The Way to the stars was a Terrence Rattigan script which continues where Angels One Five left off. This time it is John Mills who plays the newly qualified pilot in 1940, a former school master attached to an established flying unit used to attacks from the enemy on their base and who have quickly become an established part of the local town and community. The focus is the small hotel with permanent paying guests which includes a married aunt and her companion niece. The new arrival also has a shaky start with his first landing and takes time to settle in.
The Squadron Leader, Trevor Howard in his first film role is shot down and killed, and his position is taken over by Michael Redgrave who initially shares a room with Mills at the airfield. Redgrave marries the manageress of the hotel and they have a son and Mills falls for the niece staying at the Golden Lion hotel public house with her aunt. He is about to pop the question when Redgrave is killed and this leads him to sever relations with the girl on the grounds that those engaged in war have no right to marry and have children until the conflict is over. Because the film is to have a happy ending, (it was released in 1945), Mills is able to survive by being transferred to operational control after completing his first period of flying missions and then is transferred back to flying, to bombers at another aerodrome after the USA enters the war.
The film pays tribute to the contribution of USSAF service personnel who also quickly settle into local life outside of flying although the brash and forward ways of some take some getting used too. The film skates over some of the realities, especially the conflicts between American and British services over relationships with unmarried girls and some wives. Instead, the focus is on a happily married USSAF flight Captain who strikes up a genuine friendship with the widow and her son, and the community, entertaining local children at an annual party arranged by the local Anglican Vicar played by Felix Aylmer. The Captain is about to be sent home to become an instructor but hesitates in part because he has not heard from his wife, because of a hint at the relationship with the landlady developing beyond friendship and because he does not want to leave his nine person crew of the Flying Fortresses who are also nearing completion of their period of mission.
Just after announcing his decision not to accept the instructor’s post there are three missing pales on a mission and after two make it back, the damaged plane of the USSAF Captain returns with one of the four engines damaged and other problems, particularly that there is a 500 pound bomb lodged which cannot be released. All nine crew members parachute to safety but the Captain refuses in case the plane falls in such a way to harm the local community and therefore he crashes the plane ending his own life. The part is played by Douglas Montgomery.
A feature of this production was the poem For Johnny
For Johnny
Do not despair.....For Johnny-head-in- air,
He sleeps as sound....As Jonny underground.
Fetch out no shroud... For Johnny-in-the-cloud;
And keep your tears...For him in after years.
Better by far......For Johnny-the-bright-star.
To keep your head.....And see his children fed.
The poem is written in the film by Michael Redgrave for his wife played by Rosamund John, it is given to Bonnar Colleano after the death of the his Captain. Bonar Colleano was an actor from New York who became a well known film and stage actor in the UK. This was his first major role and he went on to appear in a number of films set in wartime and Once a Jolly Swagman, a film about motorcycle speedway with Dirk Bogard which I remember well. He was killed in a sports car accident at the age 34 years. A very young Renee Asherson plays the niece who eventually is to marry John Mills in the film. Stanley Holloway plays a local who is generous with his cash buying the flying boys drinks and entertaining at the piano, as long as they listen to his long funny stories which he always manages to get wrong despite endless repetition. Basil Radford plays a long standing member of the aerodrome operations and Bill Owen as the young member of the ground crew who eventually gets to fly in the Lancaster Bombers with John Mills and who also survives. The film also marked the debut of a very young Jean Simmons who sings part of one song at a dance in the town the night before the children’s party at which Bonnar Colleano explains that his Captain has not been able to come and how much he cares for them all. Rosamund John reassures that the town will never forget the sacrifice made by the captain,
The film therefore covers the great part of the war in the Air. The British squadron are posted over seas for a time returning at the end of the film. John Mills, with Bill Owen in tow, has to force land at the aerodrome returning for one mission where he has been acting as the path finder and this gives him the opportunity to meet up with everyone especially Renée Asherson who has been courted by Bonar Colleano. The film also has something of the quality of First of the Few by attempting to put the war in perspective, doing this by showing the deserted airfield and quarters and those involved have gone their separate ways, after the war has ended.
.
