Comments by "Ray Purchase" (@raypurchase801) on "THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN (1969) | Opening Scene | MGM" video.

  1.  @tomhaskett5161  True, but Trevor Howard was outstanding as Park and closely resembled the man.
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  2.  @MarkHarrison733  Your comment reveals aspects of your personality which you might have been wiser to conceal..
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  3.  @michaelpielorz9283  Oh another hater. This is YouTube, it's to be expected.
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  4.  @johnholmes8178  The city of Breslau was besieged by the Soviets for four months. 80,000 German civilians, 6,000 German soldiers and 60,000 Soviet soldiers were killed. Sometimes it's easier to bypass a strongly-defended city instead of laying it to waste. Numerous Japanese-held islands in the Pacific were bypassed.
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  5.  @tungstenkid2271  The film company put on a special pre-release screening for its executives and a few invited guests. Among them was Dowding himself, very elderly and frail, sitting in a wheelchair. As the lights came up at the end of the movie, Dowding was seen to be weeping. After the Battle, Dowding had been vilified and blamed for for some failings. 1960s historians had revisited the Battle and determined Dowding's decisions were very good. Seeing yourself portrayed on screen by the UK's greatest living actor (Olivier) and your stewardship portrayed in this way, we can understand why Dowding wept at the end.
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  6.  @rogueriderhood1862  Couldn't make the movie today unless Dowding was played by Idris Elba.
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  7. We've fallen a long way since then. And I weep as I watch our collapse.
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  8. Me too. Do you recall the Battle of Britain bubblegum cards? I amassed the full set.
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  9. Most persons in the RAF aren't aircrew. I wonder - did they take one look at you and say, "They can teach MONKEYS to fly better than that!"?
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  10.  @donjones4719  I've never read that Dowding was blamed for withdrawing the RAF from France. Churchill flew to France a few days earlier, and promised the French that more RAF reserves would be sent. It was a very big deal for Churchill to break his word. This letter allowed Churchill to do so. Dowding's good judgement and this letter changed the course of history.
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  11.  @johnholmes8178  Some cities were deliberately bypassed, as with the Channel Islands (Guernsey, Jersey etc.).
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  12. Sumptuous music.
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  13. FUN FACT: The aerial photography was accomplished from a converted B25 twin-engined bomber. The same aircraft was used for filming "633 Squadron". The B25 can be briefly glimpsed in "633 Squadron", supposedly the aircraft which was used to transport George Chakiris back to Norway.;
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  14.  @jean-jacquescortes9500  Your reply demonstrates you don't know much about the subject.
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  15.  @johnholmes8178  The French looked at Caen and decided they didn't want the same thing to happen to Dunkirk. History has revealed taking Dunkirk was unnecessary.
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  16.  @sarumano884  To quote a a few lines from this movie: "They're 'einkels" "Messerscmitts!" " 'einkels". "Messerscmitts!"
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  17.  @Sam_Green____4114  There are very good reasons why older actors are cast. I recall a TV documentary about the making of "A Bridge Too Far" where the same criticism was made. Attenborough said that an older actor will bring gravitas to a role which a younger actor can't. Also, look at any photos of airmen taken during WW2. All of them look much older than their years. They're very strained. Barely-adequate food. Up at 3am in case of dawn raids. The strain of hard training. The stress of battle, seeing your friends being burned alive in falling aircraft. A 19 year old will look 40-plus.
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  18.  @Sam_Green____4114  True. The actor Richard Todd played Guy Gibson in "The Dambusters". Todd had himself been a parachute officer during D-Day. Todd was strictly-speaking too old to play Gibson, but that was unimportant. I recall a TV documentary about the making of the film. Todd said that nearly everybody in the movie was ex-forces. This was in the era of national service/conscription. That's why it all looked correct. Todd said these men knew how to move, how to salute, how to get the "look". Compare that with the nonsense in lots of CGI movies about WW2. Ben Affleck in "Pearl Harbor". What nonsense.
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  19.  @johnholmes8178  Liberating Antwerp (Battle of the Scheldt) cost 13,000 casualties. The allies decided that some battles didn't need to be fought.
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  20.  @robertweinmann9408  Trevor Howard had a remarkable resemblance to Keith Park. The first time I saw Keith Park's picture in a book, it could've ben Trevor Howard.
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  21.  @kenhorlor5674  Agreed. Trevor Howard had a remarkable resemblance to Park. Good casting.
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  22. It's actually a BEAUTIFUL movie to watch. Lovely colours. And as close to historical fact as could actually be achieved in a movie.
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  23.  @peterbassey9668  We should respect Christopher for getting his family out of Austria. Sad to learn Robert got eaten by a shark. Edward Fox was later killed whilst trying to shoot DeGaulle.
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  24.  @kdrapertrucker  There's a sequence in "Reach for the Sky", where Bader inverts his Hurricane to demonstrate his airmanship. You can see the puff of smoke as the engine coughs for a moment. The audio track is dubbed in later, without the splutter.
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  25.  @stevekaczynski3793  This movie is very fair to the Germans. There's more anti-British nonsense in the movie "Patton" than there is anti-German nonsense in this movie. Lots of German advisors assisted and got it right.
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  26.  @njd2342  I can't find the bit where Michael shouts, "Oi! Stop chuckin' them bleedin' spears!"
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  27. It's actually very beautiful. Both the visuals and the soundtrack.
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  28.  @williampaz2092  True. Watch the movie "Reach for the Sky". There's a sequence where Bader demonstrates his flying skills to his new squadron, A puff of smoke during the roll reveals the Merlin cut out for a moment. The audio track was added later and lacks the splutter.
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  29. Nerds like us notice it, but other people don't.
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  30.  @markhancock7527  I recommend the special edition DVD, with the audio commentary, explaining why certain things were filmed this way. For example, Michael Caine hadn't yet learned to drive. So in the scene where he's driving away from the flying club, the car is being pushed by several film-hands and the engine's audio track was added later.
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  31. "Reach for the Sky"? Sorry, I'm a nerd as well.
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  32.  @bradleydavies4781  No. Ten Hurricane squadrons went to France. Spitfires flew from England over the beaches at Dunkirk. A pair of Spitfires flew with Churchill's small airliner during his visits to the French government, and landed to refuel. Other than that, Spitfires weren't stationed in France.
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  33.  @wideyxyz2271  Incorrect.
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  34.  @NOWOKEXYZ  Compare with a similar roll in "Reach for the Sky", where Bader demonstrates his flying skills to his Canadian squadron. You can see a puff of smoke when the Hurricane rolls. A different audio track was dubbed-in afterwards.
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  35. FUN FACT: The letter shown at the 7 minute point is the actual letter written by Dowding, retrieved from the archives for this shot.
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  36. "You're gonna need a bigger bomber".
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  37. Only ten times?
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  38.  @ommadammo  York played a commissioned WAAF officer. Warwick was a warrant officer, the highest non-commissioned rank.
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  39.  @davegoldsmith4020  Jet Provosts, Short Belfasts and Rock Apes carrying SLRs. We will not see their like again.
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  40. Correct. Compare with the scene in "Reach for the Sky", in which Bader performs aerobatics for his Canadian squadron. We see the puff of smoke, but the audio track doesn't match the visuals.
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  41.  @Sam_Green____4114  True.
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