Battle of Britain

Synopsis: Historical reenactment of the air war in the early days of World War Two for control of the skies over Britain as the new Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force determine whether or not an invasion can take place.
Genre: Action, Drama, History
Director(s): Guy Hamilton
Production: MGM Home Entertainment
  Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win.
 
IMDB:
7.0
Rotten Tomatoes:
63%
G
Year:
1969
132 min
3,624 Views


Who the hell

is he trying to kid?

Hello? Hello, Abbeville?

What? But if you cannot

place them, advise Paris.

I'm at my winds end,

but carry on.

Reinforcements, sir?

Why don't you cut out

the clowning?

- Me, sir? What have I done?

- Don't ever let me see you...

doing a victory roll

over my airfield again.

I thought it would buck up

the civilians.

For God's sake, Jamie,

give your brain a chance.

Corporal,

refuel them immediately!

Yes, sir.

So anyway, he hit me

and made me nose bleed...

Corporal, I don't mean

with your blood.

I gave him a couple of socks...

And re-arm them.

Yes, sir!

Hello, Harvey. Where's Jumbo?

Posted missing last night.

You acting C.O.?

Oh, yeah. Of what?

Five serviceable aircraft.

No spares. No contact.

First we knew the bastards

would overrun us...

was when we tried to land.

But yes, I hear you very well.

Eh? What?

Are you sure?

They are at Sedan?

For the benefit

of the uneducated among us...

I shall translate.

Archam can't believe

that Sedan's fallen. I can.

It's no use. They'll be here

in half an hour.

We must leave immediately.

Yes, let's get

the hell out of it.

Where to, sir?

Why don't you follow me

and find out? Come on, idiots.

After you.

Unless they've got there

before us.

Get that buzzard out of here!

We'll go with what we've got!

All right.

Forget your kit. Let's move.

Get all the transport you can

and get the men out of here.

All N.C.O. S report to me

immediately!

You know what to do

with the lame ducks?

Yes, sir.

Bombs away.

All the yanks, over here!

Load 'em up!

Over the wing.

Flood the cowling.

Plenty of it.

Right! Stand clear!

Into the trucks!

Come on!

We haven't got all day!

"To the permanent

Secretary of State for air...

"Sir, I have the honor to refer

to the very serious calls...

"which have recently been

made upon fighter command...

"in an attempt to stem

the German invasion...

"of the continent.

"I hope and believe that our

armies may yet be victorious...

"in France and Belgium...

"but we have to face

the possibility...

"that they may be defeated.

In this case...

I presume that there is no one

who would deny...

"that England

should fight on...

"even though the remainder

of the continent of Europe...

"is dominated by the Germans.

"I must therefore request...

"That not one more fighter

be sent across the channel.

"If the home defense

is drained away...

"in desperate attempts to remedy

the situation in France...

"defeat in France will involve

the final, complete...

"and irremediable defeat

of this country.

"I have the honor to be, sir...

"your obedient servant,

H.C.T. Dowding."

Air Chief Marshal Dowding, sir.

You do realize, Dowding,

the position this puts us in?

I realize that the French have

been promised this squadron.

By Churchill personally.

He's given the French

prime minister his word.

You do appreciate, Dowding...

that Churchill

will have to see this?

That's why I wrote it.

This is the BBC home service.

Here is the news.

In the House of Commons

this afternoon...

the prime minister,

Mr. Churchill, said...

"What General de Gaulle called

the Battle of France is over.

The battle of Britain

is about to begin."

Eyes right!

I welcome you in the name of

the Second Luftwaffe, General.

Thank you, thank you,

Kesselring.

- My dear Fink.

- General.

Everything all right?

We are ready, General.

We can start.

Very well, gentlemen,

then forward.

Attention!

Eyes right!

Call out the guard!

Call out the guard!

Attention!

If I have to inspect

one more bomber...

I won't recommend you for

a Field Marshal, Kesselring.

Please, may I finish

the inspection?

Certainly.

Sir.

Pleasant return journey.

The English are not ordained

by fate to be our enemies.

You heard it yourself,

Jeschonnek.

This time he's wrong.

They are completely

finished... done for.

We'll never have a chance

like this again.

Absolute nonsense!

Nonsense, do you call it?

It's a pure catastrophe.

Herr Baron von Richter.

The Fuehrer

will speak to you now.

My dear Max!

How lovely to see you

back in Switzerland so soon.

I came straight from Berlin

an hour ago.

The ambassador

will see you now, sir.

Thank you. Excuse me, please.

Sir David,

I'm again instructed...

to emphasize that

the Fuehrer wishes...

to avoid further bloodshed.

England is not

our natural enemy...

and he offers guarantees

for the British empire...

if you give Germany

a free hand in Europe.

Goering and his Luftwaffe

would like to flatten London...

as a prelude to invasion.

It's two lumps you take,

isn't it?

What's left of your army...

abandoned its weapons

at Dunkirk.

You're defenseless

and just playing for time.

We know of the moves

you're making in Washington.

We know the Americans

won't be drawn in.

Their embassy in London

gives you two weeks.

So what's stopping you?

Look, David. The Fuehrer

is being very reasonable.

He offers guarantees.

Experience shows the Fuehrer's

guarantees guarantee nothing.

What about Churchill?

After our last appeal,

what do we hear?

"We will fight them

on the beaches."

With what?

Winston gets

carried away sometimes.

With liquid courage.

That's what they tell me.

Clearly, you don't know him.

David, we are not

asking for anything.

Europe is ours.

We can walk into Britain

whenever we like.

If you think

we're going to gamble...

on Herr Hitler's guarantees,

you're making a grave mistake.

All those years in England seem

to have left you none the wiser.

We're not easily frightened.

Also, we know how hard it is for

an army to cross the channel.

The last little corporal

to try it came a cropper.

So don't threaten

or dictate to us...

until you're

marching up Whitehall!

And even then we won't listen.

Heil Hitler.

It's unforgivable.

I lost my temper.

The maddening thing

is that he's right.

We're not ready.

We're on our own.

We've been playing for time.

And it's running out.

Silly b*tch!

He's calling you

names again, Harold.

I spent half a week settling her

and the kids in the country...

and now,

"I'm bored," she says!

One of your elite

trying to land without wheels.

Boomps-a-daisy.

It's enough to make you weep.

And welcome home, sir.

Undercarriage lever

a bit sticky, was it, sir?

Yes, as a matter of fact,

it was.

Well, I wouldn't tell the C.O.

That, sir, not if I were you.

You can teach...

monkeys to fly

better than that!

I'm terribly sorry

about that, sir.

- It won't happen again.

- Keep your jacket on, boy.

How many hours have you done

in spits, Simon?

On spits, sir? 101/2.

We'll make it eleven before

Jerry has you for breakfast.

Spring chicken to shite hawk

in one easy lesson.

Attack, attack, attack...

This is Rabbit Leader.

Are you receiving me?

Hello, Rabbit Leader.

Red-3 on 3.

Receiving you loud and clear.

Right. I'll try

and get on your tail...

and I want you to take

evasive action. Understood?

Hello, Rabbit Leader.

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James Kennaway

James Kennaway (5 June 1928 – 21 December 1968) was a Scottish novelist and screenwriter. He was born in Auchterarder in Perthshire and attended Glenalmond College. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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