he did not subject the fighter prototype to stresses beyond its design specifications, especially H. G. Gilbert (Ralph Moody), the head of the company that built the fighter. When the general tries to replicate Bond's maneuvers, nothing untoward happens. Afterward, Bond sees Banner nearly collapse in the locker room, but Banner shrugs off the incident.
The two begin to trust each other, especially when Banner is endangered in a test flight, and Bond calmly and expertly comes to the rescue. Then Major Joe Craven (James Garner), another close friend of Bond's, is killed when a wing of his XF-120 tears away, confirming Bond's warning. Bond's rehabilitation is endangered when a drunk Major "Bromo" Lee (Murray Hamilton), Banner's top test pilot, tries to pick a fight with him at the officers club. Bond reacts badly to being held by a bystander, invoking memories of his Korean War imprisonment, and punches Bromo twice.
With an appreciation that both men were to blame for the altercation, Banner gives Bond the assignment he craves: the rocket-powered X-2, which is designed to fly to the edge of outer space. The general insists, however, on piloting the first test flight at full power, despite strong pressure from his superior, Lieutenant General Bryan Shelby (Paul Fix), to let a younger man take on the dangerous job. When Bond is assigned to fly the last half-power test before the main flight, he goes to full power without authorization and barely survives a high-altitude bailout when the aircraft goes out of control. The base flight surgeon tells Banner that only a young, fit person could have survived, leading the general to accept a promotion and transfer. He recommends Colonel McKee as his successor. Although Banner offers to take Connie with him to his new assignment, she decides to stay with her former love.
Cast
As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| William Holden William Holden William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974... |
Major Lincoln Bond |
| Lloyd Nolan Lloyd Nolan Lloyd Benedict Nolan was an American film and television actor.-Biography:Nolan was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Margaret and James Nolan, who was a shoe manufacturer... |
Brigadier General Bill Banner |
| Virginia Leith Virginia Leith Virginia Leith is an American film and television actress.Born in Cleveland, Ohio, she starred in a few films, with her most productive period coming in the 1950s.... |
Connie Mitchell |
| Charles McGraw Charles McGraw Charles Butters , best known by his stage name Charles McGraw, was an American actor, who made his first film in 1942, albeit in a small, uncredited role. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa.-Career:... |
Colonel R. H. "Mickey" McKee |
| Murray Hamilton Murray Hamilton Murray Hamilton was an American stage, screen, and television actor who appeared in such memorable films as The Hustler, The Graduate and Jaws.-Early life:... |
Major "Bromo" Lee |
| Paul Fix Paul Fix Paul Fix was an American film and television character actor, best known for his work in westerns. Fix appeared in more than a hundred movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career spanning from 1925 to 1981... |
Lieutenant General Bryan Shelby |
| James Garner James Garner James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades... |
Major Joe Craven |
| L. Q. Jones L. Q. Jones L.Q. Jones is an American character actor and film director, known for his work in the films of Sam Peckinpah.-Life and career:... |
Lieutenant Sweeney |
| Karen Steele Karen Steele Karen Steele was an American actress and model with over 60 roles in film and television. Her most famous roles include starring as Virginia in Marty, as Mrs Lane in Ride Lonesome and as Eve McHuron in the Star Trek episode "Mudd's Women".-Early life:Karen Steele was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to... |
Polly Craven |
| Bartlett Robinson | Senator Black |
| Malcolm Atterbury Malcolm Atterbury Malcolm Atterbury was a stage and vaudeville actor who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is probably most well known as Bixby in Wagon Train and Lee Reinhard in Dragnet... |
Hank |
| Ralph Moody Ralph Moody Ralph Moody was one of early drivers of NASCAR. However, he eventually became the most famous as team co-owner of Holman Moody.-Background:... |
H. G. Gilbert |
| Maura Murphy | Sarah McKee |
| Carol Kelly | Debbie |
| Jon Provost Jon Provost Jon Provost is a former child actor of film and television. He is best known for his role as young Timmy Martin in the CBS series, Lassie.... |
Major Craven's son (uncredited) |
Production
Like some other major stars of the era, Holden decided to try producing films himself, setting up Toluca Productions. In the end, however, he found the added work too much, and Toward the Unknown was the only Toluca film.Toward the Unknown was produced with the full cooperation of the United States Air Force with principal photography taking place over the winter in 1955. As the first film to exploit the USAF's race into space in the X-plane program, the Toward the Unknowns tagline stated: "The screen's first story of man-piloted rocket ships, U.S.A.!" The extensive use of the Edwards AFB facility and its emergency dry lake beds, Rosamond Lake
Rosamond Lake
Rosamond Lake is a natural dry lake bed in the Mojave Desert of Kern- and Los Angeles County, California. The shores of the lake are entirely within the borders of Edwards Air Force Base, approximately from Lancaster. The lake is adjacent to Rogers Dry Lake which through the Holocene, together...
and Rogers Dry Lake
Rogers Dry Lake
Rogers Dry Lake is an endorheic desert salt pan in the Mojave Desert of Kern County, California. The lake derives its name from the Anglicization from the Spanish name, Rodriguez Dry Lake. It is the central part of Edwards Air Force Base as its hard surface provides a natural extension to the...
, as well as the related air force community area, led an air of authenticity to the production. Air Research and Development Command
Air Force Systems Command
Air Force Systems Command is a former United States Air Force command. Its headquarters was located at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland...
