Dreadful Films: A Great Shame On Brave Men
I watched The Longest Day on DVD again last night - an excellent film made some 57 
years ago now...
'Flight' Officer Richard Burton with his incorrect medal ribbons joining a group of pilots at some bar, where some were wearing SD caps, jolted a little. Was this Darryl F Zanuck's idea of an Officers' Mess? But that didn't really detract from the excellence of the film. Which is far better in this original version, with the French speaking in French and the Germans speaking German, than any all-English TV version of the film.
years ago now...'Flight' Officer Richard Burton with his incorrect medal ribbons joining a group of pilots at some bar, where some were wearing SD caps, jolted a little. Was this Darryl F Zanuck's idea of an Officers' Mess? But that didn't really detract from the excellence of the film. Which is far better in this original version, with the French speaking in French and the Germans speaking German, than any all-English TV version of the film.
Last edited by BEagle; 7th Jun 2019 at 07:13.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
There are obvious cases where the film will grate with we experts but as orca said, he couldn't recognise light blue errors nor could we recognise dark blue or green ones.
There are other cases where we are absolutely certain that the film is wrong only to discover from contemporary sources that they were right all along. RAF headdress is a case in point - officers wearing berets with flying suits and forage caps with No 1s, or SD hats and DPMs. Another was Busy Jackets with shorts and long or short sleeves.
There are other cases where we are absolutely certain that the film is wrong only to discover from contemporary sources that they were right all along. RAF headdress is a case in point - officers wearing berets with flying suits and forage caps with No 1s, or SD hats and DPMs. Another was Busy Jackets with shorts and long or short sleeves.
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Too many armchair critics around! The Lancaster Skies director (Callum Burn) is in his twenties and managed to scrape up a budget of just £80k for his debut movie. He is passionate about recognising and supporting the Bomber Command aircrews.
I agree that there may be a few mistakes with cap badges and saluting procedures, but who really cares. I defy anyone to make a better WW2 movie on such a tiny budget. He needs to be encouraged rather than criticised.
I agree that there may be a few mistakes with cap badges and saluting procedures, but who really cares. I defy anyone to make a better WW2 movie on such a tiny budget. He needs to be encouraged rather than criticised.
I think we were encouraging him to do a bit of basic research ..... anyone passionate about recognising and supporting Bomber Command aircrews needs to do the job properly. Like they did.
Too many armchair critics around! The Lancaster Skies director (Callum Burn) is in his twenties and managed to scrape up a budget of just £80k for his debut movie. He is passionate about recognising and supporting the Bomber Command aircrews.
I agree that there may be a few mistakes with cap badges and saluting procedures, but who really cares. I defy anyone to make a better WW2 movie on such a tiny budget. He needs to be encouraged rather than criticised.
I agree that there may be a few mistakes with cap badges and saluting procedures, but who really cares. I defy anyone to make a better WW2 movie on such a tiny budget. He needs to be encouraged rather than criticised.
Open your eyes and see stories the maker was trying to tell.
Too many armchair critics around! The Lancaster Skies director (Callum Burn) is in his twenties and managed to scrape up a budget of just £80k for his debut movie. He is passionate about recognising and supporting the Bomber Command aircrews.
I agree that there may be a few mistakes with cap badges and saluting procedures, but who really cares. I defy anyone to make a better WW2 movie on such a tiny budget. He needs to be encouraged rather than criticised.
I agree that there may be a few mistakes with cap badges and saluting procedures, but who really cares. I defy anyone to make a better WW2 movie on such a tiny budget. He needs to be encouraged rather than criticised.
Open your eyes and see stories the maker was trying to tell.
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Langley - Bomber Command did some extraordinarily brave, absolutely necessary, eminently justifiable and very skilful things - but your analogy/ comparison probably falls down on accuracy.
Funny how we tend to remember (and even look for ?) minor errors in otherwise entertaining films.
My personal “one to look for” in WWll era films is the presence of modern day “tram lines” in the cereal crops.
I guess you really need a farming background for it to be of noticeable significance (and probably be at least into your 60’s) but tram lines (the empty wheel marks for the tractor operator to follow every time he does tractor work in a cereal field) didn’t exist before the early 70’s. Before tram lines were brought into use you simply drove the tractor over the growing crop, as and when required. Now the same “un-cropped” tramlines are followed every time in the field . . . and so seeing tram lines continuously in the background / aerial shots in post 70’s films like Memphis Belle (with 1940’s binder cutter in a tram-lined wheat field behind the B-17 at Binbrook !) always brings a wry smile to my face.
And I’m smiling now as I think of you all thinking . . “tram lines in cereal fields? What is he going on about?”
My personal “one to look for” in WWll era films is the presence of modern day “tram lines” in the cereal crops.
I guess you really need a farming background for it to be of noticeable significance (and probably be at least into your 60’s) but tram lines (the empty wheel marks for the tractor operator to follow every time he does tractor work in a cereal field) didn’t exist before the early 70’s. Before tram lines were brought into use you simply drove the tractor over the growing crop, as and when required. Now the same “un-cropped” tramlines are followed every time in the field . . . and so seeing tram lines continuously in the background / aerial shots in post 70’s films like Memphis Belle (with 1940’s binder cutter in a tram-lined wheat field behind the B-17 at Binbrook !) always brings a wry smile to my face.
And I’m smiling now as I think of you all thinking . . “tram lines in cereal fields? What is he going on about?”
Last edited by Idle Reverse; 8th Jun 2019 at 07:23. Reason: Typo
Another was Busy Jackets with shorts and long or short sleeves.
I do love your typos P-N. I'm trying to imagine what a busy jacket would be busy doing! Anyway, I seem to remember that in Singapore and HK we wore bush jackets with shorts and short sleeves in the daytime and long trousers and long sleeved jackets at night to help keep the mosquitoes off.
