biographical film
A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...
about aviator
Douglas Bader
Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared ...
, based on the 1954 biography of the same name by
Paul Brickhill
Paul Chester Jerome Brickhill (20 December 191623 April 1991) was an Australian fighter pilot, prisoner of war, and author who wrote '' The Great Escape'', '' The Dam Busters'', and ''Reach for the Sky''.
Early life
Brickhill was born in Melbou ...
. The film stars
Kenneth More
Kenneth Gilbert More, Order of the British Empire#Current classes, CBE (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English film and stage actor.
Initially achieving fame in the comedy ''Genevieve (film), Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many ...
and was directed by
Lewis Gilbert
Lewis Gilbert (6 March 1920 – 23 February 2018) was an English film director, producer and screenwriter who directed more than 40 films during six decades; among them such varied titles as '' Reach for the Sky'' (1956), ''Sink the Bismarck!' ...
. It won the
BAFTA Award for Best British Film
The BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts presented at the British Academy Film Awards. The award was first given at the 1st British Academy Film Awards, first recognising the ...
of 1956. The film's composer
John Addison
John Mervyn Addison (16 March 19207 December 1998) was a British composer best known for his film scores.
Early life
Addison was born in Chobham, Surrey to a father who was a colonel in the Royal Field Artillery, and this influenced the de ...
was Bader's brother-in-law.
Plot
In 1928, Douglas Bader joins the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
(RAF) as a Flight Cadet. Despite a friendly reprimand from Air Vice-Marshal Halahan for his disregard for service discipline and flight rules, he successfully completes his training and is posted to No. 23 Squadron at
RAF Kenley
The former Royal Air Force Station Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley was an airfield station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the RAF in the Second World War. It played a significant role during the Battle of Britain ...
. In 1930, he is chosen to be among the pilots for an aerial exhibition.
Later, although his flight commander has explicitly banned low level
aerobatics
Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...
(as two pilots have been killed trying just that), he is goaded into it by a disparaging remark by a civilian pilot. The wing tip of his bi-plane touches the ground during his flight and he crashes dramatically, and is clearly badly injured.
Mr Joyce, surgeon at the
Royal Berkshire Hospital
The Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) is a large NHS hospital in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It provides acute hospital services to the residents of the western and central portions of Berkshire, and is managed by the Ro ...
, has to amputate both legs to save Bader's life. During his convalescence, he receives encouragement from Nurse Brace. Upon his discharge from the hospital, he sets out to master prosthetic legs. Out for a drive with two other RAF pals, they stop at a tearoom, and here he meets waitress Thelma Edwards. Once he can walk on his own, he asks her out.
Despite his undiminished skills, he is refused flying duties simply because there are no regulations covering his situation. Offered a desk job instead, he leaves the RAF and works unhappily in an office. He and Thelma marry at a registry office on a wet afternoon.
As the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
starts, Bader talks himself back into the RAF. He is soon given command of a squadron comprising mostly dispirited
Canadians
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
who had fought in France. Improving morale and brazenly circumventing normal channels to obtain badly needed equipment, he makes the squadron operational again. They fight effectively in the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
. Bader is then put in charge of a new, larger formation of five squadrons. Later, he is posted to
RAF Tangmere
RAF Tangmere was a Royal Air Force station located in Tangmere, England, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain, and one of several stations near Chichester, West Sussex. The famous Second World War aces Wing Commander Douglas Bader, a ...
and promoted to
wing commander
Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...
.
In 1941, Bader has to bail out over France. He is caught, escapes, and is recaptured. He then makes such a nuisance of himself to his jailers, he is repeatedly moved from one POW camp to another, finally ending up in
Colditz Castle
Castle Colditz (or ''Schloss Colditz'' in German) is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns of Hartha and Grimma on a hill spur over the r ...
. He is liberated after four years of captivity. The war ends (much to Thelma's relief) before Bader can have "one last fling" in the Far East.
On 15 September 1945, the fifth anniversary of the greatest day of the Battle of Britain, Bader, now a
group captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...
