Aces High (film)
Aces High | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jack Gold |
Screenplay by | Howard Barker |
Based on | Journey's End (play) by R. C. Sherriff |
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Gerry Fisher |
Edited by | Anne V. Coates |
Music by |
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Production companies |
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Distributed by | EMI Films (UK) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 114 minutes |
Countries | United Kingdom France |
Language | English |
Budget | £1,250,000[2] |
Aces High is a 1976 war film starring Malcolm McDowell, Peter Firth, Christopher Plummer and Simon Ward. The film, which is an Anglo-French production, is based on the 1928 play Journey's End by R. C. Sherriff with additional material from the memoir Sagittarius Rising by Cecil Lewis. It was directed by Jack Gold. The screenplay was written by Howard Barker.
Aces High turns the
Plot
In October 1916,
A year later,
Gresham is conflicted about having a younger man worship him as a hero as he relies on alcohol to continue being a flying ace, something Croft might report to his older sister back home. In a series of trials by fire, Gresham initiates Croft into the fighter pilot world, shooting down a German fighter on the younger pilot's tail. When Croft writes of his admiration for this heroic feat in a letter to his sister, Gresham waylays the letter, purportedly so he can review it. Not able to bring himself actually to open the letter, Sinclair reads it to him.
When Sinclair is killed in a photography mission Croft pilots, Gresham arranges to have him lose his virginity to a young French woman (prostitute) in Amiens. When Croft sneaks back to town the next night to be with her, she is chatting with a French colonel and ignores him.
By the end of the week, Croft shoots down his first plane. He is then suddenly killed in an air-to-air collision with a German aircraft. Back at base, Gresham struggles to write a letter to Croft's older sister, informing her of his death. When the next hopeful group of young replacement pilots enters his office for his review, he sees an apparition of an uninjured, smiling Croft through his office window. After the image fades, Gresham notes the dirtiness of the window to Bennett, before ordering the replacement pilots to grab their gear.
Cast
(Name in brackets for the equivalent character in Journey's End.)
- Malcolm McDowell as Major[a] John Gresham (Capt. Dennis Stanhope)
- Christopher Plummer as Capt. "Uncle" Sinclair (Lt. Osborne)
- Simon Ward as Lieutenant Crawford (2nd Lt. Hibbert)
- Peter Firth as 2nd Lt. Stephen Croft (2nd Lt. Raleigh)
- David Wood as Lieutenant "Tommy" Thompson (2nd Lt. Trotter)
- John Gielgud as Headmaster at Eton
- Trevor Howard as Lieutenant Colonel Silkin
- Richard Johnson as Major Lyle
- Ray Milland as Brigadier General Whale
- Christopher Blake as Lieutenant Roberts
- David Daker as Mess Corporal Bennett
- Barry Jackson as Corporal Albert Joyce
- Ron Pember as Lance Corporal Eliot
- Tim Pigott-Smith as Major Stoppard
- Gilles Béhat as Beckenaur
- Elliot Cooper as Wade
- Jacques Maury as Ponnelle
- Jeanne Patou as French Singer
- Pascale Christophe as Croft's Girlfriend
- John Serret as French Colonel
- Gerard Paquis as French Officer
- Jean Driant - Corporal Dressing Station
- Judy Buxton as French Girl
- Tricia Newby as French Girl
- Penny Irving as French Girl
- Roland Viner as Officer
- Steven Pacey as Officer
- Kim Lotis as Officer Batman
- Jane Anthony as Katherine
- Evelyn Cordeau as French Girl
- Paul Henley as Replacement
- David Arnold as Replacement
- Paul Rosebury as Replacement
- James Cormack as School Captain
Production
Development
The idea for the film came from producer
The movie was co-financed by
Casting
Peter Firth and Christopher Plummer joined Malcolm McDowell, who agreed to appear in the film because Gold had such a good reputation among actors at the time.[4]
Filming
