Q Planes
Encyclopedia
Q Planes, released in the United States by Columbia Pictures
as Clouds Over Europe, is a 1939 British spy film directed by Tim Whelan
and Arthur B. Woods
, starring Ralph Richardson
, Laurence Olivier
and Valerie Hobson
. It was produced by Irving Asher
with Alexander Korda
as executive producer. The name "Q Planes" may have been derived from the British "Q-ship
s" that were used as spy and armed merchant vessels in the First World War. The film was helmed by American director Tim Whelan
(Sidewalks of London
(1938) and later, in 1940, co-director of The Thief of Bagdad
) who was then in Britain working for Korda at Denham Studios.
Q Planes (or in its American guise, Clouds Over Europe) mixes the genres of spy thriller and comedy romance, and was intended to be a star vehicle for Olivier, but Richardson dominates much of the screen with a sardonic take on a spy, either working for Scotland Yard
or British Military Intelligence
. Released just months before the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in 1939, the film is a precursor to the "strongly nationalistic, anti-German films that would reach their zenith in Britain during the war years".
) or his sister Kay (Valerie Hobson
), a newspaper reporter who is working undercover in the works canteen used by the crews at the Barrett & Ward Aircraft Company.
At first, Major Hammond is seen as an outsider at the aircraft factory, even by Mr. Barrett, the owner (George Merritt
), but he soon finds a friend in a star pilot, Tony McVane (Laurence Olivier
) who helps him try to unravel the case. Hammond becomes convinced that the company secretary at the factory, Jenkins (George Curzon
) is a foreign agent and "mole", but Jenkins is killed by unseen gunmen before he can give up the names of his contacts.
The mystery remains unsolved when McVane returns to the aircraft factory, determined to make the next test flight. His aircraft, like the others, is brought down by a powerful ray beamed from the S.S. Viking, a mysterious salvage ship manned by a foreign crew. Along with his aircraft, McVane and his flight crew are taken hostage on the ship, where he discovers many other missing airmen have suffered the same fate. Gathering up weapons, McVane leads the British survivors in an attempt to take control of the ship. Major Hammond learns the truth and directs a Royal Navy
ship (HMS Echo
) to come to their rescue.
In a short coda, Kay and McVane get together and Hammond learns, to his chagrin, that his longtime lady friend has married.
and de Havilland Tiger Moth
are featured in the aerial scenes. The Brooklands
racetrack, which also was an important aeronautical centre, was used as a backdrop for the aerial sequences on the ground.
The dapper character played by Richardson was reputedly the model for the later-day John Steed of the 1960s era The Avengers
television series, according to Brian Clemens, one of the series creators.
Screenwriter Jack Whittingham
later collaborated with Ian Fleming
and Kevin McClory
for a James Bond
film screenplay about a hijacked aircraft that was used for the book and film Thunderball
.
in April 2007.
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
as Clouds Over Europe, is a 1939 British spy film directed by Tim Whelan
Tim Whelan
Tim Whelan was an American film director, writer, producer and actor.-Selected filmography:* Adam's Apple * When Knights Were Bold * It's a Boy * Aunt Sally...
and Arthur B. Woods
Arthur B. Woods
Arthur Bickerstaffe Woods was an English film director with 27 credits between 1933 and 1940. Woods' films were mainly quota quickies but were diverse in style, from light comedy and musicals to dark crime thrillers. His most acclaimed film is 1938's They Drive by Night...
, starring Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson
Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
, Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
and Valerie Hobson
Valerie Hobson
Valerie Hobson was a British actress who appeared in a number of British films during the 1940s and 1950s...
. It was produced by Irving Asher
Irving Asher
Irving Asher was an Producer. He worked as a managing director for Warner Brothers in England in the 1930s, working on Alexander Korda's classic epic, The Four Feathers...
with Alexander Korda
Alexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British producer and film director. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.-Life and career:The elder brother of filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent...
as executive producer. The name "Q Planes" may have been derived from the British "Q-ship
Q-ship
Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, Decoy Vessels, Special Service Ships, or Mystery Ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them...
s" that were used as spy and armed merchant vessels in the First World War. The film was helmed by American director Tim Whelan
Tim Whelan
Tim Whelan was an American film director, writer, producer and actor.-Selected filmography:* Adam's Apple * When Knights Were Bold * It's a Boy * Aunt Sally...
(Sidewalks of London
Sidewalks of London
Sidewalks of London, also known as St. Martin's Lane, is a 1938 British, black-and-white, comedy drama starring Charles Laughton as a busker or street entertainer who teams up with a talented pickpocket, played by Vivien Leigh. It also stars Ronald Shiner as the Barman...
(1938) and later, in 1940, co-director of The Thief of Bagdad
The Thief of Bagdad
The Thief of Bagdad may refer to:A novel and its film adaptations:* The Thief of Bagdad , a 1924 novel by Achmed Abdullah, derived from elements of One Thousand and One Nights fables...
) who was then in Britain working for Korda at Denham Studios.
Q Planes (or in its American guise, Clouds Over Europe) mixes the genres of spy thriller and comedy romance, and was intended to be a star vehicle for Olivier, but Richardson dominates much of the screen with a sardonic take on a spy, either working for Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
or British Military Intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
. Released just months before the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in 1939, the film is a precursor to the "strongly nationalistic, anti-German films that would reach their zenith in Britain during the war years".