A modern take on the young flyer of the First World War is provided in Aces High which starts at an English Public School with the Headmaster reminding of the Crusades, the Armada and that the importance of playing the game for the games sake! The head of house is Malcolm McDowell who has joined the new Army Air Force and he expresses the wish that the war will not be over before his fellow pupils are able to join in. There are shots of him with his parents and girlfriend. He is confident to the point of being arrogant and has the world before him
The scene switches to a couple of years later when one of the adoring young men at school where McDowell was head of house arrives at an airfield in France when Dowell is the Squadron Leader. He is revealed as the brother of McDowell’s fiancée. McDowell needs a constant flow of alcohol to get in a plane and to undertake the responsibility of sending a regular flow of new recruits to meet their deaths. Another young officer played by Simon Ward has lost his nerve and threaded to desert if Simon cannot find a way to get home on medical grounds. The staff officer is played by Christopher Plummer as someone who is part of the Public school upper class world of Edwardian England who tries to maintain standards amidst the horror.
This is reflected when after McDowell shoots down a plane where the pilot survives, he claims him for 24 hours to mark his survival and give him a party before going into captivity, in a scene reminiscent of the film of Colonel Blimp in which a capture German officer known to Blimp before the war is invited to dine at his club on parole.
The new pilot survives his first flight and then is taken by Dowell to the French front line to collect the German pilot and this provides the opportunity to bring home the reality of the war which the three 1939-1945 films do not. There is a crocodile of men blinded by mustard gas, medical staff covered in blood and a [padre attending to the dying and the dead,
An aged Ray Milland and Trevor Howard play staff officers at the HQ who need to know if a gap in photograph recognisance is a natural hill or a fortified position and decide a photograph must be taken although a continuous bombardment and counter bombardment of the big guns is taking place in advance of an assault to gain ground. The potential cost is calculated with the loss of a pilot or two against that of several hundred or men if they advance and find the hill is a concrete gun emplacement. When at HQ to get the orders McDowell asks about the issuing of parachutes he is told that the request is rejected because it would likely get in the way of the pilots using their initiative to protect the plane.
On a subsequent mission a pilot jumps to his death rather than stay in plane when it is on fire. The senior officers chat about Lloyd George having a bedroom next to the Cabinet Office with a separate entrance to entertain his lovers.
On the photography mission Christopher Plummer is killed although he manages to take the required photos with the plane piloted by the new recruit who is much affected by the death. The squadron is then required to attack spotting balloons and during this mission the brother in law to be gets his first kill and then accidentally crashes into an enemy fighter coming in the opposite direction. At least he has had a night out with his comrades at a local French Inn frequented by ladies of good virtue one of whom takes the young man to her home. McDowell is then seen greeting three fresh faced recruits while he tries to write a letter to the parents of his fiancée. This is most realistic of the four films and released in the mid 1970’s when feelings about the war had began to soften and a new generation had grown up without any knowledge.
The new format for American Idol has worked out better with the final thirty six divided into three groups of 12 for performance and instead of those with the lowest votes dropping out, the three with the highest votes go forward taking 9 of the 12 finals places and with three wild cards from those nominated by the judges, I assume. While it is a public vote the judges and the programme designed appears to be able to largely steer by the choice of songs, the order of singing and the adverse comments about those they do not want to further. This week I agreed with their comments and the public response which included the young man who lost his wife and the red neck construction worker also with a wife and young family. A young girl rocker also won through. I can see the young widower making it to the top three at this stage.
I did a shop at Tesco supermarket and took time to check out what was available and the prices, I walked into the town centre in the morning for the last DVD and found that the one issued was not the same as that advertised so took the voucher to Tesco to see if I could also get the one missed yesterday. Alas it was the same. However I took the opportunity to take a look and make some purchases including salami, back to the pre recent rise price which took 100 grams for £1 to £1.60. Having read that eggs in moderation do not raise cholesterol after all I bought six for two omelettes accidentally breaking the shell of one as the boxed slipped while taking from the car. It was here a salami omelette for lunch with some fried sweet pepper, followed by a banana and four crackers with spicy chutney as a started. They also do three medium size chickens for £10 but had one with an eat this weekend date was available for £3 so I also bought this for Sunday. I enjoyed a smoked Mackerel salad on the previous evening. I did not buy more Hot Cross buns. Grapes were available at the same price as the station greengrocer and were a better quality. The treat is a Lemon Tort with 2 for £1.50 and which divides into four portions so have eight in total which will last over the next two weeks if I can stretch to a piece every other day, but which is unlikely.
