• Welcome to the Land Rover UK Forums

    You are currently viewing the site as a guest and some content may not be available to you.

    Registration is quick and easy and will give you full access to the site and allow you to ask questions or make comments and join in on the conversation. If you would like to register then please Register Now

The Battle of Britain - being fought on More 4+1 now!

Roger Whittle

Roger Whittle

Posting Guru
The classic film 'The Battle of Britain' is on More 4 +1 as I type and I can't resist watching it. It might be a bit hammy, but everything is there; the overweening, super confident Germans; the inexperienced pilots; the grinding, lethal slog of continuous fighting; the politics of Lee-Mallory's 12 Group fighting their own war and not defending AVM Parke's 10 Group airfields while they fought the Germans.

And all the while, ACM 'Stuffy' Dowding is fighting the war in the only way it could have been fought, when you have plenty of aeroplanes and not enough young men to fly them.

Roger.
 
Ah-ha! The classic line - reportedly a true story;

Goering; What must I get you to help?

Luftwaffe Leader; A squadron of Spitfires Herr Reichmarschal! :D


The sound of Merlin engines is all over this film - rather too many actually. Even my late grandma could tell you a Heinkel 111 didn't sound like that. The German in the film were all ex-Spanish Air Force and because they couldn't get Junkers Jumo or Diamler-Benz engines for the Bf109s, they used all those surplus RR Merlin engines. Irony or what?:rolleyes:

Roger.
 
The Battle of Britain and The Dambusters are my 6yr old son's favourite films - he's seen each at least 50 times, and can quote a lot of the dialogue. He's fascinated by WWII - we recently bought DVDs of the Battle of Midway and The Guns of Navarone for him. Next on the list is Cruel Sea. It'll be a while before we let him watch our Band Of Brothers box set, though.
 
Don't talk to me about classic war films, only repeats worth watching, have most of them on dvd as well B of B, longest day, all quiet on the western front, we dive at dawn, eagle has landed 633 sqdn, spitfire, one of our aircraft is missing, das boot.............they don't make 'em like they used to.........keith
 
Don't get me started on old war films I think there great seen about everyone i can get to see, athough there is a few which i am unable to get hold of which include "The key" 1958 won a british bafra and "Nine men" anyone with a copy please let me know.

Battle of Britain is great though saw "angels one five" early in the week still think "San Demtrio London" is about the best- true story
 
Just a few of my fave quotes.
"spring chicken to ****ehawk in thirty seconds flat". "Dagga Dagga Dagga".
"you Bosch barstard" (which got cut:( )
and "silence. In Polish."
oh and "repeat please":D
 
Somebody asked me about another PC cut in the film that I don't remember, it concerned a black lab that Michael Caines charecter owned, I told them they were thinking of the dam busters and sir Guy Gisbourns black lab that was buried on the night of the famous raid. was it in the Battle of Britain? Answers in code please yes or no will do after all it was a common name for black labs then.
 
conkers said:
Somebody asked me about another PC cut in the film that I don't remember, it concerned a black lab that Michael Caines charecter owned, I told them they were thinking of the dam busters and sir Guy Gisbourns black lab that was buried on the night of the famous raid. was it in the Battle of Britain? Answers in code please yes or no will do after all it was a common name for black labs then.
Click to expand...

Yes it was in this film, although not very much. you last see it looking all forlorn when michael Cains mate comes back and tells his co, that Michael's plane just blew up:eek: cue camera on dog, with sad face:(
 
I remember the Battle of Britain film being made (I was a young lad!)

I used to have to travel from Deal to Dover to attend grammar school daily. The film makers built a temporary airstrip and hangar just up from the cliffs at Dover- near the big radar masts. (It's called Hawkinge I think)

There were spitfires and hurricanes there, both real and dummy ones, caused lots of interest everyday as most of us liked the old aircraft ( I still do!):rolleyes:Probably contributed to my joining the RAF in 1971!!
 
Dave Sumner said:
I remember the Battle of Britain film being made (I was a young lad!)

I used to have to travel from Deal to Dover to attend grammar school daily. The film makers built a temporary airstrip and hangar just up from the cliffs at Dover- near the big radar masts. (It's called Hawkinge I think)

There were spitfires and hurricanes there, both real and dummy ones, caused lots of interest everyday as most of us liked the old aircraft ( I still do!):rolleyes:Probably contributed to my joining the RAF in 1971!!
Click to expand...

