Starring:
Leslie Howard
David Niven
Rosamund John.
Director:
Leslie Howard.
Romanticized version of the life of R.J. Mitchell who devised the famous (and much-loved) Spitfire, that helped win the Battle of Britain. Reduced from its original 117 minutes, this 600 footer works surprisingly well, it is the first unsupervised' editing task carried out by Derann employee Mike Dimmock, who on past occasions has worked alongside Derek Simmonds during the production of various abridged releases.
The story remains fairly coherent; there are just a couple of slightly awkward (but unimportant) moments and (as far as I could make out) all the major sequences have been skillfully included: the early Schneider Trophy races and the all-important Spitfire test flight (one viewer at the 13th BFCC evening show became quite ecstatic over this section saying he could see It over and over again; and the rest of the audience seemed generally impressed as well!). Mike Dimmock has done a commendable job and seems willing to learn; with more experience he should become a good 'cut-downy editor and it's know that the assuring to future of abridged versions is in safe hands.
Leslie Howard. (besides directing) playing the central character, is on screen most of the time, with David Niven getting a fair amount of screen-time too, though for many it will be the flying sequences that attracts them to this release, and William Walton's stirring, memorable music.
The print is of good quality, though our review copy (an early check-print) was not quite perfectly graded - there were some slightly light scenes. The definition was good and the sound too, though it did drop in level during one section. Printed on colour stock It has a slight green tint. A absolute must for Leslie Howard fans, lovers of the Spitfire and Walton's unforgettable score. Recommended.
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Distributed by: Derann
Films. |
The above review was printed in Super Eight Film Review |
This page was last updated 02 Dec 2002