One of Our Aircraft Is Missing ***** (1941, Godfrey Tearle, Eric Portman, Bernard Miles, Googie Withers, Pamela Brown, Peter Ustinov) – Classic Movie Review 5433

One of our British bombers – B for Bertie – is damaged by Nazi anti-aircraft fire and has come down in Holland where its stalwart pukka British crew (played by Hugh Burden, Eric Portman, Hugh Williams, Emrys Jones, Bernard Miles, and Godfrey Tearle) bails out and are hidden by brave members of the Dutch resistance (played by Googie Withers, Pamela Brown, Joyce Redman and Peter Ustinov).

Writers/ producers/ directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (aka The Archers)’s 1941 British black-and-white war drama film One of Our Aircraft Is Missing is a vigorous wartime propaganda movie as well as exciting action adventure entertainment. It is particularly well acted by the strong cast, with a thoughtful Oscar-nominated screenplay to propel it, and an impressive, powerful production to deliver it.

It was made under the authority of the United Kingdom government Ministry of Information department as part of a series of films aimed at boosting wartime morale in the UK, but its story and production lift it beyond propaganda as one of the war era’s best British films.

Symbolically, no doubt, Powell appears on screen as the air controller despatching officer who sends out the bomber.

One of Our Aircraft Is Missing is shot in black and white by future film director Ronald Neame and film edited by future film director David Lean.

Many of the outdoor sequences set in the Netherlands were shot at Boston in Lincolnshire.

Powell wanted ‘naturalism’, so there is no music score but the Dutch national anthem, Wilhelmus, is heard. RAF bombers were filmed on operations but the aerial scene of the bombing of Stuttgart was created with a large-scale model at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith. The Wellington replica covered the entire studio floor and was rigged with lights and fitted for effects shots, including explosions.

Powell encouraged Pressburger to create significant female characters, so there are strong, credible roles for Googie Withers, Joyce Redman and Pamela Brown as Dutch Resistance leaders.

The crew of B for Bertie introduce themselves and their characters’ positions on board the bomber in a sequence filmed, like most of the aircraft interiors, in a Vickers Wellington shell supplied by the RAF, with working features such as lighting and electrically powered turrets.

Also in the cast are Emrys Jones, Robert Helpmann, Alec Clunes, Hay Petrie, Roland Culver, John Longden, David Evans, John Salew, William D’Arcy, David Ward, Robert Duncan, James Carson, Valerie Moon, Gordon Jackson, James Donald and Robert Beatty.

It is made by The Archers and British National Films, and released by Anglo-American Film Corporation (1942) (UK) and United Artists (1942) (US)

It runs 102 minutes in the UK version and, hacked by 20 minutes, only 82 minutes in the US version.

It is the fourth collaboration of Powell and Pressburger, following The Spy in Black, Contraband, and 49th Parallel.

The title comes from a phrase often heard in news reports in the UK after a bombing raid: ‘One of our aircraft failed to return’, which was the working title till altered to its less-downbeat form.

The title is spoofed for One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975), with both Peter Ustinov and Hugh Burden, and for One of Our Spies Is Missing (1966).

The cast are Hugh Burden as pilot John Glyn Haggard, Eric Portman as second pilot Tom Earnshaw, Hugh Williams as navigator Frank Shelley,  Emrys Jones as wireless operator Bob Ashley, Bernard Miles as front gunner Geoff Hickman, Godfrey Tearle as rear gunner Sir George Corbett, Googie Withers as Jo de Vries, Joyce Redman as Jet van Dieren, Pamela Brown as Els Meertens, Peter Ustinov as Priest, Alec Clunes as Organist, Hay Petrie as Burgomaster, Roland Culver as Naval Officer, David Ward as First German Airman, Robert Duncan as Second German Airman, Selma Vaz Dias as Burgomaster’s wife, Arnold Marlé as Pieter Sluys, Robert Helpmann as De Jong, Hector Abbas as Driver, James B. Carson as Louis, Willem Akkerman as Willem, Joan Akkerman as Maartje, Peter Schenke as Hendrik, Valerie Moon as Jannie, John Salew as German Sentry, William D’Arcy as German Officer, Robert Beatty as Sgt Hopkins, Michael Powell as despatching officer, and Stewart Rome as Commander Reynold.

It was nominated for two Oscars. Powell and Pressburger were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay, and Ronald Neame (photography) and C C Stevens (sound) were nominated for Best Effects, Special Effects.

Powell’s nomination was his only ever Academy Award nomination. Pressburger won an Academy Award for 49th Parallel and was nominated for The Red Shoes. Surprisingly, Powell never won a competitive BAFTA Film Award, and was nominated only once, for Best British Screenplay for The Battle of the River Plate (1956) shared with Pressburger.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5433

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