Angels One Five
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| Angels One Five | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | George More O'Ferrall |
| Produced by | John W. Gossage Derek N. Twist |
| Written by | Pelham Groom (story) Derek N. Twist |
| Starring | Jack Hawkins Michael Denison Dulcie Gray |
| Cinematography | Christopher Challis |
| Editing by | Daniel Birt |
| Release date(s) | 30 April 1954 (USA) |
| Running time | 98 min. |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Angels One Five is a 1952 film directed by George More O'Ferrall, and starring Jack Hawkins, Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray, John Gregson and Cyril Raymond. The plot centres on a young Pilot Officer T. B. "Septic" Baird (John Gregson) immediately before and during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Some scenes in the film were shot at RAF Uxbridge, home to a wartime operations room.
"Angels One Five" refers RAF slang from the Second World War meaning 15,000 feet of altitude, with "Angels" referring to the number of thousands of feet.
[edit] Plot
The film begins with Pilot Officer T. B. "Septic" Baird being given permission to land his Hawker Hurricane at the fictional airfield where "Pimpernel" Squadron is based and the film is set. Just as he lands however a straggler from an earlier mission taxis across cross wind, perpendicular to his path. Septic's quick reactions and allow him to "leapfrog" the other Hurricane, averting a costly disaster, however this causes his landing to be lengthened resulting in him crashing his replacement plane into Squadron Leader Barry Clinton's bungalow at the end of the runway.
This earns Septic the wrath of his new Squadron Leader, Peter Moon, because he damaged the Squadron's replacement plane. The crash also causes "Septic" to damage ligaments in his neck, which he is able to self diagnose, as he was a medical student before the war.
The next morning Septic is told by Group Captain 'Tiger' Small that he will not be able to fly operationally until his neck is healed, and will instead serve in the operations room for the time being.
Several days later, with the risk of a bombing attack on the airfield, and all "Pimpernel" Squadron Hurricanes scrambled, 'Tiger' Small orders all aircraft to take-off and fly out of harm's way until the raid is over. With Tiger Small quickly assembling all available pilots and finding aircraft to fly, Septic wins a foot race across the dispersals with Small, to claim the last spare Hurricane for himself. He then proceeds to shoot down a Bf-110 from the attacking force. His delight is short lived however when he is admonished by Moon for leaving his radio to transmit, preventing the returning Hurricanes to be diverted to an undamaged airfield. A crest-fallen Septic returns to his ground duties.
Eventually a re-instated Septic joins in "Pimpernel"'s operations, and while shooting down another enemy aircraft is mortally wounded. His last words are heard over the Sector control room tannoy, and despite a plea from Small to re-enact their earlier foot race Septic passes out and crashes to his death.
