MY PERSONAL TRIBUTE TO THE FILM "BATTLE OF BRITAIN"
Quite simply, and in my humble opinion, the most complete war movie of all time. Great story, great actors, great aircraft, great dogfights, great music, in fact the lot. So how did my love of this film arise? Famous psychologists theorise that formative experiences occur in early childhood, so my parents taking me to see this at the cinema in Great Yarmouth in 1969 at the tender age of three is most likely to blame. I think it's now rated a PG, but I'll leave you to make up your own mind about my parents (Social Services, anyone?).
Cinema lobby poster
This film is not a Hollywood "re-imagining" or in any way revisionist in its treatment of the Battle; indeed, the historical accuracy with which the phases of the Battle are captured, plus the absence of jingoistic sentiment, however tempting that might have been only 28 years later, made the film as popular in Germany as it was in Britain when it was first released. The opening sequence of a lone Hurricane swooping from the clouds and performing a victory roll over a column of refugees and the retreating British Expeditionary Force, its engine spluttering momentarily, symbolise Britain's darkest hour in May 1940 - defeat in France, an army's abandoned equipment in Dunkirk, and Hitler's "Last appeal to reason" before Operation Sealion. "What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin" proclaimed the BBC Home Service.
Airfield attack scene in "Northern France"
The film moves quickly through the first phase of the Battle, mainly harassment of Channel ports and shipping during June and July ("Kanalkampf"), before arriving at the first aerial combat en masse in August - starting with Adlertag, or "Eagle day", the intended destruction of the Royal Air Force on the ground in the south of England. Although actual locations were not identified specifically in the film, the radar station attack by the vulnerable Stukas is almost certainly based on Ventnor (Isle of Wight), whilst the spectacular airfield bombardment bears many similarities to the actual attack on Biggin Hill. The latter sequence was shot at RAF Duxford, although it is still unclear to this day whether the Ministry of Defence gave their permission for the complete destruction of Hangar No. 4 (the gap is still there today!). The mass destruction of unescorted bombers over north-east England is based on the ill-fated Luftflotte V attack launched from bases in Norway, resulting from poor Luftwaffe intelligence reports ("Not even a Spitfire can be in the North and South at the same time") and Dowding's system of squadron rotation. This is one of many examples in the film where the strategic aspects of the Battle are brought to the fore.
The turning point in the Battle arrives in September when a lost German night raider mistakenly bombs London, leading to reprisal raids on Berlin and the decisive blunder by Goering in launching massed daylight raids on London. Whilst believing that this would draw the last remaining British fighters into combat, Goering's fighters only had enough fuel for 10 minutes' combat over London, leaving many of his bombers without adequate cover and bringing them within range of RAF 12 Group's "Big Wing" formations for the first time. The day-night offensive on London's docks and East End on 7 September is followed by the climactic engagement over southern England on 15 September, now commemorated by "Battle of Britain Sunday". The most spectacular aerial cinematography of the film is reserved for the latter dogfight scenes, accompanied by William Walton's harrowing music "Battle in the Air". The film concludes with the Luftwaffe commencing the night-time Blitz and the postponement of Operation Sealion, indefinitely.
Like the locations, many of the characters are not identified specifically, except for key leaders such as Dowding, Park, Leigh-Mallory, Goering, Kesselring and Milch. The casting itself was a veritable "who's who" of British acting: Michael Caine, Ralph Richardson, Michael Redgrave, Edward Fox, Christopher Plummer, Susannah York, Ian McShane, Robert Shaw and the ubiquitous Kenneth More. Look out also for a young John Savident (aka Fred Elliot in Coronation Street). Of the pilots, only Robert Shaw's character (Squadron Leader Skipper) appears to be based on a real fighter ace: "Never fly straight and level in the comabat area" is extracted almost verbatim from an instructional pamphlet written by Adolf "Sailor" Mallan. Michael Caine, aka Squadron Leader Canfield, of the equally fictitious 188 squadron and complete with RAF standard issue black labrador ("the chaps spoil her"), was contracted to another movie and had to be written out halfway through filming.
