Mosquito Squadron (1969)

In WW2, a RAF squadron leader mourns the death of a comrade and receives a bombing mission against a secret Nazi V-2 rocket testing facility in France.

Director:

Boris Sagal

Writers:

Donald S. Sanford, Joyce Perry

Stars:

David McCallum, Suzanne Neve, Charles Gray

Cast

Complete credited cast:
David McCallum	...	Quint Munroe
Suzanne Neve	...	Beth Scott
Charles Gray	...	Air Commodore Hufford
David Buck	...	Sqn. Ldr. David 'Scotty' Scott
David Dundas	...	Flt. Lieut. Douglas Shelton
Dinsdale Landen	...	Wing Commander Clyde Penrose
Nicky Henson	...	Flt. Sgt. Wiley Bunce
Bryan Marshall	...	Sqn. Ldr. Neale
Michael Anthony	...	Father Bellague
Peggy Thorpe-Bates	...	Mrs. Scott
Peter Copley	...	Mr. Scott
Vladek Sheybal	...	Lieutenant Schack
Michael McGovern	...	Flt. Lieutenant Bannister

Storyline

Squadron Leader Quint Munroe, an RAF pilot in World War II, has a hard time dealing with the presumed death in action of fellow Sq. Leader David 'Scotty' Scott, whose family practically raised him when he was orphaned, so they were like brothers. RAF Air Commodore Hufford has a crucial task for Quint, who is no longer serving in the squadron: a reconnaissance flight over the château de Charlon, a castle in occupied France, where the Nazis are probably developing a new generation of flying bombs; the defenses are indeed suspiciously tight. When analyzed, the photos show the castle grounds harbor an underground launching tunnel, and Quint gets a nearly impossible precision top-secret mission: select and train a team in only 10 days, when the French underground believes the first launch is planned, to 'aim' a new type of bouncing bomb into the tunnel, to blow up the whole Luftwaffe installation. Quint falls in love with Scotty's young widow Beth Scott, whose crippled brother, Flight ...

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Plot Keywords:

warplane | royal air force | mosquito | raf | squadron | 

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Taglines:

To save England, he must sacrifice everything he loves.

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Genres:

War | Drama

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

23 January 1970 (UK)

Also Known As:

Esquadrão Mosquito

Filming Locations:

Edgwarebury Hotel, Barnet Lane, Elstree, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Oakmont Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Color (archive footage) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Bouncing Bomb used in the film was a real weapon. Known as Highball (a smaller version of the Dambusting Upkeep bomb), it was originally designed by Dr. Barnes Wallis to be utilized against battleships, such as the Tirpitz. The Highball bomb weighed 1,280lb (580kg), carried 600lb (272kg) of explosive, and was small enough to be carried in tandem by a Mosquito fighter-bomber. Prior to release the bomb was imparted with a backward spin of 700-900 revolutions per minute, and dropped at high speed (360 mph (580km/h)) and low altitude (60 ft (18.2m)).

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Goofs

In the garden scene when he is telling his family of Scotty's death, a microphone is visible at the bottom of the screen when the 2 men are talking in the arbor.

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Quotes

[During a low level flight to a target in France, Munroe's Navigator leans over to him]
Flt. Sgt. Wiley Bunce: I hope you brought your driving licence with you.
Munroe: What for?
Flt. Sgt. Wiley Bunce: You fly this thing any lower, you're going to need it!

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Connections

Edited from Operation Crossbow (1965)

User Reviews

Familiar Story With Familiar Scenes

Sometimes when you're watching an obscure late night movie on cable that stars Treat Williams you may notice scenes from another much more famous film edited into the scenario . If I remember correctly CRITICAL MASS and a couple of other movies do this and I'd previously thought this was a recent concept . Apparently not since I remembered a couple of scenes from 633 SQUADRON which has been edited into this film . Not only that but there is at least one other scene that has been edited from OPERATION CROSSBOW . I guess I should be consistent here and say that if you can't make your own movie then don't bother

Let's not get too self righteous because when MOSQUITO SQUADRON was produced they'd be double features in cinema chains and this is a B movie which was made to be shown before the main feature and contains a lot of aspects you'd expect from this type of production . There's a few familiar faces but no major stars while many of the production team have the majority of their resumes in television . The story itself is hardly groundbreaking with stiff upper lipped Brits and feisty freedom fighters from occupied territories doing their best to defeat those goose stepping Nazis who all speak English with a strange accent . If you like adventure stories or war films then you'll find this a nice enough time waster , though the dilemmas involving people carrying out a wartime mission is slightly under developed