Customer Reviews

The Lion Has Wings [VHS]

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An effective and explicitly propagandistic wartime docudrama, co-directed by the ever-quirky Michael Powell, and clearly aimed at a hometown audience seeking reassurance during the ongoing German Blitz. Merle Oberon and Ralph Richardson star as a British couple doing their bit to beat back the Hun, but in truth the acting parts are the least noteworthy aspect of this feature-length film, which is structured more like a newsreel than a drama. The opening sequences, which feature a clever montage that juxtoposes the wholesome, modern look of freedom-loving England with the sinister, humourless world of the Nazis, has some great footage and several interesting aspects. The apparent faith in modernity (as extolled in the newly-built high-rise tenements and lengthy footage of wartime industrial production) and the uniquely Powell-ian sense of humor which frames the narration are equally of note... The second half of the film involves a recreation of an early RAF bombing raid on the mainland, and a lengthy dramatization of how the Brits would fend off German bombers through a combination of ground artillery and plane-to-plane dogfights. The film was probably also meant to act as disinformation: we are shown an elaborate, James Bond-ish, secret control center which coordinates information phoned in by local "plane watchers," when in fact Britain had already developed a radar defense, which proved key to their success in controlling the airspace over the English Channel. Likewise, there is no mention of the controversial "lend-lease" arrangement, set up with the nominally-neutral United States, which had not yet joined the war. Finally, this pro-RAF film proved to be rather prophetic, as it was produced and released just before the airborne Battle of Britain, which was one of the pivotal fights of the War. A fascinating and somewhat quaint bit of wartime propaganda.

This period piece of wartime propaganda is typical of the PR of the time. The phoney Canadian accent of the Spitfire pilot (which was probably unsuccessfully based on that of genuine Canadian Flying Officer Ken Thom) grates on the ear. Ken was one of the six pilots of B Flight of 74 Squadron RAF who flew the fighter sequences for the film on September 6th 1939. He was later imprisoned in the infamous Colditz castle as a POW.The others were Fg Off Sammy Hoare, Flight Sgt Ernie Mayne, Fg Off Manwaring, Flt Lt Treacy, and Sgt Bushell. There is an account of the making of the sequences in my book "I Fear No Man" (ISBN1 900511 03 7). The acting is wooden and forced to 21st century eyes, but then we did not notice the exaggerated formality and British upper-class accents, as many spoke more or less like that in those days. However if one accepts that it is a period piece, it still gives a pretty fair picture of those early days of the phoney war in 1940 before the Battle of Britain started in July 1940.

Review by Douglas Tidy
Squadron Leader RAF (Ret) who served with 74 Squadron in WW2