Mosquito Squadron
Mosquito Squadron | |
---|---|
Directed by | Boris Sagal |
Written by | Donald S. Sanford[1] Joyce Perry |
Starring | David McCallum Suzanne Neve Charles Gray |
Cinematography | Paul Beeson |
Music by | Frank Cordell |
Production company | Oakmont Productions |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
|
Running time | 86 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Mosquito Squadron is a 1969 British war film made by Oakmont Productions, directed by Boris Sagal and starring David McCallum. The raid echoes Operation Jericho, a combined RAF–Maquis raid which freed French prisoners from Amiens jail in which the Mosquitos took part.
Plot
The
After nearly losing his own life on a photographic reconnaissance mission over the Château de Charlon in Northern
The Royal Air Force target is a tunnel leading to an underground Nazi factory on the château grounds, where new "V-3" long-range, multi-stage rockets are being constructed. The prisoners are held in the chapel during Sunday morning
Munroe and Bannister drop their first two Highballs, but both miss. After wingman Clark is shot down by a Bf 109, they have just two left for two targets. Bannister is shot down by flak and crashes into the tunnel, his bombs exploding, leading to the destruction of the factory. Munroe blows apart the prison wall, just as the Germans are about to breech the chapel door and machine-gun all their prisoners. This allows most of the airmen to escape. The senior RAF officer, Squadron Leader Neale (Bryan Marshall), is killed by German machine-pistol fire during the prisoner breakout. With the help of the resistance fighters, his comrades make their way out of the château and its grounds. The bombing raid continues with a second wave of Mosquitos dropping conventional bombs that obliterate the château buildings.
Munroe and Scott are briefly reunited after Munroe's Mosquito is brought down by flak. Scott, still suffering from
The next day, after rescue by submarine, Munroe, along with other survivors of the raid, is repatriated back to his RAF airbase in one of two
Cast
Actor | Role |
---|---|
David McCallum | Squadron Leader Quint Munroe, RCAF |
Suzanne Neve | Beth Scott |
Charles Gray | Air Commodore Hufford, RAF
|
David Buck | Squadron Leader David ("Scotty") Scott, RAF
|
David Dundas |
Flight Lieutenant Douglas Shelton, RAF
|
Dinsdale Landen | Wing Commander Clyde Penrose, RAF
|
Nicky Henson | Flight Sergeant Wiley Bunce |
Bryan Marshall | Squadron Leader Neale, RAF
|
Michael Anthony | Father Bellaguere |
Peggy Thorpe-Bates | Mrs. Scott |
Peter Copley | Mr. Scott |
Vladek Sheybal | Lt. Schack |
Michael McGovern | Flight Lieutenant Bannister, RAF
|
Michael Latimer | Flying Officer Clark, RAF (uncredited)
|
Derek Benfield | Airman Valet (uncredited)[2] |
Production
Although not a sequel, the film is similar to the 1964 film .
The Highball weapon featured was an actual development of Barnes Wallis's "dam-busting" Upkeep bomb, and the footage of Mosquitoes dropping Highballs on land is genuine WWII archive footage, although in the event Highball was never used in combat. Charles Gray's character mentions Barnes Wallis during his briefing, in such a way as to erroneously imply that the name was well known to the RAF personnel (Wallis was not publicly identified as the Upkeep inventor until after the War). The special Highball bombsight is also a genuine representation of the one used in combat.
The car driven by David McCallum is a 1935 Godsal V8 Corsica.
Soundtrack
The film features a memorable music score (starting with pounding bass drum beats to background the
Reception
Most reviewers concentrated on the low-budget production values, but the script and cast also received severe criticism from some quarters. In 1968, McCallum, attending a film festival in Nice, was quoted, “I’ve seen bongo films better than that Mosquito rubbish”.[4][failed verification]
References
Notes
Citations
- ^ "'Midway' writer Donald S. Sanford dies at 92." Variety, 15 February 2011. Retrieved: 24 February 2011.
- ^ "Mosquito Squadron (1969)".
- ^ "Khartoum / Mosquito Squadron: Music composed by Frank Cordell: Film Music on the Web CD Reviews April 2004".
- ^ Cressy, Ben. "Mosquito Squadron (1970)." angelfire.com. Retrieved: 8 February 2022.
Bibliography
- "De Havilland Mosquito, De Speelfilms (in Dutch)."
- Lindsey, Brian. "Mosquito Squadron." Eccentric Cinema. Retrieved: 20 February 2011.