One of Our Aircraft is Missing
| One of Our Aircraft is Missing | |
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theatrical poster
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| Directed by |
Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger |
| Produced by | Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger |
| Written by | Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger |
| Starring |
Godfrey Tearle Eric Portman Hugh Williams Bernard Miles Hugh Burden Emrys Jones Googie Withers Pamela Brown |
| Cinematography | Ronald Neame |
| Edited by | David Lean |
| Distributed by | Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors |
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Release date
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Running time
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UK: 102 minutes US: 82 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £70,000 (est.) |
| Box office | $478,939 (US rentals) |
One of Our Aircraft is Missing is a 1942 British war film, mainly set in the German-occupied Netherlands. It was the fourth collaboration between the British writer-director-producer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and the first film they made under the banner of The Archers. Although considered a wartime propaganda film, and made under the authority of the Ministry of Information as part of a series of film productions specifically aimed at morale in the United Kingdom, the story and production values elevated it from the usual jingoistic fare. Today, One of Our Aircraft is Missing is considered one of the "best of British films of the era."
A reversal of the plot of Powell and Pressburger's previous film, 49th Parallel (1941), One of Our Aircraft is Missing has the British trying to escape with the help of various local people. In the 49th Parallel, the Germans stranded in Canada argued and fought amongst themselves, while the British fliers in this film work well together as a team.
One of Our Aircraft is Missing finishes with the coat of arms of the Netherlands on screen, with the caption, "The Netherlands will rise again!", while the Wilhelmus (the Dutch national anthem) is played.
"B for Bertie" is an RAF Vickers Wellington bomber whose crew was forced to bail out over the Netherlands near the Zuider Zee after one of their engines was damaged during a nighttime raid on Stuttgart. Five of the six airmen find each other; the sixth goes missing. The first Dutch citizens they encounter, led by English-speaking schoolteacher Else Meertens (Pamela Brown), are suspicious at first as no aircraft is reported to have crashed in the Netherlands (the abandoned bomber actually reaches England before hitting a pylon). After much debate and some questioning, the Dutch agree to help, despite their fear of German reprisals.
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Wikipedia