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Squadron Leader X

Squadron Leader X
Squadronleaderx.jpg
U.S. promotional poster
Directed by Lance Comfort
Produced by Victor Hanbury
Written by Miles Malleson
Wolfgang Wilhelm
Emeric Pressburger
Starring Eric Portman
Ann Dvorak
Music by William Alwyn
Cinematography Mutz Greenbaum
Edited by Michael C. Chorlton
Distributed by RKO Radio British Productions
Release date
  • 1 March 1943 (1943-03-01) ( U.K. )
  • 10 May 1943 (1943-05-10) (U.S.)
Running time
99 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English

Squadron Leader X is a 1943 British World War II spy drama, directed by Lance Comfort and starring Eric Portman and Ann Dvorak. The screenplay was adapted by Miles Malleson and Wolfgang Wilhelm from a short story by Emeric Pressburger.

Erich Kohler (Portman), a crack Luftwaffe pilot who speaks fluent English, is instructed by his superiors to drop a cargo of bombs on the Belgian city of Ghent and then to bail out of his plane wearing a British RAF uniform, gain the confidence of the local populace and then try to convince them that the British are responsible for the bombing of civilian targets in Belgium. The plan goes awry when he falls into the hands of the Belgian Resistance, who believe they are doing him a favour by arranging for him to be smuggled to Britain among a group of downed RAF pilots who are being returned that night.

On arriving in Britain, Kohler escapes and makes his way to London where he tries to get in touch with old contacts, only to find that most have been interned on the Isle of Man. He does however manage to contact British nurse Barbara Lucas (Dvorak), an old flame who once had Nazi sympathies, and takes refuge with the Krohns (Martin Miller and Beatrice Varley), a couple who are reluctant Nazi agents due to threats being made of harm to family members in Germany if they fail to co-operate.

Kohler finds himself being hunted both by the British MI5 and by German officials furious at his bungled mission in Belgium. He is traced by Dr. Schultz (Henry Oscar), a ruthless Gestapo officer, who accuses him of inefficiency and cowardice. A shoot-out follows and Schultz is killed. Meanwhile, MI5 agent Milne (Walter Fitzgerald) picks up Kohler's trail. Kohler manages narrowly to avoid arrest and steals a Hawker Hurricane in which to fly back to Germany. Over the English Channel, he is spotted by German fighters who believe they are engaging a British pilot, and shoot the plane down.


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