Аспанға ұмтылыс

1956 British film by Lewis Gilbert

Reach for the Sky is a 1956 British biographical film about aviator Douglas Bader, based on the 1954 biography of the same name by Paul Brickhill. The film stars Kenneth More and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. It won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film of 1956. The film's composer John Addison was Bader's brother in law.

In 1928, Douglas Bader joins the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a Flight Cadet. Despite a friendly reprimand from Air Vice Marshal Halahan for his disregard for service discipline and flight rules, he successfully completes his training and is posted to No. 23 Squadron at RAF Kenley. In 1930, he is chosen to be among the pilots for an aerial exhibition. Later, although his flight commander has explicitly banned low level aerobatics (as two pilots have been killed trying just that), he is goaded into it by a disparaging remark by a civilian pilot. The wing tip of his bi plane touches the ground during his flight and he crashes dramatically, and is clearly badly injured. Mr Joyce, surgeon at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, has to amputate both legs to save Bader's life. During his convalescence, he receives encouragement from Nurse Brace. Upon his discharge from the hospital, he sets out to master prosthetic legs. Out for a drive with two other RAF pals, they stop at a tearoom, and here he meets waitress Thelma Edwards. Once he can walk on his own, he asks her out. Despite his undiminished skills, he is refused flying duties simply because there are no regulations covering his situation. Offered a desk job instead, he leaves the RAF and works unhappily in an office. He and Thelma marry at a registry office on a wet afternoon. As the Second World War starts, Bader talks himself back into the RAF. He is soon given command of a squadron comprising mostly dispirited Canadians who had fought in France. Improving morale and brazenly circumventing normal channels to obtain badly needed equipment, he makes the squadron operational again. They fight effectively in the Battle of Britain. Bader is then put in charge of a new, larger formation of five squadrons. Later, he is posted to RAF Tangmere and promoted to wing commander. In 1941, Bader has to bail out over France. He is caught, escapes, and is recaptured. He then makes such a nuisance of himself to his jailers, he is repeatedly moved from one POW camp to another, finally ending up in Colditz Castle. He is liberated after four years of captivity. The war ends (much to Thelma's relief) before Bader can have "one last fling" in the Far East. On 15 September 1945, the fifth anniversary of the greatest day of the Battle of Britain, Bader, now a group captain, is given the honour of leading eleven other battle survivors and a total of 300 aircraft in a flypast over London.

The film fared well with the public, being the most popular film in the UK for 1956. When the film was released in North America in 1957, the American release version was slightly altered with 12 minutes edited out. The Rank Organisation, the film's distributor, made a concerted effort to ensure the film was successful in America, sending Kenneth More over to do a press tour, and setting up Rank's own distribution arm in North America, but the public was not enthusiastic. Because Bader had fallen out with Brickhill over the split of royalties from the book, he refused to attend the premiere, and only saw the film for the first time eleven years later, on television. When the film was released, people associated Bader with the quiet and amiable personality of actor More. Bader recognised that the producers had deleted all those habits he displayed when on operations, particularly his prolific use of bad language. Bader once said, "[they] still think [I'm] the dashing chap Kenneth More was." It won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film of 1956. Filmink later argued the film "became acknowledged as a classic, unfairly mocked by Gen X critics who were forced to watch it on television too many times, and who forget that the film was made by people and for audiences who had been through that conflict, many of whom had seen people die, and could view it in proper context."

+Aircraft used in the filming of Reach for the Sky. Aircraft Registrationor serial Role Fate Photo Avro 504K E3404 Flying Airworthy with The Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden, United Kingdom. Avro Tutor K3215 Static Airworthy with The Shuttleworth Collection. Bristol F.2b D8096 Camera ship Airworthy with The Shuttleworth Collection. Bristol Bulldog K2227 Static Preserved at RAF Museum, Hendon, United Kingdom. Hawker Hurricane I P2617 Static Static exhibit at RAF hendon Museum. Hawker Hurricane IIC LF363 Flying Airworthy with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, RAF Coningsby, United Kingdom. Hawker Hurricane IIC unknown Static Believed scrapped. Spartan Arrow G ABWP Static Airworthy, privately owned. Supermarine Spitfire XVI RW345 Static Scrapped May 1956 Supermarine Spitfire XVI RW352 Flying Scrapped 1957 Supermarine Spitfire XVI SL574 Flying Preserved at the Air & Space Museum, San Diego, United States. Supermarine Spitfire XVI SL745 Static Scrapped May 1956 Supermarine Spitfire XVI TB293 Static Scrapped May 1956 Supermarine Spitfire XVI TB863 Static Airworthy with Temora Aviation Museum Supermarine Spitfire XVI TB885 Static Flying condition United Kingdom with Biggin Hill Heritage. Supermarine Spitfire XVI TE288 Static Preserved at Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum, Wigram, New Zealand Supermarine Spitfire XVI TE341 Static Scrapped at Pinewood Studios Supermarine Spitfire XVI TE358 Flying Scrapped by Coley's Ltd, Feltham, United Kingdom in April 1957 Supermarine Spitfire XVI TE456 Flying Preserved at Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, New Zealand