The shooting schedule took seven weeks with one week for rehearsal.[4] Exteriors were shot in Spain and Southern England with principal photography at Booker Airfield, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, as well as St Katharine Docks and Eton College. Interiors were completed at Pinewood Studios.[5] The production paid close attention to authenticity with First World War era equipment being used throughout the film such as the airfield facilities, barracks and motor transport. The squadron depicted (known as 76 Squadron)[6] is loosely based on 56 Squadron, which flew the S.E.5 that regained Allied air superiority in mid-1917.[7] Some scenes are based on real RFC stories, such as pilots choosing between jumping to their deaths or burning alive in their aircraft (as they were not issued parachutes).[8] The juvenile mess room songs and young pilots "public school" attitudes capture the fatalistic attitudes of the time, when the life expectancy of a new pilot could be measured in weeks.[9]
Aerial sequences
Although the film reused some aerial sequences from
German aircraft were all adapted post-WWI aircraft except for a replica
Director Jack Gold later recalled "It was very difficult to obtain those planes. Sometimes we used models or archive footage. Action sequences in the air were very difficult to make and they were also very much tied with story. I had great assistant in Derek Cracknell and great specialist for special effects."[3]
Release
The film was not shown in US cinemas. HBO premiered it in 1979.[13]
Reception
Film historian Michael Paris saw Aces High as another of the period films that attempted to "de-mystologise" warfare.[14] Film archivist and historian Stephen Pendo saw the "good aerial photography by Gerry Fisher" as the strength of a film that played more as "standard fare".[15]
Legacy
The song "
The episode of Blackadder Goes Forth titled "Private Plane", during the aerial sequence, reuses scenes from Aces High.[17]
References
Notes
- ^ shown as a captain in the opening prologue, and as a major in the Western Front scenes set a year later
- ^ The Nieuport 17, which "Uncle" says is the one preferred by Gresham, is actually an S.E.5.[11]
Citations
- ^ "Le Tigre du ciel." EncycloCiné. Retrieved: 16 March 2015.
- ^ a b "Boost for studios."The Guardian, 9 July 1975, p. 5.
- ^ a b "Jack Gold: Independence is freedom to execute in personal style". United Film.
- ^ a b c Mills, Bart (1 November 1975). "Riders in the sky". The Guardian. p. 8M.
- ^ Orriss 2013, p 133.
- ^ which was actually stationed in England throughout WWI and never saw combat duty
- ISBN 978-1-84415-600-9.
- ^ "Why Pilots Didn't Wear Parachutes during World War 1". www.thehistoryreader.com. 17 April 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ "First World War flying training - Taking Flight". Raf Museum. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ "Review: Aces High". www.historyonfilm.com. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- ^ a b Carlson 22. p. 50.
- ^ Beck 2016, p. 10.
- ^ Buckley, Tom (12 October 1979). "At the Movies". The New York Times. p. C6.
- ^ Paris 1995, p. 46.
- ^ Pendo 1985, p. 115.
- ^ "92 Squadron - Geoffrey Wellum." RAF website, 2 March 2009. Retrieved: 29 June 2017.
- Internet Movie DatabaseRetrieved: 29 June 2017.
Bibliography
- Beck, Simon D. The Aircraft Spotter's Film and Television Companion. Jefferson, North Carolina, 2016. ISBN 978-1-476-66349-4.
- Carlson, Mark. Flying on Film: A Century of Aviation in the Movies, 1912–2012. Duncan, Oklahoma: BearManor Media, 2012. ISBN 978-1-59393-219-0.
- Orriss, Bruce W. When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Aviation Film Classics of World War I. Los Angeles: Aero Associates, 2013. ISBN 978-0-692-02004-3.
- Paris, Michael. From the Wright Brothers to Top gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. ISBN 978-0-7190-4074-0.
- Pendo, Stephen. Aviation in the Cinema. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. ISBN 0-8-1081-746-2.
External links
- Aces High at IMDb
- Aces High at Rotten Tomatoes
- allmovie/synopsis