Q Planes

Q Planes
Q Planes

US Theatrical poster, Note the title is Clouds Over Europe
Directed by Tim Whelan
Arthur B. Woods
Produced by Irving Asher
Written by Brock Williams
Jack Whittingham
Ian Dalrymple
Starring Ralph Richardson
Laurence Olivier
Valerie Hobson
Release date(s) 2 March 1939 (UK)
20 June 1939 (US) as Clouds Over Europe
Running time 82 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English

Q Planes, released in the United States by Columbia Pictures as Clouds Over Europe, is a 1939 British spy film directed by Tim Whelan and Arthur B. Woods, starring Ralph Richardson, Laurence Olivier and Valerie Hobson. It was produced by Irving Asher with Alexander Korda as executive producer. [1]The name "Q Planes" may have been derived from the British "Q-ships" that were used as spy and armed merchant vessels in the First World War. The film was helmed by American director Tim Whelan (Sidewalks of London (1938) and later, in 1940, co-director of The Thief of Bagdad) who was then in Britain working for Korda at Denham Studios.

Q Planes (or in its American guise, Clouds Over Europe) mixes the genres of spy thriller and comedy romance, and was intended to be a star vehicle for Olivier, but Richardson dominates much of the screen with a sardonic take on a spy, either working for Scotland Yard or British Military Intelligence.[2] Released just months before the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in 1939, the film is a precursor to the "strongly nationalistic, anti-German films that would reach their zenith in Britain during the war years".[3]

Contents

Plot

Advanced British aircraft prototypes carrying experimental and highly secret equipment being developed under government contract, are regularly vanishing with their crews on their test flights. No one can deduce the problem, not even spymaster Major Hammond (Ralph Richardson) or his sister Kay (Valerie Hobson), a newspaper reporter who is working undercover in the works canteen used by the crews at the Barrett & Ward Aircraft Company.

At first, Major Hammond is seen as an outsider at the aircraft factory, even by Mr. Barrett, the owner (George Merritt), but he soon finds a friend in a star pilot, Tony McVane (Laurence Olivier) who helps him try to unravel the case. Hammond becomes convinced that the company secretary at the factory, Jenkins (George Curzon) is a foreign agent and "mole", but Jenkins is killed by unseen gunmen before he can give up the names of his contacts.

The mystery remains unsolved when McVane returns to the aircraft factory, determined to make the next test flight. His aircraft, like the others, is brought down by a powerful ray beamed from the S.S. Viking, a mysterious salvage ship manned by a foreign crew. [N 1] Along with his aircraft, McVane and his flight crew are taken hostage on the ship, where he discovers many other missing airmen have suffered the same fate. Gathering up weapons, McVane leads the British survivors in an attempt to take control of the ship. Major Hammond learns the truth and directs a Royal Navy ship (HMS Echo) to come to their rescue.

In a short coda, Kay and McVane get together and Hammond learns, to his chagrin, that his longtime lady friend has married.

Cast

Airspeed Envoy

Production

Period airports and aircraft including the Airspeed Envoy and de Havilland Tiger Moth are featured in the aerial scenes. The Brooklands racetrack, which also was an important aeronautical centre, was used as a backdrop for the aerial sequences on the ground.[4]

Reception

Considered a pre-war harbinger of a conflict with Germany and the role of spies in combating foreign agents, when screened in the United States, under the intriguing title of Clouds Over Europe, the film received a very positive review by Frank Nugent of The New York Times. Initially thinking the film may be a documentary, with newsreel footage of London starting the film, the scenes soon turn into "...one of the wittiest and pleasantest comedies that have come a capering to the American screen this season..."[5]Variety reviewers also considered it had a "...refreshing tongue-in-cheek attitude; whole thing is bright, breezy and flavorsome." [6]

The dapper character played by Richardson was reputedly the model for the later-day John Steed of the 1960s era The Avengers television series, according to Brian Clemens, one of the series creators.[7]

Screenwriter Jack Whittingham later collaborated with Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory for a James Bond film screenplay about a hijacked aircraft that was used for the book and film Thunderball.

