Aces High (1976)

Director:

Jack Gold

Writers:

Howard Barker (screenplay)
R.C. Sherriff (play)

Release Date:

December 1977 (USA)

Genre:

War | Drama | Action

Plot:

A naive young officer straight from school arrives on the Western front to fight the air war against the Germans...

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Fighter Plane | Pow | Trauma | Uniform

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Malcolm McDowell	...	Maj. John Gresham
Christopher Plummer	...	Capt. 'Uncle' Sinclair
Simon Ward	...	Lt. Crawford
Peter Firth	...	Lt. Stephen Croft
David Wood	...	Lt. 'Tommy' Thompson
John Gielgud	...	Headmaster
Trevor Howard	...	Lieutenant Colonel Silkin
Richard Johnson	...	Major Lyle
Ray Milland	...	Brigadier General Whale
Christopher Blake	...	Lieutenant Roberts
Gilles Béhat	...	Captain Beckenauer (as Gilles Behat)
Elliott Cooper	...	Lieutenant Wade
David Daker	...	Mess Corporal Bennett
Barry Jackson	...	Corporal Albert Joyce
Jacques Maury	...	Ponnelle

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Singapore:PG | UK:PG | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | USA:PG | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Booker Airfield, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Cine Artists Pictures

Trivia:

The scene with the balloon observer jumping out with a parachute is reused footage from The Blue Max (1966)

Goofs:

Continuity: Sinclair informs Croft that Gresham uses a Nieuport "that he swears by", but every time we see Gresham aloft he is flying an SE5 like the rest of the squadron.

Quotes:

Mess Corporal Bennett: [as the pilots set off early in the morning on a dangerous mission] How many for breakfast? Any of them?

Movie Connections:

Edited into "Blackadder Goes Forth: Private Plane (#1.4)" (1989)

Eton College memories - Jim Monck

I was among the Eton College boys filmed when the headmaster (Sir John Gielgud) introduced Gresham (Malcom McDowell) to the boys. There must be many of us out there. It was filmed on a school holiday, and we were given the choice of an excursion or taking part in the film. I seem to remember that we were not terribly well behaved, but the director eventually sorted us out. We were thoroughly amused when the make-up artists re-arranged the hair of some of the boys. We each got £10, which was quite a lot for a schoolboy in 1976! Sir John was gracious enough to give me his autograph when I knocked on the door of his caravan between lessons. I also got Malcolm McDowell's. I think this was when they were filming the romantic bit at the beginning, because he persuaded me to get hers as well! I am sure that all of us who were there still feel very privileged to have been associated with such a great film. It was of course based on the classic WW1 play, 'Journey's End'.