Appointment in London: Difference between revisions
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The music was also written by Wooldridge and performed by the [[Philharmonia|Philharmonia Orchestra]] under his conduction.<ref name="Wooldridge"/> |
The music was also written by Wooldridge and performed by the [[Philharmonia|Philharmonia Orchestra]] under his conduction.<ref name="Wooldridge"/> |
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The part of the Australian officer was meant to be played by [[Peter Finch]]. When he had to back out due to other commitments, he recommended fellow Australian [[Bill Kerr]] to take his place.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44795322 |title=Bill Kerr in R.A.F. film. |newspaper=[[Australian_Women's_Weekly|The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982)]] |location=1933 - 1982 |date=1 October 1952 |accessdate=3 May 2012 |page=61 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> |
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[[File:AppointmentinLondon.jpg|thumb|Recent ''Appointment in London'' DVD cover]] |
[[File:AppointmentinLondon.jpg|thumb|Recent ''Appointment in London'' DVD cover]] |
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Revision as of 13:12, 3 May 2012
| Appointment in London | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Philip Leacock |
| Written by | John Wooldridge (story) John Wooldridge Robert Westerby |
| Produced by | Aubrey Baring Maxwell Setton |
| Starring | Dirk Bogarde Ian Hunter Dinah Sheridan |
| Cinematography | Stephen Dade |
| Edited by | V. Sagovsky |
| Music by | John Wooldridge |
| Distributed by | British Lion Film Corporation Ltd |
Release date | 1952 |
Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Appointment in London (known as Raiders in the Sky in the U.S.) is a 1952 war film starring Dirk Bogarde and set during the Second World War. The film was directed by Philip Leacock from a screenplay by John Wooldridge and Robert Westerby and based on an original story by Wooldridge, who as an RAF pilot, had flown 108 operational sorties over Europe. [1]The film is set in an RAF Bomber Command squadron during 1943 and tells of the Wing Commander's atttempt to finish his third and final tour of 30 operations. A sub-plot involves the lead character, Wing Commander Tim Mason's relationship with Eve Canyon (Dinah Sheridan), a widowed Wren in whom American officer "Mac" Baker is also interested. By the end of the film, Mason finally succeeds in winning Eve over.
Plot
Wing Commander Tim Mason (Dirk Bogarde) is nearing the end of his third tour of operations, meaning he has flown nearly 90 missions over Germany. Having twice volunteered to continue operational flying, Mason is keen to make it a round 90 "ops", but when he is nearing the end of his tour he receives orders banning him from further flying. Meanwhile, losses are mounting and several raids are being seen as failures, so that some of the members of his crews, Brown (Bill Kerr) and "The Brat" Greeno (Bryan Forbes) among them, are thinking that there must be a "jinx" at work. Soon after "The Brat" is then caught sending unauthorised telegrams off the station. These turn out to be written to his wife, Pam (Anne Leon), rather than anything more sinister, however, Mason reprimands Greeno for the lapse in security. Soon after, Greeno's aircraft fails to return from a raid and Mason agrees to meet Pam, who has asked to see him.
With only one more flight to go he accepts that the decision to ground him was for his own good, and he visits Brown's aircraft as Brown and his crew prepare to take off on a mission. As the crew board the Lancaster the large 4,000 lb "Cookie" bomb that is part of the bomber's load, slips from the bomb shackles and injures one of the crew. With no time to obtain a replacement crew member, U.S. observer, Mac Baker (William Sylvester), takes his place. Mason decides to go as well to reassure the crew's worries about the jinx, and the bomber takes off.
The mission is flown and while the target is being attacked, the Master Bomber is shot down, causing the remaining bombers to begin bombing inaccurately. Hearing and seeing this, Mason takes the Master Bomber's place on the radio, broadcasting corrections and accurate instructions, and the bombing becomes accurate again. Listening-in to the Master Bomber's broadcast back in England, Mason's Commanding Officer, Logan (Ian Hunter) hears Mason's voice and realises that he's disobeyed orders and flown on the operation. However, owing to Mason's intervention the raid, which could have been a failure, has been a success, and on Mason's return Logan greets him at his aircraft.
