Excellent but underrated film

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

The beginning of the film introduces us to three characters we will come to know throughout the film: "Spence" (Richard Greene) is a rich bachelor who's passion is trick flying. However, for some reason he's hired a pilot "Sky" Kelly (Donald Stewart) who is in the back seat of the plane while Spence is helping another man do some trick flying over New York. The plane crashes and Kelly is held responsible, losing his pilot's license. Leaving the courtroom, Kelly's sister Sydney (Carla Lehmann) is upset and tries to get her brother to appeal the ruling, but Sky just wants to go away and hide. Sydney, who happens to be a reporter, decides to pursue Spence socially, perhaps to get him to confess to his complicity. However, she is found out when a society reporter catches them at Spence's cabin in the woods. Spence is disillusioned with Sydney, and discharges her without ever knowing that she is Sky's sister.Prior to Pearl Harbor, the United States aided Britain's war effort against Germany by supplying airplanes. These B-17s had to ferried across the Atlantic ocean, which was being coordinated by Canada (or all of the characters are Canadian to begin with, it was unclear to me). Poor bored Spence, out of a sense of adventure or perhaps even guilt, decides to join the effort by helping to fly the planes overseas. When he does some trick flying on his way into the base of operations, he is thought not serious enough to be accepted. Basil Radford, from several Alfred Hitchcock films plays the Captain in charge. Sullen, Spence happens into the flight training room and finds that Sky Kelly is the instructor. After a brief scuffle with Sky, Spence is hired to help because of a shortage of pilots and an abundance of planes to be ferried. Of course, they are assigned to the same plane.Sky and Spence fly a B-17 across the Atlantic. When they arrive at an airbase just outside London, Sky meets DeBorah (Betty Stockfeld), who's in the service, and is smitten. The two pilots ride with "Debbie" into town while Sky flirts, getting to know her better. They decide to have dinner together and Sky asks Spence if he would mind going to see his sister, who's working in London, to ask her to join them later. When Spence gets to the news office, he discovers that Sydney is Sky's sister. She's still upset with him (!) for the way he treated her (!) and has Spence throw out of her office. Later, outside the rendezvous place, Sky introduces his sister to Debbie and the three of them go into the club. Spence has gone there too and, though he sits at a remote table, is seen by Sydney while Debbie and Sky dance the night away. At the end of the evening, Sky has finally decided to ask Sydney to dance and, after he apologizes, they become fast friends. Then an air raid siren sounds and Debbie must leave to discharge her responsibilities. The others decide to go with her, after all Sydney's a reporter, and we get to see the horrors of what it was like living in London at the time when being bombed by Germany was a nightly occurrence (it looks like actual footage is used)Sky and Spence return to Canada and sign up as pilots in their Air Force. The date is July 14, 1941. After training et al, they return to London to find Debbie and Sydney who seem to have become friends as well. Also, coincidentally, the men find themselves working for a British Wing Commander (Sidney King) who just happens to be Debbie's brother (and a Lord). Their first mission is to fly to Berlin and destroy a plant which provides power to three German armament factories.Since this film is primarily propaganda, you can probably guess the outcome of the mission. Of course, there is some intrigue and some really AWFUL special effects, besides a bunch of grimaces made to look like acting. I have to say that out of all of the obscure films I've reviewed recently, this is one of the worst overall.

There was little about this movie worth watching, but there was a little. The plot was an afterthought, the dialog childish, special effects were marginal (even for 1941), the aeronautic aspects were suitable for use in cartoons. But there were some great shots of early versions of the B17 (known as Fortress I to the RAF). If you're a fan of the B17, struggle through the nonsense for these rare pictures.The initial private plane crash scene was ridiculous as was the trial determining that the two drunken pilots in the front seat (at the controls) were not at fault but Sky, the passenger-pilot in the rear seat, was. What? Was the judge drunk too? And what kind of fool was Sky to even consider getting into a plane with two drunken pilots? Flash forward to the Berlin mission. An engine is on fire. Extinguisher didn't work – solution? Climb out on the wing and stuff your seat cushion into the damaged engine. Brilliant - does this work on airliners? Conclusion: Does the aircraft successfully return to base? Do Spence and Sky become friends? Does the romance between Sky and Deborah blossom? Do Spence and Sydney get together? If you think the movie will answer these questions guess again.A side note: Contrary to what others have posted, the B17 was not "hated" by the Brits ("their British crews generally were quite pleased with the Fortress" http://home.att.net/~jbaugher2/b17_6.html) What dissatisfaction there was came from the Brits holding unreasonably high expectations of an early version of the plane. While early-on the Brits carried out high altitude daylight missions they soon switched to lower altitude night time missions as effectiveness and survivability was greater.The film accurately depicts the B17A version which lacked among other things the dorsal and ball turrets and the tail gunner position. These improvements were made in large part due to RAF input and greatly improved the effectiveness and survivability of the aircraft allowing the Flying Fortress to become the symbol of the WWII European air war.

Routine script, cardboard performances and a plot that is almost invisible gives one no excuse for recommending this RAF aviation drama of wartime England.Dimpled matinée idol RICHARD GREENE is incapable of stirring up any interest in what little plot there is. He's not entirely to blame since his role is extremely underwritten and devoid of any character. For those fascinated by glimpses of the Flying Fortresses in action, so be it. Actual bombing footage is about all the film offers in the way of any visual excitement.This is no more than a shabby programmer masquerading as an A movie at a time when these sort of stories about aviators on bombing missions over Germany were done with much more style and attention to detailed performances. None of the characters are anyone you could care about.The romance is clumsily handled and except for a few scenes of an actual bombing mission at the end, there is nothing to distinguish it from dozens of other routine service films. As a drama dealing with the RAF, it is inept and weak in characters and plot line.

It's difficult to find anything right about this movie. The major male supporting actor is an American who behaves like a 14-year-old, the male lead is an accomplished pilot who is made a navigator, and considering the demand for fighter pilots in Britain at the time that is ludicrous. Just as ludicrous is the idea that Berlin would be bombed in daylight in 1940 by a squadron of B-17's flown by British pilots - the British hated the B-17. During the raid, the gunners shoot down 4 German fighters (possible but highly unlikely, however scenes like this were not unusual in films made during the war years). On the way back from the raid the #2 engine is hit by flak, catches fire and the extinguisher doesn't work. The male lead then proceeds to climb onto the wing of the a/c while in the air, and does something or other (it's impossible to ascertain what) and puts out the fire. The concept of a person hanging onto the wing of a B-17 while it's in the air, particularly while over enemy territory, is so ridiculous as to be nothing but laughable. Factually, as I recall, all the Americans flying with the RAF during WW2 were in the Eagle Squadron, and all flying fighters...none were in bombers. If they had been, they'd not have been in B-17's.I like WW2 movies, but this one was really very, very bad. It's hard to imagine the most naive of viewers, even in those years, accepting any of this as other than a kid's comic book story, and a pretty poor one even for a 10-year-old.