Home release

The film was released on video by Carlton Home Entertainment in 1991, and on DVD in April 2007.

References

Notes
  1. ^ The nationality of the crew and agents aboard the S.S. Viking is unspecified, but can be presumed to be German.
Citations
  1. ^ Aldgate and Richards 1994, p. 79.
  2. ^ Spoto 1992, p. 207.
  3. ^ Bean, Kendra. "CMBA Movies of 1939 Blogathon: Q Planes." vivandlarry.com, 17 May 2011. Retrieved: 13 July 2011.
  4. ^ Albert, Walter. "A Movie Review by Walter Albert: Q Planes (1939)." Mystery File, 28 July 2009. Retrieved: 13 July 2011.
  5. ^ "Clouds over Europe (1939); The Screen in Review: Comedy Lifts Its Head Again in 'Clouds Over Europe' at the Music Hall." The New York Times, 16 June 1939.
  6. ^ "Q Planes (UK)." Variety, 1939.
  7. ^ Chapman 2002, p. 61.
Bibliography
  • Aldgate, Anthony and Jeffrey Richards. Britain Can Take it: British Cinema in the Second World War. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2nd Edition, 1994. ISBN 0-7486-0508-8.
  • Barr, Charles, ed. All Our Yesterdays: 90 Years of British Cinema. London: British Film Institute, 1986. ISBN 0-85170-179-5.
  • Chapman, James. Saints and Avengers: British Adventure Series of the 1960s (Popular TV Genres). London: I. B. Tauris, 2002. ISBN 978-1860647543.
  • Coleman, Terry. Olivier: The Authorised Biography. London: Henry Holt and Co., 2006, First edition 2005. ISBN 0-7475-7798-6.
  • Holden, Anthony. Olivier. London: Weidenfeld, 2008. ISBN 1904435890.
  • Murphy, Robert. British Cinema and the Second World War. London: Continuum, 2000. ISBN 0-8264-5139-X.
  • Spoto, Donald. Laurence Olivier: A Biography. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. ISBN 0-06-018315-2.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Planes — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Planes Escudo …   Wikipedia Español

  • Planès — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Planès …   Wikipedia Español

  • Planes Mistaken for Stars — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Planes Mistaken for Stars Información personal Origen Peoria, Illinois, Estados Unidos …   Wikipedia Español

  • Planes of Fame — is an aviation museum located in Chino, California and Valle, Arizona. History The Museum was founded by Edward T. Maloney in 1957 in Claremont, California, with an initial collection of six aircraft. As the collection grew, the museum moved… …   Wikipedia

  • Planes de ajuste estructural — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Los planes de ajuste estructural son planes económicos llevados a cabo por gobiernos de países endeudados para reducir el gasto público y mejorar la recaudación fiscal. Estas planificaciones son asesoradas por… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Planes y tratados de México — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda México, al alcanzar su independencia, era el país mas extenso de América Latina, y en 1822 se amplió con la incorporación de los estados centroamericanos. En una extensión de 4,665,000 de km2 vivían unos siete… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Planes (Alicante) — Planes Données générales Pays  Espagne Communauté autonome Communauté …   Wikipédia en Français

  • planes of reference — planes that are referred to as guides to the locations of specific anatomical sites, or of other planes …   Medical dictionary

  • Planes — Planes, Planas, Plana, Plane Le nom vient du latin plana (= terrain plat). Désigne celui qui habite la plaine ou qui vient de la plaine. La forme Planes est essentiellement roussillonnaise, Planas étant surtout castillan, parfois aussi du sud de… …   Noms de famille

  • Planès — is a town and commune in the Pyrénées Orientales département , in southwestern France …   Wikipedia

  • Planes — Planes, Flecken in der spanischen Provinz Alicante (Valencia); Fayencefabrik, Schwefelminen; 1200 Ew …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”