School for Secrets [Secret Flight] *** (1946, Ralph Richardson, Raymond Huntley, Richard Attenborough, David Tomlinson, Finlay Currie, John Laurie, Michael Hordern) – Classic Movie Review 13,420

Peter Ustinov’s 1946 British black-and-white film School for Secrets [Secret Flight] stars Ralph Richardson as an electronics engineer attached to the RAF unit developing radar.

Writer/ director Peter Ustinov’s 1946 British black-and-white film School for Secrets [Secret Flight] stars Ralph Richardson along with Raymond Huntley, Richard Attenborough, David Tomlinson, Finlay Currie, John Laurie and Michael Hordern.

Officialdom wanted a celebratory film tribute to the British scientists who invented radar and developed the first radar systems to be deployed against the German Luftwaffe on the eve of the Battle of Britain in World War Two. But 25-year-old Peter Ustinov – ambitiously hired as writer, producer and director – delivered the goods in eccentric style, presenting a portrait of the scientist at work through an intriguing mix of styles from the comic to the realist.

As electronics engineer Professor James Heatherville, attached to the RAF unit developing radar, jaunty Ralph Richardson heads the mostly familiar cast, a spectacular line-up for the day.

It is based on a 1942 RAF training film for would-be boffins and of course made with the full co-operation of the UK Air Ministry.

The raid on the German radar site is based on Operation Biting, a raid by British paratroopers in February 1942 on an installation near the French village of Bruneval in northern France.

It is made by Two Cities Films, is shot at Denham Studios by Jack Hildyard, with sets designed by Carmen Dillon, and distributed by General Film Distributors.

Release date: 7 November 1946.

Running time: 108 minutes.

The cast

The cast are Ralph Richardson, Raymond Huntley, Richard Attenborough, Marjorie Rhodes, John Laurie, Ernest Jay, David Tomlinson, Finlay Currie, Pamela Matthews, Hugh Pryse, Patrick Waddington, David Hutcheson, Joan Young, Joan Haythorne, Ann Wilton, Edward Lexy, Peggy Evans, Ingrid Forrest, Geraldine Keyes, Vida Hope, Robin Bailey, D Bradley Smith, Murray Matheson, Norman Webb, Joseph Almas, Arthur Rieck, Aubrey Mallalieu, Desmond Roberts, Guy Belmore, O B Clarence, Cyril Smith, Hugh Dempster, Paul Carpenter, Kenneth Buckley, Anthony Dawson, Anthony Wyckham, Michael Hordern, Robert Long, James Hayter, Sonia Elverson, Robert Wyndham, Bill Owen, Kenneth More, and Arthur Mullard.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,420

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