, is given the honour of leading eleven other battle survivors and a total of 300 aircraft in a
flypast
A flypast is a ceremonial or honorific flight by an aircraft or group of aircraft. The term flypast is used in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. In the United States, the terms flyover and flyby are used.
Flypasts are often tied in w ...
over London.
Cast
Credited
*
Kenneth More
Kenneth Gilbert More, Order of the British Empire#Current classes, CBE (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English film and stage actor.
Initially achieving fame in the comedy ''Genevieve (film), Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many ...
Muriel Pavlow
Muriel Lilian Pavlow (27 June 1921 – 19 January 2019) was an English actress. Her mother was French and her father Russian.
Film and television career
Muriel was born in Lewisham, south-east London, to Boris Pavlov, a Russian émigré and ...
as Thelma Edwards (later Bader)
*
Lyndon Brook
Lyndon Brook (10 April 1926 – 9 January 2004) was a British actor, on film and television.
Family and early life
Lyndon Brook was born on 10 April 1926 in Los Angeles, California, to British parents. He came from an established acting fami ...
as Flight Cadet (later Wing Commander) Johnny Sanderson
*
Lee Patterson
Lee Patterson (March 31, 1929 – February 14, 2007) was a Canadian film and television actor.
Life and career
Patterson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, as Beverley Frank Atherly Patterson. He attended the Ontario College of Art and D ...
Alexander Knox
Alexander Knox (16 January 1907 – 25 April 1995) was a Canadian actor on stage, screen, and occasionally television. He was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his performance as Woodrow Wilson in the film '' Wilson'' (1944).
...
as Mr J. Leonard Joyce, surgeon at Royal Berkshire Hospital
*
Dorothy Alison
Dorothy Alison (4 April 1925 – 17 January 1992) was an Australian stage, film and television actress
Biography
Dorothy Alison was born in the New South Wales mining city of Broken Hill and educated at Sydney Girls High School. She moved t ...
Sydney Tafler
Sydney Tafler (31 July 1916 – 8 November 1979) was an English actor who after having started his career on stage, was best remembered for numerous appearances in films and television from the 1940s to the 1970s.
Personal life
Tafler was bor ...
as Robert Desoutter, prosthetics expert
*
Howard Marion-Crawford
Howard Marion-Crawford (17 January 1914 – 24 November 1969), the grandson of writer F. Marion Crawford, was an English character actor, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the 1954 television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. In 19 ...
as Wing Commander (later Group Captain) Alfred "Woody" Woodhall
*
Jack Watling
Jack Stanley Watling (13 January 1923 – 22 May 2001) was an English actor.
Life and career
The son of a travelling scrap metal dealer, Watling trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts as a child; and made his stage debut in ''Where ...
as Peel
*
Nigel Green
Nigel McGown Green (15 October 192415 May 1972) was an English character actor. Because of his strapping build, commanding height () and regimental demeanour he would often be found playing military types and men of action in such classic 1960s ...
Ronald Adam
General Sir Ronald Forbes Adam, 2nd Baronet, (30 October 1885 – 26 December 1982) was a senior British Army officer. He had an important influence on the conduct of the British Army during the Second World War as a result of his long tenure ...
Walter Hudd
Walter Hudd (20 February 1897 – 20 January 1963) was a British actor and director.
Stage career
Hudd made his stage debut in ''The Manxman'' in 1919, and later toured as part of the Fred Terry Company; first attracting serious attention play ...
Philip Stainton
Philip Stainton (9 April 1908 – 1 August 1961) was an English actor. Stainton appeared in several Ealing comedies and major international movies. He specialized in playing friendly or exasperated uniformed policemen, but also appeared in ...
as Police Constable
*
Eddie Byrne
Eddie Byrne (31 January 1911 – 21 August 1981) was an Irish actor.
Career
His stage work included many appearances with Dublin's Abbey Theatre, and also work with the National Theatre in London.
Outside Ireland he is probably best known ...
as Flight Sergeant Mills, RAF Cranwell instructor
*
Beverley Brooks
Patricia Evelyn Beverley Matthews Harmsworth, Viscountess Rothermere (5 May 1929 – 12 August 1992) was an English socialite and actress. As Beverly Brooks, she appeared in several films, such as '' Reach for the Sky'' (1956).
