Utterly preposterous low budget quasi-thriller with gaping plot holes and absurd actions but somehow still a fun view.
It's the very absurdity of the story, poison gas floating through the plane that only effects certain people, guns being shot off willy-nilly without regard to the fact that they are aboard a plane, that makes you suspend belief and enjoy it for what it is.
Very much akin to the mega popular The High and the Mighty of a few years previous, you can even hear echoes of the theme song throughout much of the film's musical score, but lacking both that film's budget and sonorous tone. One of the most jarring things is that with the plane practically falling to pieces as they fly along the passengers remain remarkably calm to the point of a feeling of inertia.
The cast like most of these rambling entertainments is composed of stars of various magnitude but none of the first rank with Virginia Mayo probably being the biggest name at the time of production. Following her is Guy Madison and theirs is really the only story with any sort of follow through cohesion. Everybody else pops in for a few minutes then disappear from the narrative either completely or for great periods. The most ignominious is probably Margaret Lindsay a busy leading lady in her Warners heyday stuck in a nothing nearly silent role. The most bizarre is Argentina Brunetti as a overbearing busybody who goes through the film with an idiotic smile plastered on her face.
Even with all its faults this is still more fun than suffering through many other more self important films. Something for a rainy afternoon.
