A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Pros:  Nice aerial photography, some exciting action scenes Cons:  Predictable, full of war movie cliches It is spring, 1944. World War II is entering its fifth year. Although the Allies have driven Hitler’s armies from North Africa, Sicily, and parts of Italy, most of Europe is still under German control. In the Eastern Front, the Red Army is massing for a summer offensive that will follow the long-promised cross-Channel invasion of France, which is scheduled for late spring. Meanwhile, Allied intelligence has discovered the nature of mysterious concrete-and-metal installations being built by the Germans in northern France, Belgium, and Holland: they are launch pads for Hitler’s V-2 rockets, the “wonder weapons” that, if deployed in time, could wreak destruction on England and jeopardize the D-Day landings. The Allies’ only hope is to destroy the Germans’ rocket-fuel plants in occupied Norway, and for this mission the Royal Air Force’s high command req...

( C)  2008 MGM/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment “Battle of Britain” (1969) Directed by Guy Hamilton Written by James Kennaway and Wilfred Greatorex, based on the book The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster Starring: Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier, Ian McShane, Christopher Plummer, Susannah York, Edward Fox, Curd Jurgens Director Guy Hamilton’s “Battle of Britain” is an all-star docudrama that attempts to recreate Nazi Germany’s ill-fated attempt to batter Great Britain into submission by aerial bombardment during the summer and autumn of 1940. As in 20th Century Fox’s 1962 D-Day epic “The Longest Day,” “Battle of Britain” features an international cast of actors from Germany, Canada, France, and, of course, Great Britain. Also like  “The Longest Day” producer Darryl F. Zanuck, producers Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz invested time (nearly four years) and money !$14 million in 1965 dollars) to hire a cast and acquire real milita...