Appointment in London (1953)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

'The Lancaster bombing raid which climaxes the film is just about the best treatment of this subject I have seen.' Daily Mail 1953Not only does this film contain good solid performances and evidence the director's solid capabilities, but more importantly captures the tension and high risks of serving in Bomber Command in the Second World War. The audience acquires a better feel for the sheer exhaustion and pain at the loss of comrades those serving in these squadrons experienced. The degree of realism achieved was largely the result of the presence in the team of writers of John Wooldridge, who as part of his professional expertise also provided the typically bombastic score. Before becoming a film composer he had been a decorated member of Bomber Command, who had served alongside Dambuster Guy Gibson. Moreover, the links with that famous bombing raid are further bolstered by the fact that Dirk Bogarde based his interpretation of Wing Commander Tim Mason on Gibson, while the Lancasters used in this production would two years later be captured to magnificent effect as cinematic tribute to the 'Dambusters' in the much more revered film detailing their exploits. Bogarde is nothing short of excellent in portraying a committed commanding officer who has flown too many sorties, and whose determination to fly one more mission, despite his mental exhaustion, leads him to be grounded by his superiors. Though well- respected by his men, a combination of recent losses and near-misses gradually lead to the feeling that both their commander and the squadron are jinxed. This escalates after the loss of one of the most popular members of the squadron, played by a youthful Brian Forbes. Bogarde's character holds himself responsible for the loss of this young pilot having reprimanded him prior to his fateful mission about endangering the secrecy of the squadron's missions. This was by sending coded messages to his girlfriend notifying her of his safe return after each previous mission completed. This sequence of events leads to one of the most memorable scenes of the movie when the lost pilot's wife reveals that her deceased partner had hidden their marriage, conscious of his commanding officer's demands that nothing should interfere with their focus on the mission at hand. The weakest element of the movie is the unconvincing love interest provided by Dinah Sheridan, obviously introduced to soften Bogarde's attitude to the importance of civilian life for his men. By contrast, the film achieves great dramatic effect with its depiction of the final mission over occupied Holland. This results from the director, Philip Leacock's earlier expertise in his career as a director of documentaries, with it's subtle interplay between genuine pictures of a Bomber Command mission, special effect lighting, and realistic radio communication. The title of the film not only is far better than that it acquired on its US release ('Raiders of the Skies') but has poignant significance to the film's story-line. The eponymous appointment refers to that which Bryan Forbes' character was never able to attend to pick up his Distinguished Flying Cross from Buckingham Palace for his bravery under fire. In the final scene of the film we accompany Mason, and a fellow pilot, as they head towards their own medals for gallantry, together with the widow of this lost colleague. Atmospheric despite its low key approach, this British feature sits comfortably against its much better known American counterpart, 'Twelve O'Clock High', released four years earlier.

I had seen this film when I was in school where it was shown as part of educational films screened by one of my schoolmasters who had himself served in the Royal Indian Air Force in Burma.Today I own a copy on DVD. The exploits of people in Bomber Command is brought out with extreme accuracy to the screen by creating an atmosphere that is taut and realistic. Dirk Bogarde gives one of his best performances as the Wing Commander who is definitely cracking under the stress of command but does not want to accept it. The scenes where he gives Bryan Forbes a dressing down will certainly strike a chord where his sense of responsibility to the team is exposed. The accuracy of operations of RAF Bombers during night sorties right from the point of take off, to the tension of the ground staff till their return is brilliantly photographed. There are no clichés or extended heroics quite common in similar films but dark realism of survival during the war with the atmosphere of the airfields and aircrew intact. Being the son of an Air Force officer who did some war service in India the realism is striking. I would certainly recommend it to the younger viewers who need to study such situations.

From my summary you are entitled to think I found this an inferior rip-off of Twelve O'Clock High and you'd be correct. Dirk Bogarde was no Gregory Peck and though he gives the battle fatigue resulting from leading 80 + missions his best shot he doesn't quite cut it. Of course, if you haven't seen Twelve O'Clock High (released a couple of years earlier) chances are you'll enjoy this take on life on a bomber station in World War Two. All the usual suspects are wheeled out from Brian Forbes to Sam Kydd and there's even William Sylvester and Bill Kerr to ensure a balance of nationalities. Unlike Twelve O'Clock High the film can't resist introducing the female element so Dinah Sheridan is trotted out as the target for a half-hearted rivalry between Bogarde and Sylvester. Check it out if you must then check out a real movie on the same subject, beginning with Twelve.

This is an unusual film. As others have commented it is well made, tautly scripted and has very good central performances. But that isn't what singles it out.It's commonly thought that night time area bombing by the RAF was a hit or miss affair, quite different from daylight precision bombing done by the USAAF. Whilst no one can argue that targets were easier to see during daylight hours, both the RAF and the Luftwaffe developed highly accurate methods of hitting their targets at night. In the fateful Dresden raid in February 1945, almost 95% of the RAF bombload fell within one mile of the markers placed with 50 metre accuracy by the Mosquito target illuminator aircraft. The following day, a quarter of the American daylight force sent to follow up bombed Prague, having mistaken one bend in the River Elbe for another. This film depicts, at length, the method of target marking the flight path using coloured airburst flares, eliminating 'creepback' by approaching the target along different vectors, air and ground marking the target and using a 'Master Bomber' to control the incoming streams and give bomb aimers feedback on accuracy.No medal was struck for Bomber Command and many of the crew themselves felt their contribution was best forgotten, so this film is one of the few accurate testaments to their courage.