Today, surpassing mach 1 is an everyday event for those flying high-performance jet- and rocket-powered aircraft. But back in the early 1950s, the sound barrier was dark and mysterious. Just the kind of thing to warrant a feature film. Directed by two-time academy award winner David Lean, The Sound Barrier (also released as Breaking the Sound Barrier) is the fictionalized account of a British aviation industrialist, John Ridgefield (played by Ralph Richardson), who seems willing to offer up to the gods of Mach 1 anyone within reach in his quest to surmount said barrier. Problem is, those within reach include his aeronautically ungifted son and son-in-law, both of whom die in the line of duty before Ridgefield finds a test pilot with mad engineering skills to take the Prometheus (portrayed by a Supermarine Swift) past the treacherous barrier.
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