Flight of the Lost Balloon

Director: Nathan Juran Nathan Juran

Overview

The Woolner Brothers, ever on the cutting edge of cinema with rank imitations of popular hits, strike again with Flight of the Lost Balloon. In response to the upcoming release of Mysterious Island in 1961, the Woolners put together this cheapjack tale which, like Island, is partially set in a flying balloon. Doctor Faraday (Marshall Thompson) is an American adventurer living in Africa, who is sent to locate a scientist, missing since his plane went down in the wilderness. Since the area is inaccessible by motor flight, Faraday mans his balloon and takes off. Unfortunately, the film never does.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/15/2015
UPC:	0644827464227
Original Release:	1961
Source:	Reel Vault
Language:	English
Sales rank:	28,593

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Marshall Thompson	Doctor Farady
Mala Powers	Ellen
Douglas Kennedy	Sir Hubert
James Lanphier	Hindu
Robert Gillette	Sir Adam
Felippe Birriel	Gelan
A.J. Valentine	Giles
Blanquita Romero	The Malkia
Jackie Danois	Native Dancer

Technical Credits

Nathan Juran	Director
Bernard Woolner	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Flight of the Lost Balloon is one of many Jules Verne-ish films that proliferated in the 1950s and 1960s. The quality of these films is variable, with few being truly outstanding, but most offering at least reasonable fun. Balloon is one of the worst of this cycle, but it still gets a decent "fun" rating -- thanks primarily to the fact that it is so cheaply made that one can't help but laugh at much of it. The basic set-up is familiar, cribbed from any number of other films, and on paper the set pieces -- a condor attack, cannibals, a torture chamber -- are promising at least. But the execution in Balloon is so poor that one has little choice but to laugh. The chuckle quotient is upped considerably by the truly terrible special effects. The titular balloon is clearly a miniature, the vaunted condors are stiff and terribly fake, the matte shots hopelessly unrealistic, and so on. Director Nathan Juran has done much better genre work elsewhere; clearly, he was stifled by the lack of budget. The cast does as well as can be expected, with James Lanphier offering some deliciously over-the-top moments of slimy villainy.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler