In 1953, two British B-films were released with very similar plots, both fitting into a very specific genre: spy melodrama disguised as science fiction thriller. SPACEWAYS is set at the Deanfield Experimental Station in England where a group of scientists is working on getting a satellite into permanent orbit around the Earth that could be used as an observatory, though some worry it might also be used to store nuclear weapons. The scientists include Prof. Keppler, the head of the program; American engineer Steve Mitchell, fuel expert Toby Andrews; animal expert Philip Crenshaw who works with the mice they send up in experiments; and mathematician Lisa Frank. At a cocktail party celebrating getting the OK from General Hayes to keep working, Steve's wife Vanessa, tired of living under government restrictions, glowers at her husband and sneaks off to have a kissing session with Philip. Meanwhile, Steve is consoled by Lisa. The next test launch goes badly; the rocket goes into orbit but fails to deploy a satellite, perhaps because of too much weight in the fuel tanks. It's soon discovered that Philip (who may be a spy) and Vanessa have vanished from the heavily guarded compound, and an investigator named Smith comes up with the far-fetched theory that the jealous Steve killed the two and put their bodies in the rocket's fuel tanks. Eventually, Steve, who has taken to canoodling with Lisa, decides to go up into space himself and bring back the orbiting rocket to prove the bodies aren't there. Eva Bartok (Lisa), pictured at left with Duff (Lisa) and Cecle Chevreau (Vanessa) outshine the male lead, the rather drab and stolid Howard Duff (Steve). Other standouts are Alan Wheatley as Smith and Michael Medwin as Toby.
THE NET (American title PROJECT M7) has a very similar plot as a team of scientists work at an experimental station in England, trying to perfect a new (and very futuristic looking) supersonic plane that will fly three times faster than current planes. Michael Heathley, the inventor of the M7, is gung ho on giving it a manned test, but his boss, Prof. Carrington, vetoes him and insists on ground-controlled tests only. At a cocktail party, we meet Lydia, Michael's wife who is getting a little tired of her husband’s single-mindedness; Alex, a doctor and ground control worker who starts a mild flirtation with Lydia; Dr. Dennis Bord, a somewhat suspicious Scotsman; Sam, who handles security; and Brian, Michael's young protege. That night, Carrington dies from a fall off of a dock walkway (which reads as suspicious to us) and Michael pressures the group into okaying a manned flight. He also pressures Brian to be his reluctant but loyal co-pilot. If they get into trouble, they can flip a switch and the ground control station can take over, but during the flight they both lose consciousness due to lack of air pressure, and Brian comes to just in time to flip the switch. The new boss decides to go back to unmanned flights and appoints Brian to become Michael’s superior, a move which doesn't sit well with either of them. In the end, Michael decides to sneak the plane out for a pre-dawn test with Dennis (who may be a spy) as his co-pilot. He regrets his decision. The leads here are all fine, especially James Donald as Michael, Herbert Lom as Alex, Robert Beatty as Sam, and Patric Doonan as Brian. Pictured are Doonan and Muriel Pavlow
These movies were released within a few months of each other; THE NET was first but I saw SPACEWAYS first, and a review of SPACEWAYS at the Scifist site led me to THE NET. It doesn't seem likely that deliberate copying occurred as both were based on preexisting works (THE NET based on a novel, SPACEWAYS on a radio play). But it is odd how the films mirror each other: science research projects, a small group of researchers confined to one base with the possibility of a spy in their midst, an adulterous relationship, a climax which puts our hero in high flying peril. Approached for their sci-fi elements, both would be disappointing—they're basically melodrama thrillers with futuristic aircraft thrown in. But luckily I enjoy these B-movie thrillers on their own so I found both of them interesting and watchable. Both directors do solid if unexceptional work—SPACEWAYS from Hammer stalwart Terence Fisher, THE NET from Anthony Asquith who the year before did the very stagy adaptation of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. I'd give a slight edge to THE NET with its more developed characterizations. slightly better cast (Lom and Doonan are particularly good), cool looking plane, and more thrilling climax. The odd title comes from a reference in the first scene when one character compares confinement to the base to being stuck in a net. [YouTube]
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