At the end of the mission, Mason, along with Brown, and Greeno's Wife, Pam, take a taxi to Buckingham Palace to receive an award from King George VI, the so-called "appointment" in London.
Cast
- Dirk Bogarde as Wing Commander Tim Mason
- Ian Hunter as Group Captain Logan
- Dinah Sheridan as Eve Canyon
- Bryan Forbes as Pilot Officer Peter Greeno ("The Brat")
- Walter Fitzgerald as Dr. Mulvaney, Group Medical Officer
- Bill Kerr as Flight Lieutenant Bill Brown
- William Sylvester as "Mac" Baker
- Anne Leon as Pam Greeno
- Charles Victor as Dobbie, The Innkeeper
- Richard Wattis as Pascal
- Carl Jaffe as German General
- Sam Kydd as Ackroyd
- Terence Longdon as Dr. Buchanan
- Michael Ripper as Bomb Aimer
- Campbell Singer as Flight Sergeant (Chief of Ground Crews)
- Harold Siddons as Flight Lieutenant Saunders
- Anthony Shaw as "Smithy"
- Anthony Forwood as Sandy (Navigation Officer)
Production
Appointment in London was produced by Aubrey Baring and Maxwell Setton and shot at British Lion's Shepperton Studios and at RAF Upwood.[2]Three of the Lancaster B VII bombers, serial numbers NX673, NX679 and NX782, used in the film, also appeared in The Dam Busters two years later. In some ground shots, several of the "Lancasters" in the background are the later Avro Lincoln bombers, still in service at the time.[3]
The music was also written by Wooldridge and performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra under his conduction.[1]
The part of the Australian officer was meant to be played by Peter Finch. When he had to back out due to other commitments, he recommended fellow Australian Bill Kerr to take his place.[4]
Reception
Featuring the use of the wartime Avro Lancaster bomber, because of the aerial scenes, Appointment in London was considered a "realistic, well-done story of RAF Bomber Command in the dark days of 1943."[5]Other contemporary reviews in 1953, focused on the action; The Spectator noted, "sequences rock the heart with glory the terror of it all" and the Daily Mail enthused, "The Lancaster bomber raid which climaxes the film is just about the best treatment of this subject I have seen."[2] The fairly staid plot, nonetheless, was also described as a "run-of-the-mill" story. [6]Despite the British interest during the post-war period in films that chronicled the Second World War, the box office was not strong, and Wooldridge considered it a "dud".[7]
References
- Notes
- ^ a b Coldstream 2005, p. 181.
- ^ a b "Appointment in London." Filmed at RAF Upwood. Retrieved: 24 March 2012.
- ^ Garbettt and Goulding 1971, pp. 142–143.
- ^ "Bill Kerr in R.A.F. film". The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982). 1933 - 1982: National Library of Australia. 1 October 1952. p. 61. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Harwick and Schnepf 1983, p. 51.
- ^ Evans 2000, p. 31.
- ^ Coldstream 2005, p. 182.
- Bibliography
- Coldstream, John. Dirk Bogarde: The Authorised Biography. London: Phoenix, 2005. ISBN 978-0753819852.
- Evans, Alun. Brassey's Guide to War Films. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books, 2000. ISBN 1-57488-263-5.
- Garbett, Mike and Brian Goulding. The Lancaster at War. Toronto: Musson Book Company, 1971. ISBN 0-7737-0005-6.
- Harwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Buff's Guide to Aviation Movies". Air Progress Aviation, Volume 7, No. 1, Spring 1983.
External links
- Appointment in London at IMDb
- Appointment in London at the TCM Movie Database
- Appointment in London at AllMovie
