18 Aug The First of the Few
The First of the Few, WWII era movie starring Leslie Howard and David Niven
(1942) This British film was released in the U.S. as “Spitfire” because it is about R.J. Mitchell, the aeronautical engineer who designed the RAF fighter aircraft that was the backbone of Fighter Command. (Not to be confused with General Billy Mitchell from the U.S. after whom the B-25 Mitchell was named.)
I really do enjoy the movies about the RAF fighter pilots (Battle of Britain, for example) and how, though outnumbered, they bravely fought the Germans who were rushing over to bomb their country.
The movie begins with a series of newsreels that show what was happening in Europe in the summer of 1940 as the “dark evil of medieval tyranny has risen again in Germany and reached out over the face of the earth.” Then it goes from country to country, “Britain today stands alone and isolated encircled by a ruthless and powerful enemy.” We hear Hitler’s and Goering’s threats which were terrifying to the British people but never defeated their resolve.
From this point, an RAF Squadron Leader played by the excellent actor David Niven tells the story of how R.J. Mitchell, played by Leslie Howard, designed the Spitfire, the plane the young pilots were flying. Lots of great airplane footage, beginning in the 1920’s. Footage of the Supermarine S.4 seaplane is available nowhere else.
What struck me the most about this movie is that it was produced and directed by Leslie Howard (Ashley Wilkes in “Gone with the Wind” three years earlier) who also played the role of Mitchell. Howard was active in anti-Nazi propaganda.
The year after this movie was released the plane Howard was flying in was shot down by a Luftwaffe Junkers over the Bay of Biscay. He had just left Lisbon. There are many theories surrounding his death which you can read about in the Wikipedia article. Did the Germans think they were hitting Churchill’s plane or were they tired of his British propaganda efforts or was it all just a terrible mistake?
The First of The Few at amazon.com
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