Early life
Patri ...
as Sally, Bader's girlfriend
*
Michael Ripper
Michael George Ripper (27 January 1913 – 28 June 2000) was an English character actor.
He began his film career in quota quickies in the 1930s and until the late 1950s was virtually unknown; he was seldom credited. Along with Michael Gough ...
as Warrant Officer West, 242 Squadron crew chief
*
Derek Blomfield
Derek Blomfield (31 August 1920 – 23 July 1964) was a British actor who appeared in a number of stage, film and television productions between 1935 and his death in 1964.
Career
He trained at LAMDA and made his first stage appearance a ...
as Civilian Pilot at Reading Aero Club
*
Avice Landone
Avice Landone (1 September 191012 June 1976) was an English actress who appeared in British television and film.
She was born in Quetta, British India, and made her screen debut in the 1948 film '' My Brother Jonathon''. From 1961 she co-starre ...
as Douglas Bader's Mother
*
Eric Pohlmann
Eric Pohlmann (german: Erich Pohlmann; born Erich Pollak; 18 July 1913 – 25 July 1979) was an Austrian theatre, film and television character actor who worked mostly in the United Kingdom. He is known for voicing Ernst Stavro Blofeld, th ...
as Adjutant at Prison Camp
*
Michael Gough
Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British character actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer Horror Films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthu ...
as Flying Officer W. J. "Pissy" Pearson, RAF Cranwell flying instructor
*
Harry Locke
Harry Locke (10 December 1913 – 7 September 1987) was an English character actor.
He was born and died in London. He married Joan Cowderoy in 1943 and Cordelia Sewell in 1952. He was a good friend of the poet Dylan Thomas. Their friendship in ...
as Bates, Bader's batman
*
Sam Kydd
Samuel John Kydd (15 February 1915 – 26 March 1982) was a British-Irish actor. His best-known roles were in two major British television series of the 1960s, as the smuggler Orlando O'Connor in '' Crane'' and its sequel ''Orlando''. He als ...
as Warrant Officer Blake, Air Ministry medical clerk
Uncredited
* Frank Atkinson as Tullin, Desoutter's assistant
* Balbina as Lucille Debacker, nurse at St Omer hospital
* Michael Balfour as Orderly
*
Trevor Bannister
Trevor Gordon Bannister (14 August 193414 April 2011) was an English actor best known for having played the womanising junior salesman Mr Lucas in the sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' from 1972 to 1979, and for his role as Toby Mulberry Smith i ...
as Man Listening to Radio
*
Victor Beaumont
Victor Beaumont (born Peter Wolff; 7 November 1912 – 21 March 1977) was a German-born British film and television actor.
Biography
Beaumont billed under his birth name of Peter Wolff, appeared in a number of German films (''Revolt in the ...
as German Doctor at St Omer hospital
* Peter Burton as Peter, officer at RAF Coltishall
* Peter Byrne as Civilian Pilot at Reading Aero Club
* Paul Carpenter as Hall, 242 Squadron
*
Hugh David
Hugh David (17 July 1925 – 11 September 1987) was a British actor turned television director. David was born in Aberystwyth, Wales. His directorial credits include ''Compact'', ''Z-Cars'', '' The Pallisers'' and ''Doctor Who
''Doct ...
as Flight Cadet Taylor, RAF Cranwell
*
Stringer Davis
James Buckley Stringer Davis, generally known as Stringer Davis (4 June 1899 – 29 August 1973), was an English character actor on the stage and in films, and a British army officer who served in both world wars. He was married to actress Marg ...
as Cyril Borge
* Guy du Monceau as Gilbert Petit, French Resistance
*
Anton Diffring
Anton Diffring (born Alfred Pollack, 20 October 1916 – 19 May 1989) was a German-born character actor who had an extensive career in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1980s, latterly appearing in international films. He appeared in ove ...
as German
Stabsfeldwebel
''Stabsfeldwebel '' (StFw or SF; ) is the second highest Non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in German Army and German Air Force. It is grouped as OR-8 in NATO, equivalent to a First Sergeant in the United States Army, and to Warrant Officer C ...
in French Village
*
Basil Dignam
Basil Dignam (24 October 1905 – 31 January 1979) was an English character actor.
