The Sound Barrier stars Ralph Richardson, Ann Todd, John Justin and Nigel Patrick.

In a crucial flight and at the critical moment, Peel performs a counterintuitive action (foreshadowed in the opening scene of the film) which enables him to maintain control of the aircraft and to break the sound barrier.

Eventually accepting that her father did care about those who died in tests, Susan changes her plan of moving to London and takes her young son with her back to live with Sir John.

[5][6] David Lean had begun to gather research based on media reports of jet aircraft approaching supersonic speeds, interviewing British aeronautic designers.

[7] The subsequent screenplay concentrated on the problems of flying at supersonic speeds and is also loosely based on the story of aircraft designer Geoffrey de Havilland and the loss of his son.

[11] Contrary to what is depicted in the film, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier was the rocket-powered Bell X-1 flown by Chuck Yeager of the United States Air Force in 1947.

According to Crowther, "this picture, which was directed and produced in England by David Lean from an uncommonly literate and sensitive original script by Terence Rattigan, is a wonderfully beautiful and thrilling comprehension of the power of jet airplanes and of the minds and emotions of the people who are involved with these miraculous machines.

And it is played with consummate revelation of subtle and profound characters by a cast headed by Ralph Richardson, Nigel Patrick, and Ann Todd".

To illustrate the passage of a plane, Lean shows only the wheat in a field being bent by air currents produced by the unseen jet.

"[18] The Sound Barrier was the 12th most popular movie at the British box office in 1952 and also did well in the United States, making a comfortable profit.