School for Secrets
School for Secrets | |
---|---|
Directed by | Peter Ustinov |
Screenplay by | Peter Ustinov |
Produced by | George H. Brown Peter Ustinov |
Starring | Ralph Richardson Raymond Huntley John Laurie |
Cinematography | Jack Hildyard |
Edited by | Russell Lloyd |
Music by | Alan Rawsthorne |
Production company | |
Distributed by | General Film Distributors |
Release date | 7 November 1946 |
Running time | 108 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
School for Secrets (also known as Secret Flight) is a 1946 British
Plot
School for Secrets tells the story of the "boffins" - research scientists - who discovered and developed
Messages
The film only represents events and characters in the most general way. It ostensibly celebrates the boffins, but
Cast
- Ralph Richardson as Professor Heatherville
- Raymond Huntley as Professor Laxton-Jones
- John Laurie as Dr. McVitie
- Ernest Jay as Dr. Dainty
- David Tomlinson as Mr. Watlington
- Finlay Currie as Sir Duncan Wills
- Norman Webb as Dr. Wainwright
- Michael Hordern as Lieutenant Commander Lowther
- Pamela Matthews as Mrs. Watlington
- Joan Haythorne as Mrs. Laxton-Jones
- Joan Young as Mrs. McVitie
- Ann Wilton as Mrs. Dainty
- Richard Attenborough as Jack Arnold
- Marjorie Rhodes as Mrs. Arnold
- David Hutcheson as Squadron Leader Sowerby
- Patrick Waddington as Group Captain Aspinall
- Cyril Smith as Flight Sergeant Cox
- James Hayter as R.A.F. Technical Officer
- Robert Wyndham as Commando Major
- Andrew Blackett as Commando Captain
- Bill Owen as Commando NCO
- Robin Bailey as Wives' Escort Officer
- Hugh Dempster as Sqdn. Ldr. Slatter
- Kenneth Milne-Buckley as Sqdn. Ldr. Buckley
- Paul Carpenter as Flt. Lt. Argylle
- Anthony Dawson as Flt. Lt. Norton
- Murray Matheson as Wing Cdr. Allen
- Peggy Evans as Daphne Adams
- Ingrid Forrest as Penelope Birkenshaw
- Geraldine Keyes as Phyllis Hammond
- Vida Hope as WAAF Flight Sergeant
- Edward Lexy as Sir Desmond Prosser
- Hugh Pryse as Sir Nicholas Hathaway
- O. B. Clarence as Old Retainer
- Aubrey Mallalieu as 1st Club Member
- Desmond Roberts as 2nd Club Member
- Guy Belmore as 3rd Club Member
- Joseph Almas as Dr. Klemmerhahn
- Arthur Rieck as Lt. Hense
- Ernest Urbank as 1st Sentry
- Karl Morel as 2nd Sentry
- Kenneth More as Bomb Aimer
Critical reception
TV Guide wrote, "as would be expected from young writer-director Ustinov (he was 25 years old at the time), a nice sense of humour is integrated into the proceedings, a refreshing change from the deadly serious propaganda films that dominated the screen at the time. Unfortunately, portions of School for Secrets are too talky and tend to drag on past the point of interest, but the action scenes are excitingly handled and manage to keep the narrative aloft",[5] while Britmovie called the film a "sprightly melodrama. With its starry cast of character actor and witty dialogue, Ustinov focuses more on the diverse characters than scientific advances."[6]
References
- ^ "School for Secrets". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
- ^ S2CID 140789641.)
The RAF has gained a reputation during the last few years, not only of being a brilliant warlike organisation, but also of inventing a new language. Among the lesser known words which appeared in the welter of "prangs", "scrambles" and "wizards", was the world "boffin", meaning scientist. Once upon a time a Puffin, a bird with a mournful cry, got crossed with a Baffin, an obsolete service aircraft. Their offspring was a Boffin. This bird bursts with weird and sometimes inopportune ideas, but possesses staggering inventiveness. Its ideas, like its eggs, are conical and unbreakable. You push the unwanted ones away and they just roll back.
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(help - ISBN 9781860649318.
- – via PhilPapers.
- ^ "School For Secrets". TV Guide.
- ^ "School for Secrets". britmovie.co.uk.
External links
- School for Secrets at IMDb
- Review of film at Variety