One of Our Aircraft Is Missing
Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Written by Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell
1942/UK
British National Films/The Archers
First viewing/Amazon Prime Instant Video
[box] Else Meertens: Do you think that we Hollanders who threw the sea out of our country will let the Germans have it? Better the sea.[/box]
This was the first film to carry the joint credit “Written, Produced and Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger” which would be used on 14 feature films over the next 14 years. It shows the team could tackle realistic action as well as fantasy.
An RAF crew sets off for Stuttgart on a bombing raid. After successfully delivering their pay load, their plane is hit by anti-aircraft fire. The crew must parachute to safety over the Nazi-occupied Netherlands. They are helped to escape to England by brave Dutch patriots led by a couple of resourceful women.
This film was made with the cooperation of the Air Ministry, the RAF, and the Royal Netherland Government in London. It is an extremely well-made morale-boosting propaganda piece in which the true heroes are not the British flyers but the Dutch. There is no musical score, just the hum of the planes, the bombs exploding, and incidental music on radios, etc. It opens with one of the more unusual credit sequences I have seen. Quality shines throughout as could be expected from the pedigree of the movie’s crew, which had David Lean in the editing room and Ronald Neame behind the camera.
The film contains Peter Ustinov’s screen debut as a Dutch priest.
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Writing, Original Screenplay and Best Effects, Special Effects.
Mini-clip – We have not come to invade Holland … yet