The most inspired pieces of casting though were Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding (Laurence, later Lord Olivier) and Air Vice Marshall Keith Park (Trevor Howard). Olivier's performance as "Stuffy" was based on personal meetings with Dowding and capture the latter's aloof manner perfectly. Many of the film's best lines are delivered by Olivier. When Dowding's written request to send no more squadrons to the haemorrhaging French campaign in May 1940 is met with "You do appreciate Dowding that Churchill will have to see this?", his laconic response is "That's why I wrote it". In a similar ministerial exchange about divine intervention and the importance of radar, Dowding states "More like trusting in God and praying for radar. But the essential arithmetic is that our young men will have to shoot down their young men at the rate of four to one if we're to keep pace at all". Later, refereeing an argument between Park and Leigh-Mallory over the lack of success of the latter's "Big Wing" tactics, he calmly dismisses them for the evening thus: "Gentlemen, you're missing the essential truth. We're short of 200 pilots. Those we have are tired, strained and all overdue for relief. We're fighting for survival and losing. We don't need a big wing or a small wing, we need pilots and a miracle. Goodnight gentlemen". Finally, when responding to accusations of exaggerated claims, he states: "I'm not very interested in propaganda. If we're right they'll give up. If we're wrong, they'll be in London within a week". Trevor Howard also manages to capture the essence of the charismatic 11 Group AOC Keith Park, who found his airfields in the front line: the trademark white overalls and flying visits to satellite airfields in his personal Hurricane. Howard delivers his lines at the climax of the film with understated pathos: "Is everything up?" ... "Yes sir" ... "Reserves?" ... "None" ... "That's what I've just told the Prime Minister".
The plot involving Colin and Maggie Harvey, played by Christopher Plummer and Susannah York, has been panned by many critics as "irrelevant love interest". I disagree with this strongly. Plummer, the career air force officer, expresses chauvinistic views about the role of women in the armed forces to his WAAF wife, who in turn finds herself in the thick of the battle on the ground and is reluctant to be posted near to her pilot husband. Although this symbolises the genuine contribution of women to the RAF effort, perhaps this symbolises the stresses of war on relationships and families even more. The plot culminates in the burning of Harvey in the flaming cockpit of his Spitfire, the horrific fate of many pilots. In a moment of bitter irony and sadness, Kenneth More says to Susannah York: "He isn't dead Maggie, he's going to be alright. They can do wonders nowadays, it's just a matter of time that's all. I'll get you a posting so that you can be near him" - no doubt also referring to the famous plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe and his hospital unit for burnt 'Guinea Pigs' in East Grinstead. Similarly, the effects of war on the public at large are represented by the bombing of the East End and in particular the Rest Centre containing Ian McShane's character's wife and children. The latter could be based on the Bessie Street Shelter tragedy of the time.
The ariel cinematography remains unsurpassed by any film, in spite of the development of computer animation techniques in recent years. These sequences were filmed from a converted B-25 Mitchell bomber mainly over southern England and Spain borrowing, inter alia, repainted Me Bf-109's and He-111's belonging to the Spanish Air Force. Some people claim that you can see a 'Sealink' cross-Channel ferry in one of the scenes filmed over the white cliffs near Dover. I have to say that I have scrutinised this clip time and time again and the only familiar sight I can make out is Deal Pier. The number of aircraft assembled for filming would have constituted the 11th largest air force in the world at that time. With the exception of the clearly model Stukas, the majority of special effects in the film are exceptionally realistic, as would be expected from the Producers (Harry Saltzman and Benjamin Fisz) and Director Guy Hamilton, who were associated with the early Bond movies. The only pity in my mind is that the German fleet was not supplemented with the other main types used in the Battle, the Me Bf-110, the Do-17 and the Ju-88. If you are a real anorak like me then you might also notice that the Spitfires used in the film are Mark V's (with six exhaust pipes) rather than the Mk II's used predominantly in the Battle (with three exhaust pipes).