The film was made at just about the last moment it could be made. All the German aircraft were bought from the Spanish Airforce as they were getting rid of them - not before time. At the time, the film makers were reckoned to be the thirty-fifth largest airforce in the world.

The air to air shots were mostly done by a full, 35mm Variflex movie camera mounted in the rear of a B25. There were plenty of Spitfires and, ironically, Messerschmit Bf109s and Heinkel 111s (all with Merlin engines :rolleyes: ), but nowhere near enough Hurricanes. Three, I think. Even today there are very few flying Hurricanes - BBMF have only one. In the film, a couple of shots of Hurricanes flying in formation had the numbers made up by Percival Proctors with their fixed wheels matted out!

I was thinking today that an awful lot of the actors are dead now. Kenny Moore, Laurence Olivier, Trevor Howard, Stephen ...... (the guy in the 10 group ops room) , the guy who played Lee-Mallory, the thrid Squadron Leader (not Caine or Plummer - they're both still around) he was in Jaws and the 'Taking of Pelham 123, the badly burned pilot (who was real, by the way, he was one of Sir Archie MacIndo's guinea pigs) and I bet there are more.

By the way Conkers - it was the Dam Busters that has the PC continuity error. The last time I watched it on TV, whenever Guy Gibson's dog was referred to, especially when it was the code word for success, the name had been overdubbed to 'digger.'

Roger.
 
Roger Whittle said:
I was thinking today that an awful lot of the actors are dead now. Kenny Moore, Laurence Olivier, Trevor Howard, Stephen ...... (the guy in the 10 group ops room) , the guy who played Lee-Mallory, the thrid Squadron Leader (not Caine or Plummer - they're both still around) he was in Jaws and the 'Taking of Pelham 123, the badly burned pilot (who was real, by the way, he was one of Sir Archie MacIndo's guinea pigs) and I bet there are more.


Roger.
Click to expand...

I think the guy your thinking of, was Robert Shaw.
 
And the B25 was pink so everyone could see it and was flown by a gun runner (allegedly)........they just don't make films with that certain blend of humour , sarcasm, cynicsm, pragmatism, and action in anymore..............zulu springs to mind.........anymore?...........keith
 
glad to hear a few of you have got kids who like these old films. i wonder how many young 'uns have a clue about what went on just a few short years ago? its sad but i would imagine most youngsters wouldnt have a clue about the sacrifices made to give us the freedom we have today. I suppose it wont be so long until there are no WW2 veterans left and any direct link is gone.

As for the ridiculous PC dubbing in "The dambusters" last time i saw it they had changed the dogs name to "Old boy."
 
bahamarover said:
Over here they call each other by the N word all the time, if i were to do it there would be holy hell!!!!!...........keith
Click to expand...


it will be illegal in NYC to use the term if the city council has its way.

This must be one of the great war movies and somehow i've never seen it. When I was young i was quite the WWII buff and I thought I'd seen most of them. The Dam Busters is classic but The Battle of Britain gets very little play over here, I can't remember ever seeing it in TBS or AMC or any of the other networks. Recently I saw it in a $10 DVD bin at some store and for some reason I didn't buy it... Now I regret it. :(

Some other cool old movies I do have on DVD:
"They Were Expendable"
"Flying Leathernecks"
"Bataan"
"Back to Bataan"
"Battle Cry"
and one of my all time favorites "Battleground"- For some reason I really like Van Johnson as a GI- he just seems like a typical everyday Swedish American from Minnesota...

"Go for Broke" is another decent one with Van Johnson that rarely gets any play today.
 

Attachments

  • Van_Johnson.webp
    Van_Johnson.webp
    16.3 KB · Views: 25
MPi-KMS-72 said:
...........................but The Battle of Britain gets very little play over here, I can't remember ever seeing it in TBS or AMC or any of the other networks. ..............................
Click to expand...

That might be because the war didn't exist for America when the Battle of Britain was being fought. Only Ed' Murrow was telling the American public what was happening and it was all too far away.

If you get the chance to see it Matt, take it. There are a lot of models being blown up, but the real air to air scenes are breathtaking, all filled with the whistling growl of supercharged Merlin engines.

Roger.
 
Back
Top Bottom