Plot
Advanced British aircraft prototypes carrying experimental and highly secret equipment being developed under government contract, are regularly vanishing with their crews on their test flights. No one can deduce the problem, not even spymaster Major Hammond (Ralph RichardsonRalph Richardson
Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
) or his sister Kay (Valerie Hobson
Valerie Hobson
Valerie Hobson was a British actress who appeared in a number of British films during the 1940s and 1950s...
), a newspaper reporter who is working undercover in the works canteen used by the crews at the Barrett & Ward Aircraft Company.
At first, Major Hammond is seen as an outsider at the aircraft factory, even by Mr. Barrett, the owner (George Merritt
George Merritt (actor)
George Merritt was a British film and television actor.-Selected filmography:* The W Plan * The Lodger * I Was a Spy * Crime on the Hill * The Silver Spoon...
), but he soon finds a friend in a star pilot, Tony McVane (Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
) who helps him try to unravel the case. Hammond becomes convinced that the company secretary at the factory, Jenkins (George Curzon
George Curzon (actor)
Commander Chambré George William Penn Curzon , known as George Curzon, was a Royal Navy Commander, actor, and father of the present Earl Howe....
) is a foreign agent and "mole", but Jenkins is killed by unseen gunmen before he can give up the names of his contacts.
The mystery remains unsolved when McVane returns to the aircraft factory, determined to make the next test flight. His aircraft, like the others, is brought down by a powerful ray beamed from the S.S. Viking, a mysterious salvage ship manned by a foreign crew. Along with his aircraft, McVane and his flight crew are taken hostage on the ship, where he discovers many other missing airmen have suffered the same fate. Gathering up weapons, McVane leads the British survivors in an attempt to take control of the ship. Major Hammond learns the truth and directs a 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...
ship (HMS Echo
HMS Echo
A number of ships Royal Navy have been named HMS Echo, after the Echo of Greek mythology. was a 24-gun sixth-rate captured from the French in 1758 and sold in 1770. was the French ship Hussard captured in 1780 and wrecked in 1791. was a 16-gun sloop launched in 1782 and broken up in 1797. was a...
) to come to their rescue.
In a short coda, Kay and McVane get together and Hammond learns, to his chagrin, that his longtime lady friend has married.
Cast
- Laurence OlivierLaurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
as Tony McVane - Ralph RichardsonRalph RichardsonSir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
as Major Hammond - Valerie HobsonValerie HobsonValerie Hobson was a British actress who appeared in a number of British films during the 1940s and 1950s...
as Kay Hammond - George CurzonGeorge Curzon (actor)Commander Chambré George William Penn Curzon , known as George Curzon, was a Royal Navy Commander, actor, and father of the present Earl Howe....
as Jenkins - George MerrittGeorge Merritt (actor)George Merritt was a British film and television actor.-Selected filmography:* The W Plan * The Lodger * I Was a Spy * Crime on the Hill * The Silver Spoon...
as Mr. Barrett, the company president - John LaurieJohn LaurieJohn Paton Laurie was a British actor born in Dumfries, Scotland. Although he is now probably most recognised for his role as Private James Frazer in the sitcom Dad's Army , he appeared in hundreds of feature films, including films by Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier...
as Newspaper editor
Production
Period airports and aircraft including the Airspeed EnvoyAirspeed Envoy
The Airspeed AS.6 Envoy was a British light, twin-engined transport aircraft designed and built by Airspeed Ltd. in the 1930s at Portsmouth Aerodrome, Hampshire.-Development and design:...
and de Havilland Tiger Moth
De Havilland Tiger Moth
The de Havilland DH 82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and was operated by the Royal Air Force and others as a primary trainer. The Tiger Moth remained in service with the RAF until replaced by the de Havilland Chipmunk in 1952, when many of the surplus aircraft...
are featured in the aerial scenes. The Brooklands
Brooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
racetrack, which also was an important aeronautical centre, was used as a backdrop for the aerial sequences on the ground.
Reception
Considered a pre-war harbinger of a conflict with Germany and the role of spies in combating foreign agents, when screened in the United States, under the intriguing title of Clouds Over Europe, the film received a very positive review by Frank Nugent of The New York Times. Initially thinking the film may be a documentary, with newsreel footage of London starting the film, the scenes soon turn into "...one of the wittiest and pleasantest comedies that have come a capering to the American screen this season..."Variety reviewers also considered it had a "...refreshing tongue-in-cheek attitude; whole thing is bright, breezy and flavorsome."The dapper character played by Richardson was reputedly the model for the later-day John Steed of the 1960s era The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
television series, according to Brian Clemens, one of the series creators.
Screenwriter Jack Whittingham
Jack Whittingham
Jack Whittingham was a British playwright, film critic, and screenwriter. He was educated at Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford....
later collaborated with Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
and Kevin McClory
Kevin McClory
Kevin O'Donovan McClory was an Irish screenwriter, producer, and director. McClory was best known for the 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again, which was the result of a long legal battle between McClory and Ian Fleming over the writing credits and later the film rights to...
for a James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film screenplay about a hijacked aircraft that was used for the book and film Thunderball
Thunderball
Thunderball may refer to:*Thunderball , a 1961 James Bond novel by Ian Fleming**Thunderball , a 1965 film adaptation of the novel starring Sean Connery**Thunderball , the soundtrack from the film, or the title song...
.
Home release
The film was released on video by Carlton Home Entertainment in 1991, and on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in April 2007.