Im afraid all of the planes are out of patrol....except Crofts of course.....
The film opens with fighter ace Major Gresham (McDowell) speaking to a class of students at his former British public school. Back at his base, a batch of new recruits shows up and one of them is the younger brother, Lt. Croft (Firth) of his girlfriend. Already Gresham relies on alcohol to cope with combat stress and bring himself to continue flying. Now the strain of being responsible for his, we assume, fiancée's brother further weighs on him. Croft has to learn how to survive not only in the air, but on the ground as well as he initially makes some minor mistakes in squadron etiquette.
The film also follows Croft's rapid rite of passage from naive schoolboy to adult fighting soldier. We also see Croft's initial hero-worship of his commanding officer crumble as he realises the realities of combat, yet regains a new respect for Gresham and the stresses he has to cope with.
The film reaches its tragic conclusion when Croft finally scores his first air victory and seems to have made the leap in skills necessary to survive but is suddenly killed in a collision with a German aircraft.
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Movie Script
| Directed by | Jack Gold |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Benjamin
Fisz Jacques Roitfeld Basil Keys |
| Written by | Howard Barker |
| Starring | Malcolm
McDowell Christopher Plummer Simon Ward |
| Music by | Richard
Hartley Carlo Rustichelli |
| Distributed by | Cinema Shares International Distribution |
| Release date(s) | December 1977 |
| Running time | 114 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget |