Bombsight Stolen (1941)

Allied spies and Nazi Agents insinuate themselves at a Scottish cottage (converted to a wartime hospital) with interests on an inventor's nearly perfected bomb sight.

Director:

Anthony Asquith

Writers:

Geoffrey Kerr (adapted from the play by), Anatole de Grunwald (screenplay) (as A. de Grunwald)

Stars:

Leslie Banks, Alastair Sim, Jeanne De Casalis

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Leslie Banks	...	John Barrington
Jeanne De Casalis	...	Mrs. Barrington
Carla Lehmann	...	Helen Barrington (as Carla Lehman)
Alastair Sim	...	Charles Dimble
John Mills	...	Flt·Lieut. Perry
George Cole	...	Ronald
Michael Wilding	...	Alan Trently
Frank Cellier	...	John Forest
Muriel Aked	...	Miss Fernery
Wally Patch	...	Evans
Muriel George	...	Mrs. Trimm
Hay Petrie	...	Dr. Truscott
Catherine Lacey	...	Mrs. Stokes

Storyline

A wartime cottage on a Scottish estate becomes a focus of attention when not only the new tenant but a London evacuee and a downed fighter pilot all move in. The interest may not be unconnected with the fact that the landowner is also a key British military inventor. For a start, the butler is obviously a Scotland Yard flatfoot.

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Plot Keywords:

espionage | millstone | scotland yard | nazi agent | fighter pilot | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Mystery | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bombsight Stolen

Filming Locations:

Gaumont-British Studios, Lime Grove, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gainsborough Pictures, Gaumont British Picture Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (British Acoustic Film Full-Range Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

George Cole's first theatrical movie acting role at the age of fifteen.

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Goofs

Despite being apparently unconscious, the downed parachutist can be seen helping the two boatmen pull him into the rowing boat at the start of the film.

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Quotes

Flt·Lieut. George Perry: Hello!
Alan Trently: I've, uh, brought your supper.
Flt·Lieut. George Perry: Ah, that's very decent of you.
Alan Trently: Well, they're shorthanded and I thought that I'd...
Flt·Lieut. George Perry: [interrupting] Find Helen here, eh? Well, bad luck. She's gone.
[Alan starts to leave]
Flt·Lieut. George Perry: Oh, don't run away.
Alan Trently: I've got work to do!
Flt·Lieut. George Perry: More domestic duties?

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Soundtracks

The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by children at the fair

User Reviews

Enjoyable wartime 'thriller' which could only have been made in Britain

An enjoyable piece of British wartime entertainment, probably to be appreciated more now than by audiences at the time, (who would have found it very 'stagey' and lacking in action, I suspect). The plot is nothing in particular and its stage origins are all too apparent in the set locations, which cover the cottage of the title acting as a lodging house, home for evacuated children from London and a military hospital (????) whilst, up at 'the Big House', there is a 'top-secret' research laboratory, (which you know is 'top secret' as one of the (numerous) doors has a sliding panel in it),(but which actually seems to have more people entering and leaving it in the course of the film than the lounge of the 'Dog and Duck'), country gentry residence and garden fête venue. The real strength of the film, though, is its very strong cast. Leslie Banks is quite watchable on as the lead and John Mills is his usual, (for the period), photogenic, brylcreemed RAF fighter pilot hero, (or IS he?), who delivers in the usual sound manner. George Cole makes his first film appearance as one of two Cockney scamps evacuated to the 'cottage', (although the other one disappears from view entirely after the first five minutes!), and one can already see him mentally in a mini-sheepskin coat and with a cigarillo in hand as he begins his apprenticeship for greater glories to come in his career. Alastair Sim is, as usual, extremely good value for money and always watchable. The REAL star, though, I thought, was Jeanne De Casalis as the dotty 'Lady of the Manor', showing marvellous comic timing, interacting with all the rest of the cast flawlessly, (catch her expression when the little girl who has just handed her a bouquet of flowers at the opening of the fête wants it back!), and having me in stitches with her spoonerisms, ("Are you the lad with the manor? I'm sorry, I meant the man with the ladder?"), and, above all, her speech opening the fête; ("In the words of our dear Prime Minister, never was so much owed by so few to so many"). Somehow, one just cannot see film-makers of the time doing the same to speeches of their leader in the Kremlin! I shall certainly watch out for any other films starring this lady.