One of Our Aircraft Is Missing [Blu-ray]

Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger Michael Powell

Overview

This subtle, unadorned British war drama was the second collaboration between "The Archers," Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Six British bomber crewmen are obliged to bail out over Holland. To escape detection from the Nazis, the crewmen accept the hospitality of several Hollanders, all dedicated to the freedom-fighting activities of the Underground. The film is constructed along the lines of the earlier Powell-Pressburger film The Invaders, except that the escapees are British rather than German and their Dutch contacts are willing rather than reluctant co-conspirators. The six male stars are Godfrey Tearle, Eric Portman, Hugh Williams, Bernard Miles, Hugh Burden, and Emrys Jones; among those who aid them in their flight to freedom are Googie Withers, Joyce Redman, and Peter Ustinov. The austere photography by Ronald Neame is complemented by the to-the-point editing of future director David Lean. Adding to the verisimilitude of One of Our Aircraft Is Missing is the utter absence of a musical score.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/15/2016
UPC:	0887090129312
Original Release:	1942
Rating:	NR
Source:	Olive
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:43:00
Sales rank:	4,664

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Godfrey Tearle	Sir George Corbett, Rear Gunner in B for Bertie
Eric Portman	Tom Earnshaw, Copilot in B for Bertie
Hugh Williams	Frank Shelley, Observer / Navigator in B for Bertie
Bernard Miles	Geoff Hickman, Front Gunner in B for Bertie
Hugh Burden	John Glyn Haggard
Emrys Jones	Bob Ashley
Googie Withers	Jo de Vries
Pamela Brown	Else Meertens
Joyce Redman	Jet van Dieren
Hay Petrie	Burgomeister
Arnold Marle	Pieter Sluys
Robert Helpmann	De Jong
Peter Ustinov	Priest
Alec Clunes	Organist
Roland Culver	Naval Officer
Stewart Rome	Commander
David Evans	Sentry
John Salew	Sentry
William D'Arcy	Officer
David Ward	Airman
Robert Duncan	Airman
Selma Vaz Dias	Burgomeister's Wife
Hector Abbas	Driver
James Carson	Louis,Louis
Bill Akkerman	Willem,Maartje
Peter Schenke	Hendrik
Valerie Moon	Jannie
Robert Beatty	Hopkins
Michael Powell	Dispatching Officer
Arnold Marlé	Pieter Sluys
John Longden	Actor
Willem Akkerman	Willem

Technical Credits

Michael Powell

Emeric Pressburger

Ronald Neame	Special Effects
C.C. Stevens	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Michael Powell	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Emeric Pressburger	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
John Corfield	Producer
Douglas Woolsey	Special Effects
A.W. Watkins	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

One of Our Aircraft Is Missing made quite an impression on war-time viewers when it was first released, and those who lived through World War II, especially in Europe, will still find it a moving experience. Those who did not actually experience the war will likely find Aircraft a professionally made and fairly interesting drama, but will also likely be put off by the air of propaganda that hangs over it. The term propaganda is not being used in this sense to imply that the film uses lies and untruths, although as a fiction film it is certainly free to do so; rather, it means that the film takes a particular point-of-view and pushes that point in such a way that it comes across to modern viewers as a little extreme. This is especially true in its treatment of the brave people of the Netherlands, who are presented in general more as stereotypes than as flesh and blood people. The film also lags a bit in places, although not terribly so. Compensating for these flaws is an exceptionally fine ensemble cast, evocative Ronald Neame cinematography, sharp editing, and some inventive directing by the Michael Powell-Emeric Pressburger team. The directors are especially good in portraying the oppressiveness of the Nazis without resorting to overt brutality and in finding small ways -- such as various accents -- to individualize the RAF troops. If not as effective as it was in the 1940s, One of Our Aircraft Is Missing is still a good and suspenseful war flick.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler