Out of the Clouds (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Sep 10, 2025
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Basil DeardenRelease Date(s)
1955 (August 19, 2025)Studio(s)
Ealing Studios/Rank (Powerhouse Films/Indicator)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: A
Review
Fifteen years before Airport launched a franchise and helped restart the disaster film genre, Ealing Studios, known for their charming, singularly British small-scale comedies, created something similar—albeit minus the disaster component—with Out of the Clouds (1955), like Airport an ensemble, Grand Hotel-esque portrait of passengers and airline employees at a busy airport. While hardly a great film, Out of the Clouds is almost sweetly charming, and its depiction of air travel 70 years ago offers a glimpse at a form of transportation far more pleasant then than it is now.
The film dramatizes roughly 18 hours at busy London Airport—renamed Heathrow in 1966. Middle-aged, overworked Chief Duty Officer Nick Millbourne (Robert Beatty) yearns to fly again and anxiously awaits the result of his physical. Both he and gambling addict pilot Gus Randall (Anthony Steel) are interested in beautiful stewardess Penny Henson (Eunice Gayson, of Dr. No and From Russia with Love). American Bill Steiner (David Knight) is en route to Israel to start a business, but during his layover falls in love with German Leah Rosch (Margo Lorenz), whose parents died in Auschwitz; she’s en route to New York to marry a much older American soldier solely for the financial security she’s lacked all her life. Other important characters include pilot Capt. Brent (James Robertson Justice), who has maintained an excellent flying record by refusing to take unnecessary risks; a customs officer (Bernard Lee) who worries pilot Randall might be tempted to smuggle contraband into the country; Jean Osmond (Melissa Stribling of Dracula, also director Basil Dearden’s wife), a vital liaison between the airport and passengers; and a high-maintenance rich lady (Marie Lohr) and her diminutive, put-upon companion (Esma Cannon), among those delayed when a heavy fog rolls in.
These and other moments with other characters offer nothing new, but it’s all reasonably entertaining and engrossing, and it’s fun watching so many familiar faces from other Ealing and Rank productions ply their trade here. Anthony Steel was the biggest name in the cast, known for his roles in British war movies but apparently something of an S.O.B. off-camera. He’s near the peak of his popularity, his career crashing and burning not long after.
More interesting is the second lead, Robert Beatty, a Canadian with a long career in British films and Hollywood productions based there. Though hardly a marquee name, his credits include roles in major movies including Odd Man Out, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Where Eagles Dare, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, his last film, in which he played the U.S. President. But Beatty was really everywhere, including scads of British TV, like William Sylvester and a few other ex-pats in high demand whenever an American character was needed. Out of the Clouds may have been his meatiest role.
Many others appear in bit parts, like Sid James’s amusing turn dropping his wife off at the airport, attracted to the gambling odds buying her flight insurance. Even Katie Johnson, the little old lady at the center of Ealing’s The Ladykillers, has a cameo-type role.
It’s also amusing watching this depiction of air travel 70 years ago, with far more individual attention and care afforded every passenger. While this might be an idealized dramatization, what with BOAC, British European Airways, and Pan-Am providing access to their aircraft and whatnot, one could hardly expect searing criticism, yet I suspect what unfolds onscreen isn’t that far from the truth. The many types of aircraft shown both on the tarmac and in flight are museum pieces now, so for airplane enthusiasts, this is something of a plane orgy, being able to see them in action. The picture also has travelogue qualities, with lingering flyovers of not just London, but also Rome and Cairo.
A Region “A” title from Indicator, Out of the Clouds has been given a 2K restoration and is presented in two version: the original 89-minute U.K. cut and a shorter 80-minute U.S. theatrical version, which played the bottom-half of double-bills, often with The Pajama Game. In creating the U.S. version, it appears Rank may have cut their original negative; the long version is pieced together from a variety of sources, so the restored footage is of varying quality. Sometimes the image is razor-sharp with excellent color, sometimes the color looks a little drained and isn’t as sharp, but overall the presentation is excellent.
Like many British films from 1953-55, there’s some question about the correct aspect ratio. What’s presented here is 1.37:1 standard frame, but the IMDb claims 1.66:1 widescreen is correct, and I suspect they’re right: the titles and framing suggest that slight cropping would look better. The LPCM 1.0 mono is fine and supported by optional English subtitles.
The excellent supplements consist of Fully Grounded, featuring James Dearden, the director-screenwriter son of Out of the Clouds’s director (and son of one its co-stars) discusses the film; Jonathan Rigby profiles actor James Robertson Justice, a big character star who sadly died in poverty, much like Terry-Thomas, in a detailed piece generous with film clips from other films; Waverly Steps (1948), a “city symphony” portrait of Edinburgh, directed by Out of the Clouds’s screenwriter; and an image gallery and dialogue continuity script.
Once again, Indicator sent The Digital Bits only a check-disc, and thus not the booklet normally accompanying the disc, which reportedly features new essays and cast profiles.
Out of the Clouds was an atypically lavish production for Ealing Studios, then close the end of their brief but memorable run of classic films. Not great, but enjoyable.
- Stuart Galbraith IV