The Squadron Leader, Trevor Howard in his first film role is shot down and killed, and his position is taken over by Michael Redgrave who initially shares a room with Mills at the airfield. Redgrave marries the manageress of the hotel and they have a son and Mills falls for the niece staying at the Golden Lion hotel public house with her aunt. He is about to pop the question when Redgrave is killed and this leads him to sever relations with the girl on the grounds that those engaged in war have no right to marry and have children until the conflict is over. Because the film is to have a happy ending, (it was released in 1945), Mills is able to survive by being transferred to operational control after completing his first period of flying missions and then is transferred back to flying, to bombers at another aerodrome after the USA enters the war.
The film pays tribute to the contribution of USSAF service personnel who also quickly settle into local life outside of flying although the brash and forward ways of some take some getting used too. The film skates over some of the realities, especially the conflicts between American and British services over relationships with unmarried girls and some wives. Instead, the focus is on a happily married USSAF flight Captain who strikes up a genuine friendship with the widow and her son, and the community, entertaining local children at an annual party arranged by the local Anglican Vicar played by Felix Aylmer. The Captain is about to be sent home to become an instructor but hesitates in part because he has not heard from his wife, because of a hint at the relationship with the landlady developing beyond friendship and because he does not want to leave his nine person crew of the Flying Fortresses who are also nearing completion of their period of mission.
Just after announcing his decision not to accept the instructor’s post there are three missing pales on a mission and after two make it back, the damaged plane of the USSAF Captain returns with one of the four engines damaged and other problems, particularly that there is a 500 pound bomb lodged which cannot be released. All nine crew members parachute to safety but the Captain refuses in case the plane falls in such a way to harm the local community and therefore he crashes the plane ending his own life. The part is played by Douglas Montgomery.
A feature of this production was the poem For Johnny
For Johnny
Do not despair.....For Johnny-head-in- air,
He sleeps as sound....As Jonny underground.
Fetch out no shroud... For Johnny-in-the-cloud;
And keep your tears...For him in after years.
Better by far......For Johnny-the-bright-star.
To keep your head.....And see his children fed.
The poem is written in the film by Michael Redgrave for his wife played by Rosamund John, it is given to Bonnar Colleano after the death of the his Captain. Bonar Colleano was an actor from New York who became a well known film and stage actor in the UK. This was his first major role and he went on to appear in a number of films set in wartime and Once a Jolly Swagman, a film about motorcycle speedway with Dirk Bogard which I remember well. He was killed in a sports car accident at the age 34 years. A very young Renee Asherson plays the niece who eventually is to marry John Mills in the film. Stanley Holloway plays a local who is generous with his cash buying the flying boys drinks and entertaining at the piano, as long as they listen to his long funny stories which he always manages to get wrong despite endless repetition. Basil Radford plays a long standing member of the aerodrome operations and Bill Owen as the young member of the ground crew who eventually gets to fly in the Lancaster Bombers with John Mills and who also survives. The film also marked the debut of a very young Jean Simmons who sings part of one song at a dance in the town the night before the children’s party at which Bonnar Colleano explains that his Captain has not been able to come and how much he cares for them all. Rosamund John reassures that the town will never forget the sacrifice made by the captain,
The film therefore covers the great part of the war in the Air. The British squadron are posted over seas for a time returning at the end of the film. John Mills, with Bill Owen in tow, has to force land at the aerodrome returning for one mission where he has been acting as the path finder and this gives him the opportunity to meet up with everyone especially Renée Asherson who has been courted by Bonar Colleano. The film also has something of the quality of First of the Few by attempting to put the war in perspective, doing this by showing the deserted airfield and quarters and those involved have gone their separate ways, after the war has ended.
.
