Coastal Command (film)
Encyclopedia
Coastal Command is a 1942 British film made by the Crown Film Unit
for the Ministry of Information. The movie, distributed by RKO, dramatised the work of RAF Coastal Command
. It was made under the supervision of Ian Dalrymple, with the full cooperation of the Royal Air Force
and the Royal Navy
. The participants of the movie were active RAF officers, NCOs and aircrew, and RN officers, and included pilot Roger Hunter and Flight Sergeant
Charles Norman Lewis; the latter of whom was killed in World War II
. The performances were generally well-received. Coastal Command is notable for its score by Ralph Vaughan Williams
.
flying boat
s during the Battle of the Atlantic. The film includes real footage of attacks on a major enemy ship by Hudson
and Halifax
bombers based in Iceland. Later, the film depicts a routine sea patrol, in which a Sunderland flying boat flies over a convoy and bombs a German U-boat
. Two versions of the film were made, one featuring an explanatory voice-over. In this version, the film ends with a combined air attack on an enemy cruiser
caught away from its base. The Sunderland's crew returns to England, mission accomplished, and with a wounded crew member in stable condition. In the second, slightly longer version of the film, the Sunderland crew returns home after the successful attack on the cruiser, and the wounded crew member is hospitalized. After a visit to the hospital, the film ends as the Sunderland crew is informed they will be re-deployed to West Africa, to begin a new mission.
documentary.http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?title1=Coastal%20Command&title2=&reviewer=BOSLEY%20CROWTHER&pdate=19440419&v_id=. However, he did write that
Crown Film Unit
The Crown Film Unit was an organisation within the British Government's Ministry of Information during World War II. Formerly the GPO Film Unit it became the Crown Film Unit in 1940. Its remit was to make films for the general public in Britain and abroad...
for the Ministry of Information. The movie, distributed by RKO, dramatised the work of RAF Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force . Founded in 1936, it was the RAF's premier maritime arm, after the Royal Navy's secondment of the Fleet Air Arm in 1937. Naval aviation was neglected in the inter-war period, 1919–1939, and as a consequence the service did not receive...
. It was made under the supervision of Ian Dalrymple, with the full cooperation of the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. The participants of the movie were active RAF officers, NCOs and aircrew, and RN officers, and included pilot Roger Hunter and Flight Sergeant
Flight Sergeant
Flight sergeant is a senior non-commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and several other air forces which have adopted all or part of the RAF rank structure...
Charles Norman Lewis; the latter of whom was killed in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The performances were generally well-received. Coastal Command is notable for its score by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
.
Plot
Coastal Command is a documentary-style account of the Shorts Sunderland and PBY CatalinaPBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
s during the Battle of the Atlantic. The film includes real footage of attacks on a major enemy ship by Hudson
Lockheed Hudson
The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...
and Halifax
Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...
bombers based in Iceland. Later, the film depicts a routine sea patrol, in which a Sunderland flying boat flies over a convoy and bombs a German U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
. Two versions of the film were made, one featuring an explanatory voice-over. In this version, the film ends with a combined air attack on an enemy cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
caught away from its base. The Sunderland's crew returns to England, mission accomplished, and with a wounded crew member in stable condition. In the second, slightly longer version of the film, the Sunderland crew returns home after the successful attack on the cruiser, and the wounded crew member is hospitalized. After a visit to the hospital, the film ends as the Sunderland crew is informed they will be re-deployed to West Africa, to begin a new mission.
Reviews
After its release in the United States on 18 April 1944, a New York Times reviewer wrote that it suffered in comparison with the similar Memphis BelleMemphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress
The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress is a 1944 documentary film which ostensibly provides an account of the final mission of the crew of the Memphis Belle, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. In May 1943 it became the first U.S...
documentary.http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?title1=Coastal%20Command&title2=&reviewer=BOSLEY%20CROWTHER&pdate=19440419&v_id=. However, he did write that
Many of the individual glimpses in this film are intriguing to the eye, and the whole conveys an academic notion of the personal and organizational problems of the Coastal Command. But the obvious studio-staging of much of the action in which personnel is involved and the scattered arrangement of continuity drain the film of sharp immediacy and drive. Because it jumps its scenes from one plane to another, from shore to plane—and even a few times to the Nazi ship—without adequate definition, the spectator is forced to an objective point of view. A sense of artificial construction is plainly inevitable. Thus suspense and excitement are lacking. The mood becomes fitful and blasé.