(ARDC) Technical Advisors Major Price Henry, Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Martin and Lieutenant Colonel Frank Everest Jr. served as technical advisors to the production.
Right out of the headlines of the day, Toward the Unknown also was dealing with the controversial aspects of military personnel undergoing torture and brainwashing, with the marketing campaign exploiting the mental anguish the character felt. Holden's character closely parallels two USAF pilots, Colonel Walker "Bud" Mahurin
Bud Mahurin
Colonel Walker Melville "Bud" Mahurin was a retired officer of the United States Air Force . During World War II, while serving in the United States Army Air Forces , he was a noted flying ace....
, an Air Force double ace who was shot down in Korea and tortured before signing confessions of war crimes and Lieutenant Colonel Everest, who had a similar prison experience after being shot down in China during World War II. Holden and Everest, who was acting as the film's "air boss", became close friends during the production. In a similar manner, General Banner's character was based on Major General Albert Boyd
Albert Boyd
Albert Boyd was a pioneering test pilot for the United States Air Force. During his 30 year career, he logged over 23,000 hours of flight time, flying an astounding 723 military aircraft...
, the first Commander of the USAF Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB.
Toward the Unknown was a showcase of the contemporary United States Air Force fleet of combat aircraft: Convair C-131 Samaritan, Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, Douglas B-66 Destroyer, Lockheed F-94 Starfire, McDonnell F-101 Voodoo, North American F-86 Sabre, North American F-100 Super Sabre, Republic F-84F Thunderstreak and Sikorsky H-19D Chickasaw, shown on the ground and in the air. Unusual stock footage includes a rocket sled
Rocket sled
A rocket sled is a test platform that slides along a set of rails, propelled by rockets.As its name implies, a rocket sled does not use wheels. Instead, it has sliding pads, called "slippers", which are curved around the head of the rails to prevent the sled from flying off the track...
being tested, the use of the Boeing YKB-29T Superfortress aerial tanker with a F-100, F-101 and B-66 being fueled, and a Republic EF-84G Thunderjet in a Zero length launch
Zero length launch
The zero length launch system or zero length take-off system was a system whereby jet fighters and attack aircraft were intended to be placed upon rockets attached to mobile launch platforms...
. Also appearing in background shots were the Beech C-45 Expeditor
Beechcraft Model 18
The Beechcraft Model 18, or "Twin Beech", as it is better known, is a 6-11 seat, twin-engine, low-wing, conventional-gear aircraft that was manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas...
, Boeing B-47 Stratojet, Convair B-36
Convair B-36
The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" was a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated solely by the United States Air Force from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever made. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built , although there have...
Peacemaker, Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star, North American B-25 Mitchell, North American B-45 Tornado and the Republic F-84 Thunderjet. The final aerial sequence is derived from an air show held at the base and depicts the 1955 version of the Thunderbirds air demonstration team, flying Republic F-84F Thunderstreak fighters in a scene described as "special airiobatics."
The Bell X-2
Bell X-2
-Popular culture:* The 1956 film Toward the Unknown starred the X-2, William Holden, Lloyd Nolan and Virginia Leith. A brainwashed former POW tries to return to test flying; co-starring the Martin XB-51 and the Edwards AFB flight line....
, its Boeing EB-50D
Boeing B-50 Superfortress
The Boeing B-50 Superfortress strategic bomber was a post-World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller fin, and other improvements. It was the last piston-engined bomber designed by Boeing for...
mother ship
Mother ship
A mother ship is a vessel or aircraft that carries a smaller vessel or aircraft that operates independently from it. Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental aircraft to altitudes where they can conduct their research , or ships that carry small submarines to an area of ocean to be...
, Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket and Douglas X-3 Stiletto are also featured as the experimental aircraft being tested at Edwards AFB. Footage of the mock-uped Convair XF-92
Convair XF-92
The Convair XF-92 was the first American delta-wing aircraft. Originally conceived as a point-defense interceptor, the design was later made purely experimental...
was used to depict the later F-102 fighter in the opening crash scene while the Martin XB-51
Martin XB-51
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Andrade, John M. U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Counties Publications, 1979. ISBN 0-904597-22-9....
bomber prototype stands-in as the fictional "Gilbert XF-120" fighter.
Reception
Toward the Unknown was critically reviewed as an example of the "actor-turned-producer fraternity," with screen idol William Holden heavily involved in the production. The film also mirrored the exploits of real-life test pilots such as Chuck YeagerChuck Yeager
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound...
who were the subjects of headlines all over the world. Bosley Crowther summed up its impact, however, as "The principals, to put it briefly, are never as fascinating as the aircraft pointed at the future in 'Toward the Unknown'." Considered on its merits as a "flying" film that is "well worth seeing," later aviation film reviewers likewise bemoaned the "typical story about personal conflict and a woman's faith that infected all too many flying films."Following up on the art-or-artifice depiction, Christopher McQuain notes that, "Finding anything of interest in 'Toward the Unknown' depends on whether you consider the film as art or artifact; it is not a good movie, but it is a fascinating, revealing one. It is utterly transparent Cold War propaganda, with delighted displays of military aircraft in action, an eager, anxious glimpse forward to the Space Race, and an interest in human-scale affairs so desultory as to make the machines and the ability to build and fly them seem much more important than the complications and consequences of militarism and war waged ..."