"Angels One Five" refers to RAF radio procedure from the Second World War. Angels stands for altitude. One Five means 15,000 feet. The film was the first British post-war production to deal with the Battle of Britain.[4]
Plot
In 1940, a replacement, Pilot Officer T. B. "Septic" (the nickname given to him because his initials, T. B. 'sound septic') Baird (John Gregson), is landing his Hawker Hurricane at "Pimpernel" Squadron's airfield. Just as he touches down, a damaged aircraft from an earlier mission taxis across his path. Septic's quick reactions allow him to leapfrog the other Hurricane, averting a costly disaster but he crashes his replacement aircraft into the bungalow of Squadron Leader Barry Clinton at the end of the runway.
This earns Septic the wrath of his new squadron leader, Bill Ponsford, because he damaged a replacement aircraft. The crash also injures the ligaments in Septic's neck, which he is able to self-diagnose, since he was studying medicine before the war. The next morning Septic is told by Group Captain "Tiger" Small that he will not be able to fly until his neck is healed, so he will instead serve in the operations room.
Several days later, with the risk of a bombing raid on the airfield and all of Pimpernel Squadron's Hurricanes scrambled, Tiger orders all aircraft to take off and fly out of harm's way until the raid is over. With Tiger quickly assembling all available pilots and finding aircraft to fly, Septic wins a foot race with Small to claim the last spare Hurricane for himself. He then proceeds to shoot down a Messerschmitt Bf 110 from the attacking force. His delight is short-lived when he is admonished by Small and Sqn Ldr Peter Moon for leaving his radio set on transmit, preventing the returning Hurricanes from being warned to divert to an undamaged airfield. A crestfallen Septic returns to his ground duties.
Eventually, a reinstated Septic joins in Pimpernel's operations but he is mortally wounded while shooting down a German aircraft. His last words are heard over the Sector control room tannoy, when he tells Small that their planned return foot race will have to be "postponed indefinitely". Small replies "Your message received and understood. Out". The final shot is of Squadron Leader Clinton's wife Nadine hanging an oil lamp in the ruins of their bungalow to aid returning pilots.
Angels One Five featured three Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft: Hurricane Mk Is (p2617 and L1592) on loan from the RAF and Hurricane Mk IIc (LF363) lent by Hawker Aircraft. An additional five Hurricane Mk IIc aircraft (N ° 544, 554, 600, 601, 624) came from the Portuguese Air Force. The aircraft were all painted in the colours of No. 56 Squadron RAF and were based at RAF Kenley during the filming. The Squadron letters of No 56 Squadron were 'US'. A number of Hurricanes seen in the film carried the squadron letters 'AV', the letters of No 121, the second American Eagle squadron.[5] Other RAF types seen in the background include North American Harvard training aircraft, Avro Anson and Supermarine Spitfire. The enemy aircraft were represented by a captured Messerschmitt Bf 110 G4 from the "German Force Aircraft Equipment Centre", Stanmore Park. It was scrapped after filming in 1952. Other enemy aircraft were depicted by models.[6]
Ronald Adam, who plays the part of a Group Controller, was the Fighter Group Controller at RAF Hornchurch during the Battle of Britain.[7] Squadron Leader Adam was a veteran of both the First and Second World Wars.[8]
Kenneth More desperately wanted to play the role of Batchy but was unable to as he had signed to make Appointment with Venus.[9]
Michael Denison said he had "a reasonable though not particularly exciting part" but considered the film a let-down as his wife, Dulcie, “was persuaded to accept a small part on the understanding that a scene would be added which would enable her, as a service wife, to do for the RAF what Celia Johnson did so memorably for the Navy in Noël Coward's In Which We Serve. The promise was honoured, to the extent that the scene was written and shot, and very moving it was. It was then however cut entirely, on the grounds that the film was overlength."[10]
Music
The opening titles feature the Royal Air Force March Past composed by Sir Henry Walford Davies KCVO OBE.
Reception
Box office
Angels One Five was the ninth most popular at the British box office in 1952.[11][12]
Jack Hawkins later wrote, "This proved to be the part that set my feet on the road—I don't know whether I altogether care for the road—leading to a whole series of service character parts. Over the next few years, I played enough senior officers to stock the whole Ministry of Defence."[13]
Critical response
Film critic Bosley Crowther, in his review for The New York Times, wrote that "there's something about any picture that recollects the R.A.F. and the triumphant Battle of Britain that this reviewer finds hard to resist. Maybe it's all those brave young pilots; maybe it's the climate of the operations rooms; maybe it's those Hurricanes and Spitfires barreling down the runways and clawing into the sky. The symbols of that kind of warfare and that phase of World War II are so heroically connected that they invariably stir a thrill. And one must say that this picture has a cast to do it proud."[14]
Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo remarked, ""Septic" Baird (John Gregson) and "Tiger" Small (Jack Hawkins)... play their roles with a reasonable degree of expertise."[4]
References
Notes
^Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 358
^Porter, Vincent. "The Robert Clark Account." Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 20, No 4, 2000.
^"Angels One Five". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
