The first of the few
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The first of the few |
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| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1942 |
| length | 118 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Leslie Howard |
| script |
Miles Malleson Anatole de Grunwald |
| production | Leslie Howard |
| music | William Walton |
| camera | Georges Périnal |
| cut | Douglas Myers |
| occupation | |
| |
The First of the Few is a British film biography from 1942 by and with Leslie Howard in the leading role of the aircraft designer of the Supermarine Spitfire , Reginald Joseph Mitchell (1895-1937).
action
The film begins with a newsreel from the summer of 1940 and shows how far German troops have already advanced across the continent. Meanwhile, Britain is preparing for an invasion and trying to repel German air strikes on British targets. On September 15, 1940, during the Battle of Britain , Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Geoffrey Crisp, who heads a Spitfire squadron as station commander , tells the story of his comrade and friend RJ Mitchell, who died in 1937 and who owned the Spitfire, an agile fighter pilot , designed. Crisp's pilots hear his story begin in 1922. At that time, Mitchell designed the first major high-speed aircraft as part of the Schneider Trophy , a flying competition for seaplanes. As he observes seagulls in the sky with binoculars, Mitchell sees the future in a new design of aircraft in his mind's eye. Crisp, a former World War I pilot desperate for work, cheers Mitchell on with his enthusiasm, and the designer promises Mitchell that he will be employed as a test pilot should his design ever go into production. Even if there were a lot of obstacles in his way from the official side, Mitchell was able to manufacture a number of successful high-speed seaplanes and ultimately even bring the Schneider Trophy to Great Britain.
After a visit to Adolf Hitler's Germany, where he met his strongest German competitor, the aircraft designer Willy Messerschmitt , and heard of a massive German armament, Mitchell decided to build the fastest and most effective fighter in the world. Mitchell convinces the engine builder Henry Royce from Rolls-Royce that you absolutely need a top engine for a combat-strong fighter aircraft. Royce promises Mitchell this, and so Mitchell's Spitfires are finally equipped with the powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. In view of the news that the seriously ill Mitchell only has about a year to live, he accelerates his work on the completion of the first prototype of his "baby", the Supermarine Spitfire . Crisp ends his review of Mitchell's life when the alarm goes off and Crisp rises with his squadron to counter a German attack. And in fact it succeeds in pushing back the German invaders in the sky and achieving a points victory for the RAF over the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring. In the end, Crisp looks up at the sky and thanks Mitchell for creating the Spitfire.
Production notes
The film celebrated its world premiere on August 20, 1942 in London's Leicester Square Theater. In the United States, the film, as an act of the British-American brotherhood in arms, ran in 1943 under the title Spitfire . In Germany, The First of the Few not shown.
Phil C. Samuel took over the production management. Paul Sheriff created the movie structures. George Pollock was an assistant director. Jack Hildyard served as a simple cameraman under the direction of Georges Périnal . Eric Cross photographed the model shots, Arthur Ibbetson and Alan Hume were camera assistants. Muir Mathieson conducted William Walton's composition with the support of the London Symphony Orchestra .
Like all his other films in which Howard had worked as an actor or as a director or as a producer during the Second World War, The First of the Few also conveyed clearly patriotic and propaganda messages.
Reviews
The British Film Institute wrote: “Leslie Howard's homage to RJ Mitchell is herself obsessed with the qualities of modesty and emotional restraint that she so brilliantly praises in her hero. The film is fondly remembered with its appropriately rousing William Walton score, but it lacks the vivid dramatic and emotional realism that still impresses Howard's other propaganda efforts, and it anticipates the more formulaic qualities of 1950s war film. Only the opening and closing sequences give the impression that the film was made at a time when the outcome of the Second World War was still to be decided. "
"Full of action, Schneider Trophy races, test flights and lightning bolts from the Battle of Britain."
The Movie & Video Guide wrote in a nutshell: “Good biographical drama”.
Halliwell's Film Guide stated, “A simple but impressive film biography with consistent acting and good dialogue scenes. Production quality slightly shaky ”.
Individual evidence
- ^ Criticism on BFI Screenonline
- ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide , 1996 edition, p. 1230
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide , Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 350
Web links
- The First Of The Few on BFI Screenonline
- The First of the Few in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The First of the Few in Turner Classic Movies