One of Our Aircraft is Missing
Encyclopedia
One of Our Aircraft is Missing is a 1942 British war film
, 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 wartime 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, the story and production values elevated it from the usual jingoistic fare. Today, One of Our Aircraft is Missing is considered one of the "best of British films of the era."
Vickers Wellington
bomber. Its crew was forced to bail out over the Netherlands
near the Zuider Zee
after one of their engines was damaged during a nighttime raid on Stuttgart
. A reversal of the plot of Powell and Pressburger's previous film, 49th Parallel
(1941), it is the British
trying to escape with the help of various local people. 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.
Five of the six airmen find each other; the sixth goes missing. The first Dutch citizens they encounter, led by English-speaking schoolteacher Else Meertens (Pamela Brown), are suspicious at first as no aeroplane is reported to have crashed in the Netherlands (the bomber actually reaches England before hitting a tower). After much debate and some questioning, the Dutch agree to help, despite their fear of German reprisals.
The disguised airmen bicycle through the countryside, accompanied by many of the Dutch, to a football match, where they are passed along to the local burgomeister (Hay Petrie). To their bemusement, they discover their missing crewman playing on one of the teams. Reunited, they hide in a truck carrying supplies to Jo de Vries (Googie Withers).
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 rowboat. 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.
The attitude of the Dutch people towards the Nazi occupation is shown by lines spoken by two Dutchwomen who help the airmen at great personal risk to themselves and these explain why the Dutch people were willing to help Allied airmen even though those same airmen were sometimes dropping bombs on the Netherlands and killing Dutch people:
----
The actors that were gathered for the film included recognized stage and screen talents as well as newcomers such as Peter Ustinov
making his film debut. Although mainly centred on male roles, Powell encouraged Pressburger to create a number of significant female characters. The main leads, Hugh Burden, Hugh Williams, Emry Jones, Bernard Miles, Godfrey Tearle and Eric Portman formed the crew of "B for Bertie" and introduced themselves and their character's positions onboard the bomber in a progressive sequence that was filmed, like most of the aircraft interiors, in a Vickers Wellington "shell" supplied by the RAF, that nonetheless had working features such as lighting and electrically powered turrets.
To maintain an aura of authenticity, actual RAF bombers on "ops" (operations) were filmed but the key aerial scenes of the bombing of Stuttgart, Germany was created using a large-scale model at Riverside Studios
, Hammersmith
. The giant Wellington replica actually covered the entire studio floor and was rigged with lights and fitted for effects shots including explosions. On screen, the effect was striking and realistically duplicated the flight and bombing raid carried out at the start of the film.
Much of the outdoor sequences set in the Netherlands
were shot at Boston
in Lincolnshire
, with many of the town's landmarks visible, for example, Shodfriars Quay and the railroad Swing Bridge.
Notably, there is no scored music, Powell deliberately strove for "naturalism" relying on natural sounds that would be heard by the characters.
The film was cut by 20 minutes for its original American release.
for Best Writing, Original Screenplay, and Ronald Neame
(photography) and C.C. Stevens (sound) for Best Effects, Special Effects
. Powell's nomination was the only Academy Award nomination he ever received in his career – Pressburger won an Academy Award for 49th Parallel
and was nominated for The Red Shoes as well.
episode "The Lion Has Phones." When Lance-Corporal Jones tries to ring up GHQ, he mistakenly gets the cinema, whose operator tells him the film is on. There is a mention of Eric Portman and Googie Withers. A poster for the film is on display at the cinema. Correspondingly, in the episode of Dad's Army, "Time on My Hands," Pike knows how to open a parachute because, he says, he's seen it done in One of Our Aircraft is Missing.
A title in the form of "One Of Our X Is Missing" has been used in film and other media as homage, parody, or to invoke a mood. Many of the times it is used, it isn't clear if it's a reference to the film or to the well known wartime phrase. Examples include: a Star Trek: The Animated Series
episode "One of Our Planets is Missing"; the final episode of the US television series Maverick
, titled "One Of Our Trains Is Missing"; a 1991 text adventure game by Zenobi
called One of Our Wombats is Missing; and a 1975 British comedy film titled One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing
, which included Peter Ustinov and Hugh Burden in the cast. They were also both in One of Our Aircraft Is Missing.