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B-25 Mitchell filming with Spitfires near Duxford |
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The famous British composer William Walton was commissioned to write the music score for the film, having been recommended by Laurence Olivier after Walton had written the score for Olivier's film Henry V. With time pressures growing to complete the score, Ron '633 Squadron' Goodwin was drafted in and the majority of the music contained in the film is his. It was only Olivier's refusal to appear in the film's credits that led to the inclusion of Walton's "Battle in the Air" in the film's climax. The music provides a perfect counterpoint to the script: the massed brass of "Aces High March" accompanying the pompous German leaders' inspection of their Luftflotte, doleful Wagnerian horns later commemorating their colleagues missing from the mess, menacing cello and bass underlining civilian tragedy and a playful Scherzo with strings representing pre-blackout "Gay Berlin". The frequent "Battle of Britain" film theme is given a final airing as the end credits roll - not your typical credits though, but a statistical tabulation of Allied and German aircrew losses along with Winston Churchill's famous words "Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few"
Numerous important historical themes are cleverly interwoven with the main plot which begin to emerge on repeated viewing. The first is the battle-hardening of the RAF, for example the transformation of the lacklustre ground crew in Northern France to the ground crew working 48 hours solid to repair damaged aircraft; the novice pilot being told to stick to his leader "like glue" who later in the film orders novice pilots to stick to him "like glue"; or the "scrambles" taking two minutes instead of six. A second theme is the vital contribution of foreign and Commonwealth pilots in the battle; the French pilot who hops across the channel on the lap of a English pilot at the start of the film is seen at the dispersal hut at the end of the film having escaped occupation to continue the fight against Germany.
Another theme is the egalitarian nature of the wartime RAF demonstrated by the equitable contributions of the characters played by Ian McShane (working class, ex ground crew?) and Edward Fox (public school, ex University flying club?). The shifting fortunes of the Luftwaffe are illustrated by Goering berating his officers after failing to build on their earlier victories, before adopting a more concilliatry tone: "Come, my friends, I have chastised you enough. But I am here to help you. Is there anything you need". "Yes sir, give me a squadron of Spitfires" one of his underlings replies without any hint of sarcasm. The contributions of Operations Room staff (plotters) and the civilian Observer Corps are also rightly acknowledged in celluloid.
And, of course, there are the Polish squadrons. Without diminishing the success of these squadrons (in fact, the Polish 303 squadron, equipped with Hurricanes, went on to score the most victories in the Battle), frequent difficulties were experienced with language and these provide the greatest moments of humour within the film. The scene in which the late Barry Foster loses his training flight ("Stop that Polish chatter and steer 2-3-0!") as they peel away to attack a German formation below is almost pure vaudeville. "Shut up! Silence in Polish" he shouts as they leave their R/T sets on during the resulting dogfight. A parachuting Polish pilot greets farm labourers gathering the harvest in a Kentish field with a friendly "Good Afternoon". "Good afternoon, my arse. You Bosch bastard. Put your hands up, go on, put 'em up" is the response, and he is summarily marched off at the business end of an encouraging pitchfork. Look closely - he is seen at the end of the film reading the book "1000 Words In English".
A Polish pilot is greeted by farmers somewhere in Kent
There was not a clear-cut victory in the Battle of Britain, indeed the German night offensive continued into 1941 and fighter sweeps and 'tip and run' raids were common in southern England until 1944. What is clear though is that this was a battle of attrition, and the failure of the Luftwaffe to secure air superority led to the postponement of Operation Sealion. Some historians have hypothesised that Hitler was never serious about invading England and was more concerned with opening an Eastern front against Russia, but what is clear is that the Battle of Britain was a major turning point in the war which ultimately provided the launch pad for D-Day and the liberation of Western Europe. The film "Battle of Britain" therefore serves as a fitting tribute to the Allied and German aircrew who fought over the English Channel and southern England in the summer of 1940. The most complete war movie of all time, I rest my case.
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Last edited 27/05/2007 23:17