THE LOST MISSILE (1958)

A narrator tells us that "the world is one minute away from the start of a hydrogen war" because a missile of unknown origin is sighted speeding across the skies of “North Europe.” Despite an attempt by the Russians to bring it down, it continues its flight, five miles up in the air, at 4,000 miles an hour, incinerating everything beneath it. The Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) estimates it will soon fly across northern Canada and wind up over New York City in an hour. At the Havenbrook Atomic Laboratory outside of New York, scientist David Loring heads a group working on Project Job (pronounced like the Biblical name), a rocket that can carry a hydrogen warhead. David is supposed to be getting married to his assistant Joan, with fellow researcher Joe as best man, but Joe's wife is about to have her baby and he has to go be with her. At the same time, Joan calls off the wedding because she thinks David is paying too much attention to his project and not enough to her. But the threat of the missile causes the center to be locked down as they search for a way to neutralize the threat. As New York City is evacuated, Joe manages to get out to make his way to the hospital. David wants the Air Force to use the Job missile to launch a hydrogen warhead at the threat Meanwhile, Canadian jets sent to intercept the missile are destroyed, as is much of Ottawa when the missile flies over the city. In the end, David delivers the warhead to the missile launch site by jeep. A gang of teenage thugs hijack the jeep and one of them opens the container holding the bomb; they all die rather quickly of radiation poisoning, leaving David to risk his life by getting back in the jeep and getting to the missile.

This is not a bad idea for a science fiction B-thriller, but it's executed cheaply and, until the last few minutes, boringly. It plays out much more like a TV show, with limited sets, lots of stock footage (nearly half the movie, it seems), and many scenes of people in rooms, at desks, in hallways, and on phones. Two effective scenes show the missile burning up a dog sled driver in Canada, and a Canadian family who are incinerated while building a snowman. Two interesting themes are touched on but not dealt with, both brought up by Joe: 1) we shouldn’t try to destroy the missile as it may have extraterrestrials on board; 2) it might have been kinder not to warn New York City about its possible fate. Against all odds, the hour-long evacuation of the city seems to go smoothly, something which is sheer fantasy. A young and unrecognizable Robert Loggia (later a busy character actor in Big, Scarface, S.O.B. and The Sopranos) is fine as David, as is Philip Pine as Joe, a character who could have used a bit more fleshing out. Ellen Parker as Joan barely registers beyond her role as the whiny but ultimately supportive love interest. Science fiction fans will wind up disappointed as no explanation is given for the missile's origin—the film feels more like propaganda for government early-warning systems. I chuckled at a short scene in which a bland folk singer has to interrupt a live TV broadcast to deliver the news of the coming apocalypse. The climax with the delinquents stealing the jeep is surprisingly effective but also feels like it came from another movie. Pictured are Pine and Loggia. [YouTube]