''Angels One Five'' is a 1952 British

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that wa ...

directed by George More O'Ferrall and starring Jack Hawkins,

Michael Denison John Michael Terence Wellesley Denison (1 November 191522 July 1998) was an English actor. He often appeared with his wife, Dulcie Gray, with whom he featured in several films and more than 100 West End theatre productions. After a conventio ...

, Dulcie Gray, John Gregson,

Cyril Raymond Cyril William North Raymond MBE (13 February 1899 – 20 March 1973) was a British character actor. He maintained a stage and screen career from his teens until his retirement, caused by ill health, in the 1960s. His many stage, film and televi ...

and

Veronica Hurst Veronica Patricia Hurst (born Patricia Wilmshurst; 11 November 1931 – 15 November 2022) was a British film, stage and television actress. Hurst was born in Malta and brought up in Tooting, London. Early career Hurst was awarded the Leverhul ...

. Based on the book ''What Are Your Angels Now?'' by Pelham Groom (who was also technical adviser to the film under his full title of W/Cdr. A. J. C. Pelham Groom), the plot centres on a young fighter pilot immediately before and during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended ...

in the Second World War. Some scenes in the film were shot at RAF Uxbridge, where there was a wartime operations room. "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.Pendo 1985, p. 175.

Plot

In 1940, a replacement,

Pilot Officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countrie ...

T. B. "Septic" Baird (John Gregson), is landing his

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

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 A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single- story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as ...

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

Barry Clinton (Cyril Raymond) at the end of the runway. This earns Septic the wrath of his new squadron leader, Bill Ponsford (Andrew Osborn), because he damaged a replacement aircraft. The crash also injures the ligaments in Septic's neck, which he is able to self-diagnose, as he had been a medical student before the war. The next morning, Septic is told by

Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

"Tiger" Small (Jack Hawkins) 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 The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often known unofficially as the Me 110,Because it was built before ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' became Messerschmitt AG in July 1938, the Bf 110 was never officially given the designation Me 110. is a twin-engine (Des ...

from the attacking force. His delight is short-lived when he is admonished by Small and Sqn Ldr Peter Moon (Michael Denison) 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 (public-address system), 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 (Dulcie Gray) hanging an oil lamp in the ruins of their bungalow to aid returning pilots.

Cast

* Jack Hawkins as Group Captain 'Tiger' Small *

as Squadron Leader Peter Moon * Dulcie Gray as Nadine Clinton * John Gregson as Pilot Officer 'Septic' Baird *

as Squadron Leader Barry Clinton *

as Betty Carfax *

Humphrey Lestocq Humphrey Lestocq (23 January 1919 – 29 January 1984) was a British actor, best known for his roles in ''Angels One Five'' (1952) and '' The Long Shadow'' (1961), and guest appearances in the television series ''The Avengers''. Lestocq sho ...

as Flight Lieutenant "Batchy" Salter * Harold Goodwin as A.C. 2 Wailes * Norman Pierce as 'Bonzo' * Geoffrey Keen as Company Sergeant Major (Army Guard Section) * Harry Locke as Look Out * John Harvey as SWO (Station Warrant Officer) * Philip Stainton as Police Constable * Vida Hope as W.A.A.F. * Amy Veness as Aunt Tabitha * Ronald Adam as Group Controller * Andrew Osborn as Squadron Leader Bill Ponsford * Ewan Roberts as Medical Officer * Peter Jones as Operations Room Sentry * John Phillips as Engineering Officer * John Sharp as 'Boss' * Joan Sterndale-Bennett as W.A.A.F. * Colin Tapley as Adjutant * Terence Longdon as Falk - Pimpernel Pilot *

Russell Hunter Adam Russell Hunter (18 February 1925 – 26 February 2004) was a Scottish television, stage and film actor. He played Lonely in the TV thriller series ''Callan'', starring Edward Woodward, and shop steward Harry in the Yorkshire Television ...

as Raines - Pimpernel Pilot *

Harold Siddons William Harold Henry Siddons (17 September 19224 November 1963)Victor Maddern Victor Jack Maddern (16 March 1928 – 22 June 1993) was an English actor. He was described by '' The Telegraph'' as having "one of the most distinctive and eloquent faces in post-war British cinema." Life and career Born in Seven Kings, ...

as Airman * Harry Fowler as Airman * Gordon Bell as "Ops B" *

Sam Kydd Samuel John Kydd (15 February 1915 – 26 March 1982) was a British-Irish actor. His best-known roles were in two major British television series of the 1960s, as the smuggler Orlando O'Connor in ''Crane'' and its sequel '' Orlando''. He als ...

as Mess Waiter

Production

''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) loaned by

Hawker Aircraft Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that was responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history. History Hawker had its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, which resulted in the ban ...

. An additional five Hurricane Mk. IIc aircraft (N ° 544, 554, 600, 601, 624) came from the

Portuguese Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = 1 July , equipment = , equipment_label ...

. The aircraft were all painted in the colours of No. 56 Squadron RAF and were based at RAF Kenley during the filming. Other RAF types seen in the background include

North American Harvard The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

training aircraft,

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) ...

and

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 ...

. 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. Ronald Adam who plays the part of a Group Controller was the Fighter Group Controller at RAF Hornchurch during the Battle of Britain. Squadron Leader Adam was a veteran of both the First and Second World Wars.

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.

Critical response

Film critic Bosley Crowther, in his review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 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."Crowther, Bosley
"Movie review: 'Angels One Five (1952)."
'

'', 30 April 1954. Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo remarked, ""Septic" Baird (John Gregson) and "Tiger" Small (Jack Hawkins)... play their roles with a reasonable degree of expertise."

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. . *

Quill, Jeffrey Jeffrey Kindersley Quill, (1 February 1913 – 20 February 1996) was a British test pilot who served on secondment with the Royal Air Force and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War. He was also the second man to fly the ...

, ''Spitfire: A Test Pilot's Story''. London: Crécy Publishing Ltd, 1998. .

External links

* * {{tcmdb title, 67391, Angels One Five 1952 films 1952 war films British war films British aviation films Battle of Britain films Films shot at Associated British Studios Films directed by George More O'Ferrall Royal Air Force mass media British black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films