Basil Dignam was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire. Before the acting, he tried many jobs, from a company clerk to a journalist. He acted on film and ...
as Air Ministry Doctor
*
Raymond Francis
Raymond Francis (6 October 1911- 24 October 1987) was a British actor best known for his role as Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart in the Associated-Rediffusion detective series ''Murder Bag'', ''Crime Sheet'' and ''No Hiding Place''. ...
as Wing Commander Hargreaves
* Alice Gachet as Madame Hiecque, French Resistance
*
Philip Gilbert
Philip Gilbert (March 29, 1931 – January 6, 2004) was a Canadian actor.
Background
Gilbert was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and educated at Vancouver College. He was a player with the Rank Organisation, appearing in many films during ...
as Canadian Pilot with 242 Squadron
* Fred Griffiths as Lorry Driver
* Alexander Harris as Don Richardson
*
Charles Lamb
Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his ''Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book ''Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–18 ...
as Walker, Desoutter's assistant
* Jack Lambert as
Adrian Stoop
Adrian Stoop (27 March 1883 – 27 November 1957) Scrum.com was an
*
Barry Letts
Barry Leopold Letts (26 March 1925 – 9 October 2009) was an English actor, television director, writer and producer, best known for being the producer of '' Doctor Who'' from 1969 to 1974.
Born in Leicester, he worked as an actor in theatre ...
as Tommy
*
Richard Marner
Richard Marner (born Alexander Pavlovich Molchanov, russian: Александр Павлович Молчанов, translit=Aleksandr Pavlovič Molčanov; 27 March 192118 March 2004) was a Russian-British actor. He was probably best known for h ...
as German Officer in Staff Car
*
Roger Maxwell
Roger Francis Hamilton Maxwell (born 21 March 1941) is a former New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1984 to 1999, representing the National Party.
Early life
Maxwell was born in South Canterbury. He obtained his tertiary education at Li ...
as Man at the Pantiles
* Rene Poirier as Monsieur Hiecque, French Resistance
*
Clive Revill
Clive Revill is a New Zealand actor, best known for his performances in musical theatre and the London stage. A veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he has also starred in numerous films and television programmes, often in character parts. ...
as RAF Medical Orderly at RAF Uxbridge
* George Rose as Squadron Leader Edwards, staff officer, Fighter Command
* John Stone as Limping Officer
* Jack Taylor as British Pilot with 242 Squadron
*
Russell Waters
Russell Waters (born 10 June 1908, Glasgow, Lanarkshire – died 19 August 1982, Richmond, Surrey) was a Scottish film actor.
Waters was educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School, Glasgow and the University of Glasgow. He began acting with the ...
as Pearson
*
Ernest Clark
Ernest Clark (12 February 1912 – 11 November 1994) was a British actor of stage, television and film.
Early life
Clark was the son of a master builder in Maida Vale, and was educated nearby at St Marylebone Grammar School. After leaving sch ...
as Wing Commander W. K. Beiseigel
*
Gareth Wigan Gareth Wigan (December 2, 1931 – February 13, 2010) was a British agent, producer and studio executive known for working on such films as George Lucas's '' Star Wars''. His early recognition of the power of the global entertainment market allo ...
as Woodhall's Assistant
Aircraft
Production
To depict the various Royal Air Force bases realistically, principal filming took place in Surrey at
RAF Kenley
The former Royal Air Force Station Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley was an airfield station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the RAF in the Second World War. It played a significant role during the Battle of Britain ...
, and around the town of Caterham. The cricket match was filmed at nearby Whyteleafe recreation ground. Studio work was completed at
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London.
The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...
. Available wartime combat aircraft including
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...
and
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
fighters were arranged to take on the aerial scenes.
Richard Burton
Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...
was the first choice for the lead but he dropped out when he was offered the lead in ''
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
'' at what Gilbert describes as "three or four times the salary".
