1945 was pretty late in the day for a wartime recruitment film. But as an official offering from the Royal Air Force, made almost entirely with legit RAF talent, no doubt everyone had to jump thru bureaucratic hoops & circumnavigate red tape to have their superior’s superior sign off on the project. That said, a decent enough exercise, the first joint effort from Boulting Brothers John & Roy, from a story idea by Terence Rattigan, not that you’d notice. It’s the usual setup, three strangers at military camp becoming pals & rivals as they go thru pilot training under dashing instructor John Justin. Jack Watling the toff everything comes easily to; middle-class David Tomlinson quietly washing out; Richard Attenborough the working-class striver who has to work harder just to stay in contention. Fun to see them all looking like teenagers in early credits, with Attenborough taking the lead as he weathers a crisis when he has to switch from his dream position as a glam pilot and learn navigator skills at the tough, caring fatherly suggestion of (wait for it) Edward G. Robinson*, showing up for two reels as a Stateside instructor at a U.S. pilot finishing school. (And that's silent/early Talkie star Bessie Love making a rare appearance as the wife.) The Boultings make a pretty good show of it, within a limited budget & modest effects, getting good suspense out of Attenborough’s struggles in his new position. But the film, though nicely showing the importance of all the plane positions, is expendable.
DOUBLE-BILL: Finding a twist on the Basic Training pic, Ruth Gordon followed screenwriter/husband Garson Kanin thru the process, writing a better late entry in the form, OVER 21, starring on B’way in ‘44, then with Irene Dunne taking over for the 1945 film.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *For less than 20 minutes screen-time, nice going by Eddie G. on this French poster.
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