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
, the fourth collaboration between the British
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
writer-director-producer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Powell and Pressburger
The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers, made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1981 they were recognized for their contributions to British cinema with the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, the most prestigious...
and the first film they made under the banner of The Archers
Powell and Pressburger
The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers, made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1981 they were recognized for their contributions to British cinema with the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, the most prestigious...
. Although considered a wartime propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
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, the story and production values elevated it from the usual jingoistic fare. Today, One of Our Aircraft is Missing is considered one of the "best of British films of the era."
Plot
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing begins dramatically with the crash of "B for Bertie", an unmanned RAFRoyal 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...
Vickers Wellington
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
bomber. Its crew was forced to bail out over the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
near the Zuider Zee
Zuider Zee
The Zuiderzee was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km inland and at most 50 km wide, with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 metres and a coastline of about 300 km . It covered...
after one of their engines was damaged during a nighttime raid on Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
. A reversal of the plot of Powell and Pressburger's previous film, 49th Parallel
49th Parallel (film)
49th Parallel is the third film made by the British writer-director team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It was released in the United States as The Invaders. Despite the title, no scene in the movie is set at the 49th parallel, which forms much of the U.S.-Canadian border...
(1941), it is the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
trying to escape with the help of various local people. In the 49th Parallel, the Germans
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
stranded in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
argued and fought amongst themselves, while the British fliers in this film work well together as a team.
Five of the six airmen find each other; the sixth goes missing. The first Dutch citizens they encounter, led by English-speaking schoolteacher Else Meertens (Pamela Brown), are suspicious at first as no aeroplane is reported to have crashed in the Netherlands (the bomber actually reaches England before hitting a tower). After much debate and some questioning, the Dutch agree to help, despite their fear of German reprisals.
The disguised airmen bicycle through the countryside, accompanied by many of the Dutch, to a football match, where they are passed along to the local burgomeister (Hay Petrie). To their bemusement, they discover their missing crewman playing on one of the teams. Reunited, they hide in a truck carrying supplies to Jo de Vries (Googie Withers).
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 rowboat. 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.
The attitude of the Dutch people towards the Nazi occupation is shown by lines spoken by two Dutchwomen who help the airmen at great personal risk to themselves and these explain why the Dutch people were willing to help Allied airmen even though those same airmen were sometimes dropping bombs on the Netherlands and killing Dutch people:
Else Meertens: Do you think that we Hollanders who threw the sea out of our country will let the Germans have it? Better the sea.
----
Jo de Vries: [Speaking to the downed aircrew as RAF bombers approach]
You see. That's what you're doing for us. Can you hear them running for shelter? Can you understand what that means to all the occupied countries? To enslaved people, having it drummed into their ears that the Germans are masters of the Earth. Seeing these masters running for shelter. Seeing them crouching under tables. And hearing that steady hum night after night. That noise which is oil for the burning fire in our hearts.
Cast
As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Godfrey Tearle Godfrey Tearle Sir Godfrey Seymour Tearle was a British actor who portrayed the quintessential Englishman on stage and in both English and US films.-Biography:... |
Sir George Corbett, Rear Gunner in B for Bertie |
| Eric Portman Eric Portman Eric Portman was a distinguished English stage and film actor... |
Tom Earnshaw, Co-pilot in B for Bertie |
| Hugh Williams Hugh Williams Hugh Williams was an English actor and dramatist of Welsh descent.-Personal life:... |
Frank Shelley, Observer / Navigator in B for Bertie |
| Bernard Miles Bernard Miles Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre opened in the City of London since the 17th century.... |
Geoff Hickman, Front Gunner in B for Bertie |
| Hugh Burden Hugh Burden Hugh Burden was an English actor and playwright.He was the son of a colonial official and was educated at Beaumont College and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and RADA... |
John Glyn Haggard, Pilot in B for Bertie |
| Emrys Jones Emrys Jones (actor) Emrys Jones was an English actor.Making his film debut in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's One of Our Aircraft Is Missing , he developed a career in the British cinema of the 1940s... |
Bob Ashley, Radio Operator in B for Bertie |
| Pamela Brown | Else Meertens |
| Joyce Redman Joyce Redman -Biography:She was born in County Mayo, Ireland, to an Anglo-Irish family. She was educated by a private governess in Ireland, along with her three sisters. She was trained in acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.... |
Jet van Dieren |
| Googie Withers Googie Withers Georgette Lizette "Googie" Withers CBE, AO was an English theatre, film and television actress. She was a longtime resident of Australia with her husband, the actor John McCallum, with whom she often appeared.-Biography:... |
Jo de Vries |
| Hay Petrie Hay Petrie Hay Petrie , born David Hay Petrie, was a Scottish actor noted for playing eccentric characters, among them Quilp in The Old Curiosity Shop , the McLaggen in The Ghost Goes West and Uncle Pumblechook in Great Expectations .Hay Petrie went to St Andrew’s Academy, Dundee, and St... |
Burgomeister |
| Selma Vaz Dias | Burgomeister's wife (as Selma Van Dias) |
| Arnold Marlé | Pieter Sluys |
| Robert Helpmann Robert Helpmann Sir Robert Helpmann CBE was an Australian dancer, actor, theatre director and choreographer.-Early years:He was born Robert Murray Helpman in Mount Gambier, South Australia and also boarded at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. From childhood, Helpman had a strong desire to be a dancer... |
De Jong |
| Peter Ustinov Peter Ustinov Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter... |
Priest |
| Alec Clunes Alec Clunes Alexander "Alec" Demoro Sherriff Clunes was an English actor and stage manager.Among the plays he presented were Christopher Fry's famous play The Lady's Not For Burning. He gave the actor and dramatist Sir Peter Ustinov his first break with his production The House of Regrets. His film career was... |
Organist |
| Hector Abbas | Driver |
| James B. Carson | Louis |
| Willem Akkerman | Willem |
| Joan Akkerman | Maartje |
| Peter Schenke | Hendrik |
| Valerie Moon | Jannie |
| John Salew John Salew -Selected filmography:* The Silent Battle * Sailors Don't Care * Once a Crook * One of Our Aircraft Is Missing * The Day Will Dawn * Secret Mission * It Always Rains on Sunday... |
German Sentry |
| William D'Arcy | German Officer |
| David Ward | First German Airman |
| Robert Duncan | Second German Airman |
| Roland Culver Roland Culver Roland Culver OBE was a British stage, film, and television actor.-Life and career:... |
Naval Officer |
| Robert Beatty Robert Beatty Robert Beatty was a Canadian actor who worked in film, television and radio for most of his career and was especially known in the UK.-Career:Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Beatty began his acting career in Britain in 1939.... |
Sgt. Hopkins |
| Michael Powell Michael Powell (director) Michael Latham Powell was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger... (taking a turn as an actor) |
Despatching Officer |
| Stewart Rome Stewart Rome Stewart Rome was a British actor who appeared in more than 150 films between 1913 and 1950. He was born in Newbury, Berkshire in 1886 as Wernham Ryott Gifford but took the stage name of Stewart Rome which was later unsuccessfully contested by Cecil Hepworth who also used the name... |
Cmdr. Reynold |
Production
The title "One of Our Aircraft Is Missing" is taken from a phrase that was often heard in contemporary news reports in the U.K. after a bombing raid, "one [or often more] of our aircraft failed to return", which originally served as the working title of the screenplay but was then altered to a less-downbeat form. Although the screenplay was not completely developed by the time of production, Powell considered it "half-finished... it remained (that way) for most of the production." One of the reasons for continual revisions to the screenplay were the constant advances in wartime technology that were occurring. The Admiralty informed the producers and directors of the use of "lobster pots," floating steel platforms, hitherto unknown to the public, that had been anchored in the North Sea to facilitate rescue of downed airmen. When Powell learned of this innovation, he pointedly rewrote the screenplay to include this refuge as the means to deliver the crew to safety. With help from the Ministry of Information, permission to use these platforms was obtained.The actors that were gathered for the film included recognized stage and screen talents as well as newcomers such as Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
making his film debut. Although mainly centred on male roles, Powell encouraged Pressburger to create a number of significant female characters. The main leads, Hugh Burden, Hugh Williams, Emry Jones, Bernard Miles, Godfrey Tearle and Eric Portman formed the crew of "B for Bertie" and introduced themselves and their character's positions onboard the bomber in a progressive sequence that was filmed, like most of the aircraft interiors, in a Vickers Wellington "shell" supplied by the RAF, that nonetheless had working features such as lighting and electrically powered turrets.
Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios is a production studio, theatre and independent cinema on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. It plays host to contemporary and international dramatic and dance performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.-History:In 1933, the...
, Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
. The giant Wellington replica actually covered the entire studio floor and was rigged with lights and fitted for effects shots including explosions. On screen, the effect was striking and realistically duplicated the flight and bombing raid carried out at the start of the film.
Much of the outdoor sequences set in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
were shot at Boston
Boston, Lincolnshire
Boston is a town and small port in Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England. It is the largest town of the wider Borough of Boston local government district and had a total population of 55,750 at the 2001 census...
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, with many of the town's landmarks visible, for example, Shodfriars Quay and the railroad Swing Bridge.
Notably, there is no scored music, Powell deliberately strove for "naturalism" relying on natural sounds that would be heard by the characters.
The film was cut by 20 minutes for its original American release.
Reception
The movie received two Academy Award nominations, Michael Powell and Emeric PressburgerPowell and Pressburger
The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers, made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1981 they were recognized for their contributions to British cinema with the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, the most prestigious...
for Best Writing, Original Screenplay, and Ronald Neame
Ronald Neame
Ronald Elwin Neame CBE, BSC was an English film cinematographer, producer, screenwriter and director.-Early career:...
(photography) and C.C. Stevens (sound) for Best Effects, Special Effects
Academy Award for Visual Effects
The Academy Award for Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects.-History of the award:The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects to movies at its inaugural dinner in 1928, presenting a...
. Powell's nomination was the only Academy Award nomination he ever received in his career – Pressburger won an Academy Award for 49th Parallel
49th Parallel (film)
49th Parallel is the third film made by the British writer-director team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It was released in the United States as The Invaders. Despite the title, no scene in the movie is set at the 49th parallel, which forms much of the U.S.-Canadian border...
and was nominated for The Red Shoes as well.
In popular culture
The film is mentioned in the Dad's ArmyDad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
episode "The Lion Has Phones." When Lance-Corporal Jones tries to ring up GHQ, he mistakenly gets the cinema, whose operator tells him the film is on. There is a mention of Eric Portman and Googie Withers. A poster for the film is on display at the cinema. Correspondingly, in the episode of Dad's Army, "Time on My Hands," Pike knows how to open a parachute because, he says, he's seen it done in One of Our Aircraft is Missing.
A title in the form of "One Of Our X Is Missing" has been used in film and other media as homage, parody, or to invoke a mood. Many of the times it is used, it isn't clear if it's a reference to the film or to the well known wartime phrase. Examples include: a Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series is an animated science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe following the events of Star Trek: The Original Series of the 1960s...
episode "One of Our Planets is Missing"; the final episode of the US television series Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
, titled "One Of Our Trains Is Missing"; a 1991 text adventure game by Zenobi
Zenobi
Zenobi is a computer game company that is known for its interactive fiction. The company was started by John Wilson in late 1982. Originally formed as a part-time operation it became full-time in early 1986. The company produced and published adventure-games for the ZXSpectrum range of home...
called One of Our Wombats is Missing; and a 1975 British comedy film titled One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing
One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing
One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing is a 1975 British comedy film, which is set in the early 1920s, about the theft of a dinosaur skeleton from the Natural History Museum. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company. The title is a parody of the...
, which included Peter Ustinov and Hugh Burden in the cast. They were also both in One of Our Aircraft Is Missing.
External links
- One of Our Aircraft is Missing reviews and articles at the Powell & Pressburger Pages. Full synopsis and film stills (and clips viewable from UK libraries).
- Review at Cinepassion.org