One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942)

the audience applauded

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

Once again the Archers come through with a very entertaining picture. I think the film would be much more pertinent to, and was probably aimed at, WWII British audiences, but it is nevertheless top quality motion picture entertainment for either side of the Atlantic.Although it starts out in a different vein than most - A British bomber flying unmanned until it crashes - there is surprisingly little action for a war picture and is mainly a character study about the airmen who bailed out of her. All parts are professionally done, especially Bernard Miles' and Godfrey Tearle's, and special mention must go to Googie Withers who labored in movies all those years with a funny name. It is she who takes acting honors in this one as the 'contact' posing as a Nazi sympathizer.The World War II conflict in the European theater has provided an endless supply of thrilling and exciting movies with the Nazis as the natural 'bad guys', and here is another. Although they were not all as dim-witted as portrayed in movies, it is always fun to watch them come out on the short end. This film is well worth your time whether you are a war movie buff or not.

A bit of a Curate's Egg,this.A "Microcosm of Society" - type aircrew is shot down over Holland,contacts the Dutch Resistance and is guided safely back home.Now I understand it was made at a time when the British Government needed to ensure that we were all singing from the same hymn sheet and that Europeans(Brits weren't considered to be Europeans in those days)had to pull together to free the continent from the yoke of Nazism,but resistance to the Germans in Holland - like in France - was the exception rather than the rule,and these were lucky airmen indeed to have managed to contact members of such a very small and brave elite without disaster befalling them. Many Dutch and French were enthusiastically embracing Fascism right up until the Second Front opened. Mr Robert Helpmann as the collaborator would not have been quite the exotic creature he is made out to be. But my main concern about "One of our aircraft is missing" is the way the Dutch are portrayed as perky rosy-cheeked and chirpy,almost like members of the von Trapp family.And surely they wouldn't spend so much of their time together as a group right under the noses of The Master Race who might reasonably be expected to be a little suspicious of such gatherings. But considering the parameters within which it was made and the audience for whom it was intended,the film is capable enough,just a bit of a disappointment considering the talent involved and the high standard of many British propaganda works of the same era. The flying sequences are well handled but once the crew have parachuted and gone to ground,for me the tension is dissipated,when surely it should be increased. "Jaw,jaw",may be better then "War,war" as Churchill posited,but in "One of our aircraft is missing" it gets to be a bit of a "Bore,bore" I'm afraid.

It's pretty good, and it ought to be. Powell and Pressburger produced, wrote and directed it. It was shot by Ronald Neame and edited by David Lean. And the cast includes some well-known faces -- Pamela Brown, Godfrey Tearle, Bernard Miles -- as well as some, uncredited, who were to become familiar over the next few years -- James Donald, Gordon Jackson, Peter Ustinov.The script is literate, though it includes some incidents that are now staples, and the flight of the Wellington into Germany and its being damaged on the return over Holland are eminently realistic and filled with tension, given the period.It strikes a viewer as especially well thought out. The behavior and conversation of the men huddled in the bomber are believable. None of the boyish exuberance of, say, Howard Hawks' "Air Force." Nobody shouts, "That'll teach the Nazi miscreants" or anything like that. It's all business, made a little less heavy by some light humor.When the half dozen men land in Holland and are discovered by the locals, they aren't kissed by the girls, they don't have roses thrown at them, and nobody gives them bottles of wine. The Dutch have been living with the Nazi occupation for years and they know better than that. Pamela Brown, as a leader of the interrogation team, takes her time in making sure that she's not dealing with German ringers before she organizes help.Some of the incidents may be real but are a little hard to believe. The men are to be taken, disguised as farmers, to the Catholic church for safety's sake and two of them balk because they are Methodist and Baptist. Huh? Seriously. It's somewhat surprising to find a Catholic church in a Duth village to begin with, and even more queer to find the congregation singing hymns. But, okay.That's nothing compared to the film's many virtues, which include an exciting rescue at sea from a wobbling buoy.See it. Audrey Hepburn was a teenager who saw it up close because she lived through it. Anything Audrey Hepburn (nee van Heemstra) did as a teen-aged girl is all right with me.

Made in the middle of WWII, One of Our Aircraft Is Missing is quite a great film. The technical aspects and special effects are extraordinary. The script is wonderful (Oscar winning) and the British RAF members are all well developed. Some of the Dutch could use a little more characterization, but it's not too bad. One might think that the Archers' strengths lie in fantasy films, but they stick to realism here, and they do a great job. If you are a fan of the Archers, don't miss it. If you are a WWII buff, also make sure you catch it. 9/10.