One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942) — War Drama / Hugh Burden, Eric Portman, Hugh Williams

Описание: The British Crew of an RAF Bomber, Forced to Bail Out Over German-Occupied Netherlands, Seeks Help from Dutch Civilians to Escape...

Plot (may contain spoilers): The crew of an RAF Vickers Wellington bomber are forced to bail out over the Netherlands near the Zuider Zee after one of their engines is damaged during a nighttime raid on Stuttgart. Five of the six airmen find each other; the sixth goes missing. The first Dutch citizens they encounter, led by English-speaking school teacher Else Meertens, are suspicious at first as no aircraft is reported to have crashed in the Netherlands (the abandoned bomber actually reaches England before crashing). After much debate and some questioning, the Dutch agree to help, despite their fear of German reprisals.

Accompanied by many of the Dutch, the disguised airmen, led by the pilots, bicycle through the countryside to a football match where they are passed along to the local burgomaster. To their astonishment, they discover their missing crewman playing for one of the teams. Reunited, they hide in a truck carrying supplies to Jo de Vries.

De Vries pretends to be pro-German, blaming the British for killing her husband in a bombing raid (whereas he is actually in England working as a radio announcer). She hides them in her mansion, despite the Germans being garrisoned there. Under cover of an air raid, she leads them to a rowing boat. The men row undetected to the sea, but a bridge sentry finally spots them and a shot seriously wounds the oldest man, Sir George Corbett. Nevertheless, they reach the North Sea.

They take shelter in a German rescue buoy, where they take two shot-down enemy aviators prisoner, but not before one sends a radio message. By chance, two British boats arrive first. Because Corbett cannot be moved, they simply tow the buoy back to England. Three months later, he is fully recovered, and the crew board their new four-engine heavy bomber, a Short Stirling.

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One of Our Aircraft Is Missing is a 1942 British black-and-white war film, mainly set in the German-occupied Netherlands. It was the fourth collaboration between the British writer-director-producer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and the first film they made under the banner of The Archers.

Although considered a propaganda film and made under the authority of the Ministry of Information as part of a series of film productions specifically aimed at morale in the United Kingdom, it is elevated by the story and production values above the usual jingoistic fare. Today, One of Our Aircraft Is Missing is considered one of the "best of British films of the era."

A reversal of the plot of Powell and Pressburger's previous film, 49th Parallel (1941), One of Our Aircraft Is Missing has the British trying to escape with the help of various locals. In the 49th Parallel, the Germans stranded in Canada argued and fought amongst themselves, while the British fliers in this film work well together as a team.

Cast
Hugh Burden as John Glyn Haggard, pilot of B for Bertie
Eric Portman as Tom Earnshaw, second pilot
Hugh Williams as Frank Shelley, observer/navigator
Emrys Jones as Bob Ashley, wireless operator
Bernard Miles as Geoff Hickman, front gunner
Godfrey Tearle as Sir George Corbett, rear gunner
Googie Withers as Jo de Vries
Joyce Redman as Jet van Dieren
Pamela Brown as Els Meertens
Peter Ustinov as Priest
Alec Clunes as Organist
Hay Petrie as Burgomaster
Roland Culver as Naval Officer
David Ward as First German Airman
Robert Duncan as Second German Airman
Selma Vaz Dias as Burgomaster's wife (as Selma Van Dias)
Arnold Marlé as Pieter Sluys
Robert Helpmann as De Jong
Hector Abbas as Driver
James B. Carson as Louis
Willem Akkerman as Willem
Joan Akkerman as Maartje
Peter Schenke as Hendrik
Valerie Moon as Jannie
John Salew as German Sentry
William D'Arcy as German Officer
Robert Beatty as Sgt. Hopkins
Michael Powell as Despatching Officer (also a director-producer)
Stewart Rome as Cmdr. Reynold



This document includes material from the Wikipedia article "One of Our Aircraft Is Missing" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_of_Our_Aircraft_Is_Missing#

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