Customer Reviews

Johnny in the Clouds

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Also known as 'The Way to the Stars' this 1940's British film follows the lives and loves of servicemen at an English airbase in WWII - the RAF unit that's stationed there first, then the American bomber unit that replaces them. It's one of those old black and white flag waving propaganda films that you stumble across on afternoon/late night TV - except that this one's better than average, not least when watching the American servicemen and the locals trying to make head or tail of one other. Worth watching if you've never seen it.

For aviation buffs the footage of B-17s shot for the film is actually the only known movie footage of B-17s from the Grafton Underwood airbase in Northamptonshire... except for some reason the footage has been reversed, so the P tailcodes are all facing backwards!

Sappy, melodramatic and dated at times, but also very well done, and emotionally
understated enough that the sappiness doesn't take over the experience.

The film traces 4 years in the life of an English Air Force base during WW II (1940-1944). An
interesting approach to a war film, in that the camera never shows battle, never leaves the
ground, but focuses on the lives of the fliers, their officers, and their women. That can lead
to a certain soap opera quality, but also to a film that doesn't feel quite like any other war film I've seen.

The acting is mostly top notch (Michael Redgrave, in particular), although some of
the many characters fall into caricature.

But the film isn't afraid to kill off major characters, and deal with the emotional consequences.
Some of the most interesting and moving scenes are how the men deal with losses with almost
complete suppression of emotion - which feels very honest.

Also, there's some real fun had with the differences between the UK fliers, and the US troops
who join them in 1942.

One of those films my head felt I should rate lower, but I had to admit I enjoyed far more
than I expected.