Angels One Five (1954)

Fantastic!

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Producers: John W. Gossage, Derek Twist. A Templar Production, released in the U.K. by Associated British. Released in Australia by 20th Century-Fox on 25 November 1953. Released in the U.S.A. by Stratford, May, 1954. Copyright in the U.S. by Stratford Pictures Corp., 25 February 1953. New York opening simultaneously at the Beekman, Gramercy and 8th Street Playhouse: 29 April 1954. U.K. release: May 1954. Sydney opening at the Embassy. Location scenes filmed at Kenley Aerodrome, Surrey. 98 minutes. 8,820 feet.(Available on an Optimum DVD).NOTES: Number ten at British ticket windows for 1952.COMMENT: Far above Mr. O'Ferrall's usual standard, thanks to solid acting and an interesting script that provides plenty of action. Some of the miniature work (particularly the closing shot) is not the best but generally special effects and production values are first-class.OTHER VIEWS: Despite the high-sounding title (it means that aircraft are flying at a height of 15,000 feet), this is a routine drama of the wartime R.A.F. True, better films have been made about war in the air, but rarely have I seen one which is more sincere. To an ex-serviceman, the feeling is there, strong and indefinable, that these were the men he knew, fought with and laughed with. The sensation of reality is well maintained throughout the film with the exception of the few air combat scenes which are rather artificial. "Angels One Five" tells the story of some of the "Few," the men who flew the Hurricanes and Spitfires during the Battle of Britain in 1940. These were the men, who, outnumbered six to one by the Germans, managed to stave off the Luftwaffe. - Leo Basser.

Angels One-Five is a story of the trials and tribulations of life on an RAF base during World War II. Some great scenes of Hurricanes on the ground, taking off, in the air and landing.The Film is shot at RAF Neethley which I understand is actually RAF Kenley in real life. Some of the flying scenes look distinctly home-made however the story is powerful enough to forgive the shortcomings of the 1950s special effects department.Lovely 1950s English accents and light hearted events go towards making this film quaint in style but the harsh reality of war is impressed upon the viewer making it a poignant but enjoyable experience.I love this film and I return to it again and again and thoroughly enjoy it every time.Highly recommended.

SERIOUS SPOILERS -- be warned! This is a slightly off-beat Battle of Britain film: due either to deliberate decision or budgetary constraint, it focuses on those left behind on the ground when the Spitfires and Hurricanes take off -- the maintenance 'erks', the wives and sisters, the commanders and non-flying officers, and of course the 'Ops Room', with its radar plots and terse jargon. 'Angels One Five' -- friendly aircraft proceed to 15,000 feet...This would be less disconcerting if the film were openly shot as a study of the ground crews of an aerodrome; but it's not. It has its share of airborne sequences, and like its main protagonist, T.B.Baird -- whose unfortunate initials instantly gain him the nickname of 'Septic' -- the viewer constantly assumes that the *real* action in the skies is just about to begin. Labouring under a sense of injustice with which we are by and large induced to sympathise, Baird can't wait to get out of the Ops Room and onto more active duties. But when he does seize an unauthorised chance to fly in defence of the station itself and 'bags' an enemy aircraft, he commits a potentially lethal error; there is a very effective sequence deflating his heroics when it becomes clear just what he has done.The film often seems to work to subvert our expectations in this way, sometimes to comic and sometimes to shocking effect: when Baird finally gets into the air, all seems set for a conventional finale, with the defeat of the Luftwaffe ahead and promotion for our hero after the sad demise of his flight commander. But there is nothing so glorious in store. The same ignominious ambush that brought his leader down proves to have mortally wounded both Baird and his plane -- and the last we witness of his fate, from the Ops Room as always, is the gradually ebbing radio transmissions that mark his end. With another aircraft nursing him down and all resources at base turned to tracking his path, we automatically await a last-minute triumph over disaster... and are caught yet again off-balance.With a record like this, the film ought to be outstandingly original in its impact: yet, somehow, it isn't. Individual scenes are noteworthy indeed, but overall it left me with a strangely unsatisfactory impression. Its only real claim to 'shape' would be as Baird's own story, but its focus is too general for that -- yet it spends too much of its time following Baird to make sense as a story of the station at RAF Neetham itself. The end result seems to be a film without a clear idea of where it's going and missing some central sense of purpose.It's not a story of the futility of war; it's not a story of heroic sacrifice; it's not the story of one individualist coming to acknowledge the contributions of his colleagues; it's not a story of the horrors of responsibility in wartime. But while avoiding all these perhaps clichéd themes, it doesn't really come up with an overarching narrative of its own. The material has potential, but somehow the outcome is less effective than it might have been.

Any film that contains such immortal lines as " They've really caught us with both pairs of trousers at the cleaners this time!" definitely deserves a 10.