Way To The Stars, The - Michael Redgrave, John Mills, Rosamund John, Stanley Holloway, Basil Radford 1945

Price USD 24.44 CAD 25.99 Seller Learmedia Rare and Classic Videos In 1940, a deserted airfield in the heart of the English countryside becomes a bustling bomber command station. In 1942 advance units of the American Air Force arrive to join the RAF and help turn the tide of WW2. So unfolds the story of a group of flyers and their missions. Peter Penrose (John Mills), a young pilot is sent to Halfpenny Field, close to the small town of Shepley. His Squadron leader, Flight Lieutenant David Archdale (Michael Redgrave) gives him inspiration and encouragement and they become firm friends. They are joined by a young American pilot, Johnny (Douglass Montgomery) which complicates the friendships. This is the story of the group's private lives - particularly their loves during the war. viewer's comments: - very warming, entertaining, watch it The day i watched this film it was cold and damp outside, I settled in, turned up the heating, supplied myself with tea and cigarettes and was transported back to a black & white time in the 1940's when the world was fighting to keep Hitler at bay. The film is set on a RAF airfield, following the lives of several characters throughout the war. The filmmakers have done a great job in putting together an excellent cast, including the ever watchable John Mills,a young Bill Owen (Compo-only British people will know what I mean) Basil Radford and Michael Redgrave.The acting and screen writing is very natural and you are quickly sucked in to a way of life, of living, manners, morals, speech patterns, quiet heroism, that just doesn't exist anymore. There is no battles or bombings, all we see are the planes taking off and landing, but we don't need that, this film is about people and love and relationships, humour in the face of adversity, having to accept the death of your friends. There is good comedy relief in the shape the American air force guys who come to the base and the great Stanley Holloway. Check this film out it is excellent - Brilliantly atmospheric recreation of wartime Britain My French teacher, a Lancaster Pilot,used to say there were two films which recreated WWII for him with almost uncanny realism. I think "Journey Together" was one of them but this was certainly the other, and Halliwell's description confirms it. It's release on DVD is long, long overdue. Unlike many of the films about the air war, this one never leaves the ground. It opens with a magnificent tracking shot, almost as long as Altman's opening shot in The Player, as a casual voiceover takes the viewer into the airbase and homes in on the wall next to the phone in the barracks, which has a series of marks and pictures on it, apparently insignificant but all turn out to have highly emotive connections to pivotal events in the plot. It catches the sustained mood of hope and fear, punctuated by moments of terror, hilarity, panic and relief. But these are moments. The unique thing in The Way to the Stars is the sense that everyday life had to be preserved by continuing to live it. The Rattigan script is wonderful, as is the direction. The long pause before John Mills has to tell hotel manager Toddy that her husband has been killed, with no background music or noise to break the almost unbearable tension, is one of the most painful in all cinema. 20 minutes later we're dealt another shocking, but equally understated emotional blow. The wisecracking, cynical New York bomb-aimer fills in the entertainment at a children's party, replacing his captain, killed that morning, having sacrificed himself to avoid injuring the local civilians. The soldierly respect and comradeship which rapidly replaces grating competitiveness as the Americans arrive on the base is also realistic (and refreshing given Hollywood's recent tendency to write the British out of WWII as in U571 or Saving Private Ryan, or worse, portray them dazed and confused. as in Band of Brothers.) Elegaic, heroic, understated, brilliantly filmed, acted and directed, without actually showing any real combat, The Way to the Stars manages to be one of the greatest war films ever made. - Life around a WWII air base shared by US and British airmen. The story is set around an English bomber air base during WWII, which subsequently becomes host to the US 8th air force. The principle characters frequent the local inn, run by 'Toddy', the wife of Flight Lieut. David Archdale. There is an ensemble of emotions, but the theme concentrates on stiff upper lip stoicism as bomber aircrew are faced with terrible odds of survival, and friends and loved ones make the best of the situation. The movie was obviously made as a morale booster at the end of the war in Europe and features an outstanding poem that serves as an epitaph to airmen killed in action. The poem is a parody on one written by Heinrich Hoffman, the title translating to `The Story of Johnny Head-In-Air' [1844]. For Johnny Do not despair for Johnny head-in-air; he sleeps as sound as Johnny underground. Fetch out no shroud for Johnny-in-the-cloud; and keep your tears for him in after years. Better by far for Johnny-the-bright-star, to keep your head and see his children fed. [John Purdey (RAF 1941-1945)] - A film that deserves to be better known Curiously enough, I first came across this film in Halliwell's Film Guide. Idly leafing through the pages, I came across this comment: "..One of the few films which instantly bring back the atmosphere of the war in Britain for anyone who was involved." While the Second World War ended many years before I was born, it sounded interesting and I made a mental note that it might be a good film to watch if ever I had the chance. Months later, I was looking through my local tv guide in the list of movies that were on. I noticed "The Way to the Stars", and some little bell in the recesses of my memory began to toll. I looked up the movie in my film guide -- and decided that I had to see it. As it turned out, that was a very happy decision. Others of the Second World War generation might be able to identify with the people and the setting of the film. I cannot, but I loved this movie for all the other reasons -- it really is a wonderful movie, a sad (and heroic) story of people during the war. Critics might provide an analysis of plot, characterisation etc, as a reason why it's such a good movie. I won't bother. I'll merely give this summary: It's one of my favourite films, it deserves to be better known, and you should see it if you get the chance. - The best of British Curious story which mixes Yanks and Brits as opposed to members of different services, amazing cast,John Mills is "I am that loser(though he gets the girl)person that you don`t want to be" although he does end up on Mossies, the most dissapointing part of the film is that there is no flying.For that see "Dambusters" although I do believe that the definitive Bomber Command/8th.AAF film has yet to be made. - An invaluable testimony, superbly produced, of what it was to be in Britain at war I saw this film in Britain as a child when it first came out. The whole of our little town talked about it for days after it was shown in our single cinema. Of course, our population had been swollen by forces personnel, including airmen, so we were intimately familiar with the kind of events shown in the film. Now, learning from your web site the details of the distinguished writers, cast and production team, I understand better why it made such a deep impression. In brief, the film embodies the spirit of Britain as I remember it: firm resolve to defeat the Nazi evil, together with the consciousness of the tragedies and also the comic moments of World War II. This is something that is hard to imagine today, in Britain or elsewhere, and especially since the disillusionment produced by the Vietnam War. If only for this reason, the film is an invaluable testimony, truly portraying how British society was then. Other films from the 1940s are repeated constantly on TV; I have been waiting over fifty years to see this one again. Isn't it time for a video/DVD? Cast: Michael Redgrave .... Flight Lieut. David Archdale John Mills .... Peter Penrose Rosamund John .... Toddy Todd Stanley Holloway .... Mr. Palmer Renée Asherson .... Iris Winterton Felix Aylmer .... Reverend Charles Moss Basil Radford .... Tiny Williams Bonar Colleano .... Joe Friselli Trevor Howard .... Squadron Leader Sil Carter. Also Known As: Johnny in the Clouds (1945) (USA) Runtime: full and uncut 103 minute version. Country: UK Language: English Color: Black and White

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