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''The Sound Barrier'' (aka in the United States, as ''Breaking Through the Sound Barrier'' and ''Breaking the Sound Barrier'') is a British 1952 film directed by David Lean. It is a fictional story about attempts by aircraft designers and test pilots to break the sound barrier. David Lean's third and final film with his wife Ann Todd was also his first for Alexander Korda's London Films, following the break-up of Cineguild. ''The Sound Barrier'' stars Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, and Nigel Patrick. ''The Sound Barrier'' was a great box-office success, but it is now rarely seen and has become one of the least-known of Lean's films. Following on ''In Which We Serve'' (1942), the film is another of Lean's ventures into a genre of filmmaking where impressions of documentary film are created.〔Pratley 19874, p. 106.〕 ==Plot== After his aircraft company's groundbreaking work on jet engine technology in the Second World War, John Ridgefield (Ralph Richardson), its wealthy owner, employs test pilot Tony Garthwaite (Nigel Patrick), a successful wartime fighter pilot to fly new jet-powered aircraft. Garthwaite is hired by Ridgefield after marrying Ridgefield's daughter, Susan (Ann Todd). Tensions between father and daughter are accentuated by Garthwaite's dangerous job of test flying. In a noteworthy illustration of the new technology, Susan accompanies Garthwaite on a ferrying assignment of a two-seater de Havilland Vampire to Cairo, Egypt, returning later the same day as passengers on the de Havilland Comet. Ridgefield's hopes for his new jet fighter, "Prometheus", has placed the company in jeopardy. The problems faced by the then-new jet aircraft in encountering the speed of sound, the so-called "sound barrier" are ever present. In an attempt to break the sound barrier, Garthwaite crashes and is killed. Shocked at the death of her husband and her father's single-minded and heartless approach to the dangers his test pilots face, Susan walks out on her father and goes to live with Jess (Dinah Sheridan), the wife of Philip Peel (John Justin), another company test pilot. Ridgefield approaches Peel, encouraging him to continue with the challenge of piloting his test aircraft. In one crucial flight, and at the critical moment, engaging in a counterintuitive action, Peel reverses his flight controls, allowing his aircraft to break the sound barrier. Accepting that her father cared about those whose lives were lost in tests, Susan changes her plan of moving to London and takes her young son with her back to home and Sir John. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Sound Barrier」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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