A modern take on the young flyer of the First World War is provided in Aces High which starts at an English Public School with the Headmaster reminding of the Crusades, the Armada and that the importance of playing the game for the games sake! The head of house is Malcolm McDowell who has joined the new Army Air Force and he expresses the wish that the war will not be over before his fellow pupils are able to join in. There are shots of him with his parents and girlfriend. He is confident to the point of being arrogant and has the world before him
The scene switches to a couple of years later when one of the adoring young men at school where McDowell was head of house arrives at an airfield in France when Dowell is the Squadron Leader. He is revealed as the brother of McDowell’s fiancée. McDowell needs a constant flow of alcohol to get in a plane and to undertake the responsibility of sending a regular flow of new recruits to meet their deaths. Another young officer played by Simon Ward has lost his nerve and threaded to desert if Simon cannot find a way to get home on medical grounds. The staff officer is played by Christopher Plummer as someone who is part of the Public school upper class world of Edwardian England who tries to maintain standards amidst the horror.
This is reflected when after McDowell shoots down a plane where the pilot survives, he claims him for 24 hours to mark his survival and give him a party before going into captivity, in a scene reminiscent of the film of Colonel Blimp in which a capture German officer known to Blimp before the war is invited to dine at his club on parole.
The new pilot survives his first flight and then is taken by Dowell to the French front line to collect the German pilot and this provides the opportunity to bring home the reality of the war which the three 1939-1945 films do not. There is a crocodile of men blinded by mustard gas, medical staff covered in blood and a [padre attending to the dying and the dead,
An aged Ray Milland and Trevor Howard play staff officers at the HQ who need to know if a gap in photograph recognisance is a natural hill or a fortified position and decide a photograph must be taken although a continuous bombardment and counter bombardment of the big guns is taking place in advance of an assault to gain ground. The potential cost is calculated with the loss of a pilot or two against that of several hundred or men if they advance and find the hill is a concrete gun emplacement. When at HQ to get the orders McDowell asks about the issuing of parachutes he is told that the request is rejected because it would likely get in the way of the pilots using their initiative to protect the plane.
On a subsequent mission a pilot jumps to his death rather than stay in plane when it is on fire. The senior officers chat about Lloyd George having a bedroom next to the Cabinet Office with a separate entrance to entertain his lovers.
On the photography mission Christopher Plummer is killed although he manages to take the required photos with the plane piloted by the new recruit who is much affected by the death. The squadron is then required to attack spotting balloons and during this mission the brother in law to be gets his first kill and then accidentally crashes into an enemy fighter coming in the opposite direction. At least he has had a night out with his comrades at a local French Inn frequented by ladies of good virtue one of whom takes the young man to her home. McDowell is then seen greeting three fresh faced recruits while he tries to write a letter to the parents of his fiancée. This is most realistic of the four films and released in the mid 1970’s when feelings about the war had began to soften and a new generation had grown up without any knowledge.
The new format for American Idol has worked out better with the final thirty six divided into three groups of 12 for performance and instead of those with the lowest votes dropping out, the three with the highest votes go forward taking 9 of the 12 finals places and with three wild cards from those nominated by the judges, I assume. While it is a public vote the judges and the programme designed appears to be able to largely steer by the choice of songs, the order of singing and the adverse comments about those they do not want to further. This week I agreed with their comments and the public response which included the young man who lost his wife and the red neck construction worker also with a wife and young family. A young girl rocker also won through. I can see the young widower making it to the top three at this stage.
I did a shop at Tesco supermarket and took time to check out what was available and the prices, I walked into the town centre in the morning for the last DVD and found that the one issued was not the same as that advertised so took the voucher to Tesco to see if I could also get the one missed yesterday. Alas it was the same. However I took the opportunity to take a look and make some purchases including salami, back to the pre recent rise price which took 100 grams for £1 to £1.60. Having read that eggs in moderation do not raise cholesterol after all I bought six for two omelettes accidentally breaking the shell of one as the boxed slipped while taking from the car. It was here a salami omelette for lunch with some fried sweet pepper, followed by a banana and four crackers with spicy chutney as a started. They also do three medium size chickens for £10 but had one with an eat this weekend date was available for £3 so I also bought this for Sunday. I enjoyed a smoked Mackerel salad on the previous evening. I did not buy more Hot Cross buns. Grapes were available at the same price as the station greengrocer and were a better quality. The treat is a Lemon Tort with 2 for £1.50 and which divides into four portions so have eight in total which will last over the next two weeks if I can stretch to a piece every other day, but which is unlikely.
No comments:
Post a Comment