The Man in the Sky (released in the U.S. as Decision Against Time) is a 1957 British thriller drama film directed by Charles Chrichton and starring Jack Hawkins and Elizabeth Sellars.

Owner Reginald Conway needs to convince potential buyer Ashmore to place an order soon or the firm will go bankrupt.

However, he has to fly back and forth for half an hour to use up fuel, shifting the centre of gravity in the aircraft away from the dead engine to make the landing more feasible.

During the tense wait, after all the others have rejected the idea as serving no purpose, office worker Mrs Snowden takes it upon herself to notify Mitchell's wife by phone, anyway.

He explains that while he felt it was his duty with the company's fate hanging in the balance, he took the risk out of love and concern for the welfare of his family.

The aircraft portraying the "Wolverhampton Freighter" was Bristol 170 Wayfarer Mk.IIA G-AIFV of Silver City Airways, a type that had actually been flying since 1946.

"[6] Monthly Film Bulletin said "Crichton’s direction is firm and clean-cut, though he cannot disguise the thin spots in Rose’s script.

But once Hawkins gets home to demanding wife Elizabeth Sellars, Charles Crichton's melodrama loses direction.

[12]: 26  Michael Paris in From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema (1995) shared a similar perspective on the film.