The First of the Few (1942)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Leslie Howard

Writers:

Henry C. James (story) &
Katherine Strueby (story) ...

Release Date:

14 September 1942 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Biography | Drama | History | War

Plot:

By the late 1920's aircraft designer R.J. Mitchell feels he has achieved all he wants with his revolutionary mono-planes winning trophy after trophy...

Plot Keywords:

Nazi Germany | Directed By Star | Fighter Pilot | WWII | Produced By Actor

Cast

Leslie Howard	...	R.J. Mitchell
David Niven	...	Geoffrey Crisp
Rosamund John	...	Diana Mitchell
Roland Culver	...	Commander Bride
Anne Firth	...	Miss Harper
David Horne	...	Mr. Higgins
J.H. Roberts	...	Sir Robert McLean
Derrick De Marney	...	Squadron Leader Jefferson
Rosalyn Boulter	...	Mabel Lovesay
Herbert Cameron	...	MacPherson
Toni Edgar-Bruce	...	Lady Houston (as Toni Edgar Bruce)
Gordon McLeod	...	Major Buchan
George Skillan	...	Mr. Royce
Erik Freund	...	Messerschmitt
Fritz Wendhausen	...	Von Straben (as F.R. Wendhausen)

Also Known As:

Spitfire (USA)

Runtime:

118 min | USA:90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #9204) | Finland:S | UK:U | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

D and P Studios, Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

British Aviation Pictures

Trivia:

The "Merlin" is actually a kind of European Falcon; Rolls-Royce named a great many of their aircraft engines after birds of prey.

Goofs:

Factual errors: During test flight of the plane, a close-up of the cockpit was shown. The type of canopy in the scene is called a "Malcom Hood" and was not used on early model Spitfires.

Quotes:

[the Mitchells have bumped into Crisp at a Dress Ball]
Reginald J. Mitchell: Well, who's the lucky lady?
Geoffrey Crisp: Don't know, I haven't met her yet!

One of the leading British propaganda films

and probably on a par with the "Miniver" pictures. Covers not only the Supermarine/Merlin work but the glider designs that the Germans used for airframe research before openly dumping the Versailles treaty.

(Note: I don't use the term "propaganda" in a demeaning sense here; it's just that I consider any ideological product that gets government backing to be propaganda, and this work fits the definition.)

Fine acting, acceptable plot movement for what is considered now a melodramatic period, historic moment - this film deserves multiple viewings.