ALL SCI-FI

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 1:52 pm Post subject: Murder in the Air (1940)

Trust me, the poster does NOT do this movie justice . . . Rolling Eyes

So, what the hell . . . I made a better one. Cool

After all, it's a science fiction movie with a cutting edge story about a device that projects an electromagnetic pulse at a target and shorts out the electronics.

It's a cotton-pickin' EMP gun . . . in 1940! Cool

And look at the gorgeous prop they built! Shocked

Guys, this is the new Gizmo, a prop that absolute MUST have been used in other movies, even though I've never seen it before.

Furthermore, the device is initially mounted on the bridge of Navy dirigible to test it on a group of Navy war ships to prove it can disable an entire fleet!

So, is this a Top Secret Project which the government is covering up? Well, no . . . in fact, they brag about it rather boldly.

Unfortunately the movie calls it an "inertia projector". I'm not sure what the writers thought "inertia" has to so with this, but I guess they just liked the sound of it.

However, the movie describes it as a device that sends out "electrical waves" which burn out a machine's equipment. That's pretty much what an EM pulse is — a burst of electromagnetic energy that shorts out the electronics.

The proposed test on the Navy ships doesn't take place because a storm brings the dirigible down off the coast of California, but the device is retrieved, along with the survivors.

* — * — * — * — * — SPOILER ALERT — * — * — * — * — *

However, the bad guys in the story — "foreign spies" — steal the blueprints and escape in an airplane! Fortunately, FBI agent Ronald Reason saves the day by having the device mounted on a open cockpit biplane and uses it to disable the villains aircraft! Cool

Does this look freaking awesome or what! Shocked

In case you're wondering if this rare science fiction movie inspired any scientific research, consider this interesting IMDB trivia item about the movie.

There has been open speculation that the plot of this film, in part, later inspired President Ronald Reagan to undertake the Strategic Defense Initiative, better known as Star Wars.

Have I aroused your curiosity, folks? If not, here's the trailer from YouTube, compliments of Turner Classic Movies . . . which is exactly where I watched it this morning.

_______ Ronald Reagan Murder In the Air Trailer

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Krel · Guest

The weapon sounds like a High Energy Radio Frequency (HERF) gun, which is something they have been worried about being used against aircraft for at least a couple of decades.

There was a series on "The Learning Channel" a few decades back on science fiction. In it Jerry Pournelle (it may have been Larry Niven) talked about how he was a friend of Ronald Reagan, who was a science fiction fan. He pitched the Strategic Defense Imitative To President Reagan, who asked him to develop it. He gathered a collection of scientist and engineers some of whom were also science fiction authors to flesh it out. Some of the people he approached turned him down, as they didn't want ot be a part of the militarization of space. He said that President Reagan would sit laughing as he read their proposal, saying that this was going to drive the Soviets crazy trying to match this.

David.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2021 10:20 am Post subject:

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Fascinating info, David! Thanks. Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Pow · Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2021 1:14 pm Post subject:

The excellent genre magazine Filmfax did a series over a few of their issues focusing on sci~fi ray guns & cannons from films and television.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2024 5:31 pm Post subject:

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I really, really want to know if that prop was built specifically for this movie or for some earlier production, and if it was ever used again.

Many of the parts appear to be shaped on a lathe and made out of steel or aluminum. Others were made by casting the parts from molten metal.

But however it was done, the design is incredibly beautiful and extremely complex. It's a true sci-fi work of art that would look right at home in Forbidden Planet!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)