Kenneth More was cast instead at a fee of £25,000. Producer Daniel Angel recalled:
My wife said to me, 'Kenneth More is Douglas Bader.' And so he was! He was a good actor, but, looking back, I don't think he was all that versatile and he wasn't physically a very attractive man. He couldn't play love scenes. He was more of a playboy type. He was Douglas Bader! Bader wasn't a technical adviser but I suppose Kenny More modelled himself physically on Bader.
More arranged to meet Bader to prepare for the role. They played a round of golf; much to More's surprise (as he was a good golfer), Bader beat him decisively.
Lewis Gilbert said Douglas Bader was difficult to deal with.
When he read the script he said I had made a terrible hash of it because I'd cut out a lot of his friends. I pointed out that the book contained hundreds of names and I had to cut it down or else the film would run for three days. He said, 'That's your problem. If you don't get my friends in, I won't double for the film,' because he was going to double for Kenneth More in long shots. I explained to him that that wouldn't stop the film being made; I said that we would undoubtedly find someone with a disability similar to his - which he did. In fact a number of his friends had helped me with the script, although we didn't tell Douglas that. Douglas wasn't in the film at all.
Angel later said that his favourite part of the film was when Bader was trying to learn how to walk again in hospital. "I've been in hospital myself, on and off since the war, and I'd seen a lot of that sort of thing," he later said. "It was a very touching performance from Dorothy Alison, who seemed to sum up so much in a few moments." Alison received a BAFTA nomination for Best British Actress.
The film's composer
John Addison
John Mervyn Addison (16 March 19207 December 1998) was a British composer best known for his film scores.
Early life
Addison was born in Chobham, Surrey to a father who was a colonel in the Royal Field Artillery, and this influenced the de ...
was Bader's brother-in-law.
Reception
The film fared well with the public, being the most popular film in the UK for 1956. When the film was released in North America in 1957, the American release version was slightly altered with 12 minutes edited out. The Rank Organisation, the film's distributor, made a concerted effort to ensure the film was successful in America, sending
Kenneth More
Kenneth Gilbert More, Order of the British Empire#Current classes, CBE (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English film and stage actor.
Initially achieving fame in the comedy ''Genevieve (film), Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many ...
over to do a press tour, and setting up Rank's own distribution arm in North America, but the public was not enthusiastic.
Because Bader had fallen out with Brickhill over the split of royalties from the book, he refused to attend the premiere, and only saw the film for the first time eleven years later, on television.
When the film was released, people associated Bader with the quiet and amiable personality of actor More. Bader recognised that the producers had deleted all those habits he displayed when on operations, particularly his prolific use of bad language. Bader once said, "
hey
Hey or Hey! may refer to:
Music
* Hey (band), a Polish rock band
Albums
* ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014
* ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980
* ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
still think 'mthe dashing chap Kenneth More was."Mackenzie 2008, p.168.
It won the
BAFTA Award for Best British Film
The BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts presented at the British Academy Film Awards. The award was first given at the 1st British Academy Film Awards, first recognising the ...
of 1956.
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Bader, Douglas. ''Fight for the Sky: The Story of the Spitfire and Hurricane''. Ipswich, Suffolk, UK: W.S. Cowell Ltd., 2004. .
* Brickhill, Paul. ''Reach for the Sky: The Story of Douglas Bader DSO, DFC''. London: Odhams Press Ltd., 1954. .
* Dando-Collins, Stephen. ''The Hero Maker: A Biography of Paul Brickhill''. Sydney, Penguin Random House, 2016. .
* Dolan, Edward F. Jr. ''Hollywood Goes to War''. London: Bison Books, 1985. .
* Hardwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Buff's Guide to Aviation Movies". ''Air Progress Aviation'' Vol. 7, No. 1, Spring 1983.
* McFarlane, Brian. ''An Autobiography of British Cinema''. London: Methuen, 1997. .
* Mackenzie, S.P. ''Bader's War''. London: Spellmount Publishers, 2008. .
* More, Kenneth. ''More or Less.'' London: Hodder & Staughton, 1978. .