I’m pretty sure we saw that when I was a kid. There were graphic scenes of RAF dogfights. Too much for a 6-year-old.
A good flick. Michael Caine is killed off too early and Susannah York was a true English beauty.
Good luck with your health. Prayers.
I saw it in theatre when it came out. It was mostly panned by the critics but I loved it. There are scenes like when the RAF fighters are taking off to go into battle that move me like very few war films do.
“From spring chicken to shitehawk in one easy lesson.”
“Takatakatakataka…”
Repeat please.
Saw it in the military 1969. Excellent movie! Now got a DVD copy of it. Still an intelligent movie but not by TODAY’S standards. No Spandex clad superheros coming in to save the day.
The Luftwaffe Me-109s, Ju-52, and He-111’s in this movie were retired versions from the Spanish Air Force.
The Me-109’s are actually Spanish HA-1112-M1L Buchóns with a 1,600 hp Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. A version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine was used in the Spitfire, P-51, Mosquito, Hurricane, Lancaster, Boulton Paul Defiant, and Fairey Battle.
The He-111s were actually Spanish built CASA 2.111 bombers with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. One of these planes used in this movie was displayed at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison, TX until it closed last year. The museums aircraft are currently in storage. Plans are for this museum to reopen at the Denton airport but nothing has been announced about this yet. See this plane in this link:
https://vintageaviationnews.com/warbirds-news/cavanaughs-casa-2-111-on-the-move.html
The Ju-52 is a Spanish built CASA 352 with Rolls-Royce Merlin engines.
Excellent movie which I’ve seen before, but will be happy to watch again. Best of all, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is free with ads.
There were a lot of technical people involved, so a number of interesting articles have been written by eyewitnesses. If those "Messerschmitts" and "Heinkels" looked really, REALLY low when flying low passes, that is because the Spanish Air Force pilots flying them were both good and willing to show everyone else how you did "low."
bkmk
I am blown away by the way this thing teases out the critical parts of the “big picture” with what seem like throwaway lines - see the meeting between Ribbentrop and the British ambassador, its chock full of what we can only call bitter ironies. Have you heard people speaking like that? Yes you have. The neat implication that Churchill was a drunk for instance.
Hitler being outraged that the British were doing unto them what they had been busy doing, all along, unto everyone else, etc. The sacrificial nature of war, all repeated ad infinitum. Men go to die knowing they will die. Service and inter-allied rivalries/suspicions described in some detail, while the “big picture” shows the pettiness of it.
And on and on throughout. This flick is deep, but its all embedded in the story and the action.
And, moreover, knowing that ALL this has shown up elsewhere, over and over, IRL, to this day. I guess for that one needs to have been around a bit.
Very good movie.
Yep I’m an airplane nut and saw it when I was 12...
The thing is they used real Spitfires and real Hurricanes
Spanish-built Hispano Aviación HA-1112 a licensed versions of the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 and
Spanish-built CASA 2.111, a license-built version of the Heinkel He 111
(But with Merlin engines)
So quite frankly it’s probably one of the most authentic or near as you can get World War II aviation movie
And they worked hard to have accurate markings and colors for the time.
They put a lot effort into it
As a kid in 70s and 80s I was ww2 fascinated. I watched all the movies. This one great. Battle of Bulge hands down worst.
Thanks for posting this information - I am not only going to put this hat on my list to watch, but now I am also going to look for a bunch of other classic monies.
B of B was one of the first R-rated movies I ever watched, along with Patton and Tora, Tora, Tora - and they are a large part of the reason why I love history (and WW2 history in particular) so much. It is amazing from our POV 80 years after the war ended, but much of the equipment used was genuine, many of the stars served, and so did all of the generals and others who were consulted or who served as military advisors (Bradley for Patton, as an example). After all, they were done between 20 and 25 years after the fact, and the WW2 vets were still around in droves (which is why our society was so much better then, but that’s a whole other discussion). Ditto for The Longest Day. These films are utterly unique, and an incredible tribute to not only the men who fought, but the filmmakers who made sure that the films were done the in the most authentic way possible.
I first saw this movie in 1969 at the Osan Air Base theater. I was stationed at a nearby ROKAF base in Suwon in support of F-102 interceptors and didn’t have much there to do in our off hours so we would take the Air Force Blue shuttle bus, play chicken with the Shingin busses on the narrow roads and spend the day at Osan AB using the BX, theater etc. I thought the movie was first rate with realistic dog fights. And, yes, Susannah York was memorable!
Great flick.