FB
Funny how we tend to remember (and even look for ?) minor errors in otherwise entertaining films.
My personal “one to look for” in WWll era films is the presence of modern day “tram lines” in the cereal crops.
I guess you really need a farming background for it to be of noticeable significance (and probably be at least into your 60’s) but tram lines (the empty wheel marks for the tractor operator to follow every time he does tractor work in a cereal field) didn’t exist before the early 70’s. Before tram lines were brought into use you simply drove the tractor over the growing crop, as and when required. Now the same “un-cropped” tramlines are followed every time in the field . . . and so seeing tram lines continuously in the background / aerial shots in post 70’s films like Memphis Belle (with 1940’s binder cutter in a tram-lined wheat field behind the B-17 at Binbrook !) always brings a wry smile to my face.
And I’m smiling now as I think of you all thinking . . “tram lines in cereal fields? What is he going on about?”
My personal “one to look for” in WWll era films is the presence of modern day “tram lines” in the cereal crops.
I guess you really need a farming background for it to be of noticeable significance (and probably be at least into your 60’s) but tram lines (the empty wheel marks for the tractor operator to follow every time he does tractor work in a cereal field) didn’t exist before the early 70’s. Before tram lines were brought into use you simply drove the tractor over the growing crop, as and when required. Now the same “un-cropped” tramlines are followed every time in the field . . . and so seeing tram lines continuously in the background / aerial shots in post 70’s films like Memphis Belle (with 1940’s binder cutter in a tram-lined wheat field behind the B-17 at Binbrook !) always brings a wry smile to my face.
And I’m smiling now as I think of you all thinking . . “tram lines in cereal fields? What is he going on about?”
FB
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I can't comment on uniforms and protocols for 1944 but I can comment on some of the howlers in the film regarding the handling of Lancasters. First I must state that my 750 hours on the Lanc were flown in the 1950's, after people stopped shooting at them.
Firstly, the Flight Engineer or Pilot didn't just stick a thumbs-up out of the window to request clearance from the ground-crew to start an engine, they indicated which engine by showing the requisite number of fingers.
Secondly, you would never start turning a heavily laden Lancaster as soon after take-off as they did in that film. You had to hold a steady course while you balanced acceleration against height gain as you retracted the undercarriage and got the flaps up and built up a climbing speed of 160 - 165 knots before reducing power from take-off to climb power. That took some time.
Thirdly, the German fighter tactics shown were those that they used against B17's in daylight and were quite unsuitable for night fighting.
I've just re-listened to a recording that my older brother made 25 years ago for a local school. He did a full tour as a Flight Engineer on Halifaxes and Lancasters with 432 Squadron RCAF at RAF Eastmoor and he describes a 700 aircraft attack on Karlsruhe in 1944 and makes the point that they didn't see another aircraft throughout the whole flight though they did run into severe slipstream turbulence over the target. The CGI views of a close formation of Lancs thundering through the dark skies over Germany was very impressive but totally wrong.
Firstly, the Flight Engineer or Pilot didn't just stick a thumbs-up out of the window to request clearance from the ground-crew to start an engine, they indicated which engine by showing the requisite number of fingers.
Secondly, you would never start turning a heavily laden Lancaster as soon after take-off as they did in that film. You had to hold a steady course while you balanced acceleration against height gain as you retracted the undercarriage and got the flaps up and built up a climbing speed of 160 - 165 knots before reducing power from take-off to climb power. That took some time.
Thirdly, the German fighter tactics shown were those that they used against B17's in daylight and were quite unsuitable for night fighting.
I've just re-listened to a recording that my older brother made 25 years ago for a local school. He did a full tour as a Flight Engineer on Halifaxes and Lancasters with 432 Squadron RCAF at RAF Eastmoor and he describes a 700 aircraft attack on Karlsruhe in 1944 and makes the point that they didn't see another aircraft throughout the whole flight though they did run into severe slipstream turbulence over the target. The CGI views of a close formation of Lancs thundering through the dark skies over Germany was very impressive but totally wrong.
A Great Shame On Brave Men. I don't think so, but that's just an opinion. A lay person is much more likely to think, "Holy sh1t, they did that every night! How could they keep going?", than, "What crap, he'd never wear a hat like that!"
CG
CG
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I watched a film on Netflix recently called "Hurricane". It also deals with Polish 303 Squadron. Not a great film, and completely reliant on not the best CGI, but also a worthy subject for which many of it's problems can be excused. So absolutely not a "dreadful film", I only mention it because of 303, and recommended for people with an interest in the subject matter.
There is now so much knowledge in older peole who have retired or partially retired and through the wonders of the internet and social media can be easily contacted. Many of these people (such as PPUNErs) would willingly give free or low cost advice on a whole range of projects. Yet no-one cares enough to even ask. Journalists are awful, replete with degrees and Masters in Journalism, cannot spell, no-one seems to proof-read and they simply regurgitate press releases with no accurate comment or added information, much of which is found in the comments section. Here people who really understand the subject, chuck in their often incisive evaluation of the article. Why do we employ vacuous twenty-somethings rather than use the vast knowledge of an older generation?
I was more noticing Richard Burton's acting. He seemed to be in a different film to everyone else!
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How dare you besmirch the honour of Major John Smith aka Sturmmbahnfuhrer Johann Schmidt!! Possibly the most entertaining WW2 adventure film ever made!
After Zulu, of course, but I digress.
After Zulu, of course, but I digress.
"Bums in seats, mate, bums in seats", was what the producer said to A.J Chegwidden in the show 'JAG' when he complained about the technical errors in a film in which AJ was supposed to be technical adviser!