Battle of Britain - the film

[FourWheelDrift]

rhinochopig said:

It's the use of US equipment in BOB by the Germans that makes my teeth grind for some reason.

Before WWII they were considered the enemy, so I think it's just subliminal

[ErnestM]

rhinochopig said:

It's the use of US equipment in BOB by the Germans that makes my teeth grind for some reason. The use of models, dodgy painted on explosions, etc. I can forgive.

Not quite as bad as "Patton", however...

[FourWheelDrift]

Or all those US tanks used by the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge. They had more US tanks than the US

[anonymous-user]

I thought only America took part in WWII anyway? Or is that just Hollywood's version?

[mrmaggit]

Crossflow Kid said:

shirt said:

Would these have been replicas or the real deal? If the latter, what has happened to them all?

At least one of them is now back in the hands of its original owner. Quite the film star if you read the history.

Edited to add: Better make that two

Edited by Crossflow Kid on Wednesday 8th September 11:08

I was stood next to both of those aircraft a few weeks ago. Well, I leant against the Hurricane, actually.

[Tootles the Taxi]

dr_gn said:

Tootles the Taxi said:

if you look closely, quite a number have nine exhaust stubs on each side rather than three

Ahhhh that'll be the top secret Rolls-Royce Merlin V-18.

l'll get my coat now shall I?

[shirt]

Wacky Racer said:

I first saw "Battle of Britain" when it first came out in 1969 and thought it was poor then, and I haven't changed my opinion since...naff acting all round, although some of the action scenes are OK.

Far better (imo) is "Angels one five" from 1952 starring John Gregson and Jack Hawkins..

Why I was underwhelmed was for this reason, there were far superior war films made before it and only olivier delivered in the acting department. It was poorly photographed, and scenes that could have delivered much in the way of pathos were glossed over [i.e. lovejoy's reaction to his family dying]. I just knew that when Susannah York saw the burns victim what was coming. I will forgive her inclusion though for the scenes with her parading without full uniform

Fair play to them for the ambition, but I was expecting an epic. To respond to an early suggestion that I might've been expecting a modern action film, I was expecting anything but - most of my favourite films are from this era. Whoever directed and photographed BOB missed a golden opportunity imo.

Anyway, digressions aside, many thanks for the info. on the aircraft used. I want an 'einkel!

[Eric Mc]

There is a limit to what you can do in a less than two hour slot. The struggles the team went to to get hold of the aircraft was an epic in itself.
It has its faults and would have been bettr off not bothering with any personal stories at all - but it still stands up as a reasonable overview of what happened during the Battle.

It was produced and directed by the team that produced the Bond films.

[Mr_B]

I remember a book for sale at Duxford I think it was all about the BoB film with lots of behind the scenes pictures and details, I meant to return to the shop at the end of the day and buy it, but clean forgot... Anyway, it out there some place.

My fave scene is the flight of 3 Spits over the White Cliffs where they break and dive on the Ju87's, or at 1.45 into this YouTube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVBO61qg-kc

There is also some old 8mm film shot behind the scenes during the making of the film on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfhAMwgJTc4


Oh, I'm proud to say that the half the school when I was at primary school were sat down to wacth the film in the sports hall. The thought of doing this at school now would probably lead to complants and PC idiots moaning....

Edited by Mr_B on Wednesday 8th September 20:53

[perdu]

aeropilot said:

williamp said:

They also filmed at Hawkinge- the scene where they took off straight over the channel is Hawkinge. Which has a cracking museum, by the way.

Yes, and Hawkinge was pretty much still as it was in 1940 at the time of the filming.....so sad that the most frontline as well as last remaining all original (i.e grass runway) RAF BofB airfield couldn't have been saved in it's entireity...
I can remember driving down there just before the diggers moved in for a final 'rememberence' visit.
They also filmed at North Weald too, the distinctive line of tall trees being very evident in the 'dispersal hut - you can teach monkey's to fly better than that' scenes.

My dad was at Hawkinge during the BofB as an armourer

I grew up with many a tale of working all those hours and being bombed, too

Tales of slit trenches and getting on with reloading aircraft as soon as the sky was clear

Now he has passed on I hope to get to Hawkinge Museum just for a few quiet moments "with him" some day

[Paul Dishman]

I remember watching Battle of Britain in a packed cinema, the atmosphere was really intense a cheer went up when the raid coming in over the North Sea was intercepted by Christopher Plummer's squadron.

I know there are alot of mistakes and 1970s haircuts, but Susannah York in suspenders left a permanent impression on my 16 year old psyche

[Simpo Two]

Mr_B said:

Oh, I'm proud to say that the half the school when I was at primary school were sat down to wacth the film in the sports hall. The thought of doing this at school now would probably lead to complants and PC idiots moaning...

Ah yes, we haven't heard the word 'Jingoistic' bandied about since Falklands days.

Perhaps we make such a big deal about WW2 because Nazi Germany is the only thing/group/nation we're allowed to have a pop at (because they no longer exist and were very bad).

Have a pop at any other country and it's either Racist or Xenophobic or both. So there's only Nazi Germany left, and we have to get it out of our systems there.

[FourWheelDrift]

Mr_B said:

Oh, I'm proud to say that the half the school when I was at primary school were sat down to wacth the film in the sports hall. The thought of doing this at school now would probably lead to complants and PC idiots moaning...

I'm pretty that was also shown at my middle school (early to mid 1980s) as one of the annual films. But then again others shown were Morecambe & Wise in The Magnificent Two and 10 Rillington Place, the mass murder film about John Christie staring Richard Attenborough. I wonder what the current PC nannies would make of that, I mean Morecambe & Wise!

[anonymous-user]

Simpo Two said:

Perhaps we make such a big deal about WW2 because Nazi Germany is the only thing/group/nation we're allowed to have a pop at

Oh I dunno, Blatchat and the L7C in general get quite a regular kicking in the Caterham forum.