The JA-3/JA-4 full-scale model in this movie is more like the Bell X-2, which had swept wings, than the Bell X-1, which had short, stubby straight wings. The movie aircraft is like the Bell X-1/X-2 rocket planes in that it has no air intakes (inlets) and therefore is not a jet. Jet aircraft have air breathing engines with the necessary inlets while rockets do not. This movie had no bearing on the design of the F-16, which is a jet. I was an aerospace engineer in F-16 advanced programs, first at Wright Field (mentioned in the movie) in the 1970s, and then at General Dynamics in the 1980s. This is one of my favorite aviation movies, even though it reflects Hollywood's dramatic idea of how aircraft are designed and developed rather than the actual process.

"Chain Lightning" is one of the strangest Bogart films you can find. While I could easily envision Bogart playing a part like this in the 1930s before he was a star, by the late 1940s (when the film was made) he was a huge star--and for films that were absolutely nothing like this film! Instead of the world-weary and cool-talking hero, here he is a bit of an action star and plays a role intended for someone significantly younger. Seeing a 50 year-old guy playing a WWII bomber pilot is patently ridiculous--especially since Humphrey Bogart looks all of 50 in the film. He also looks a bit tired and lost--mostly because it's just not his sort of film and you wonder what the folks at Warner Brothers were thinking. I assume they simply stuck him in the movie because he was under contract and they had no other films for him at the time...and any one of several dozen younger actors at the studio could have made this film. Now am I saying it's a bad film? Not really--but it IS a badly miscast picture.The film begins in the present (1949) and then looks back at the flying career of Matt Brennan (Bogart). It picks up during WWII when he's a thrill-seeking bomber pilot who refuses to go home after he completes his tour of duty and then proceeds to the post-war period where he's rather lost. He's soon recruited to fly experimental aircraft--something that Matt is SO perfect for that it would seem like the welfare of the entire free world depends on him. Now you'd THINK in a country the size of the US that they would find a pilot who is less cagey and willing to go back into the cockpit and they have to practically beg or trick him into doing this! But soon Matt's flying all sorts of craft and he's also reunited with his old flame, Jo (Eleanor Parker). What's next? See the film.What follows is a fairly standard Warner Brothers movie--one that Alan Ladd would have done well with (as he was quite nice in "The McConnell Story") and which is modestly entertaining but nothing more. The romance and 'controversy' are strictly by the numbers and offer nothing new. Not a bad film but a strange one.

Presently, test pilot Humphrey Bogart (as Matthew "Matt" Brennan) is on a dangerous flight, which worries pretty Eleanor Parker (as Joan "Jo" Holloway). She fears Mr. Bogart may crash. We will have to wait to see if he does, when flashbacks end. In the cockpit, Bogart begins his flight past, with 1943... During World War II service, bomber pilot Bogart flies dangerous missions from England to Germany, helping the Allies win the war. On the ground, he romances Parker, who serving as a nurse...After the war, Bogart is hired as chief test pilot for aircraft manufacturer Raymond Massey (as Leland Willis). He re-encounters Parker, who is being romanced by designer Richard Whorf (as Carl Troxell). Bogart eventually takes the jet plane "JA-4" on a dangerous flight, which leads us back to the opening scene. This appears to be a well-crafted story, but it is not presented well. Bogart looks inserted uncomfortably into the stock aviation footage and the romantic triangle never gets off the ground.**** Chain Lightning (2/18/50) Stuart Heisler ~ Humphrey Bogart, Eleanor Parker, Raymond Massey, Richard Whorf

I thought I had seen the worst when watching Errol Flynn in "Escape Me Never" right after "The Adventures of Robin Hood". Apparently it could get worse, I'm almost sorry I didn't see "The Big Sleep" before this, I would have died laughing."Chain Lightning" is another story about test pilots and new air plains, lot of air stunt footage, men talking men talk, sing war songs and the typical boy-loses-girl-boy-gets-girl-back routine.And I really wonder why Boggie made this movie - I thought he was a Hollywood royalty and commended top salary? Surely Lauren Becall's dresses and his cigars don't cost THAT much for him to agree to do this film?!