The First of the Few (Original title)Spitfire (Alternative title)
Date: 1942 (Release)Country: United KingdomDirected by: Leslie Howard
Synopsis: Biographical drama. The story of later years in the life of Reginald 'R.J.' Mitchell, aeronautical engineer and designer of the Spitfire fighter plane. When he becomes ill with a life-threatening condition, his doctor warns him he must give up his work to rest, or he will die within a year. Convinced of the importance of creating this powerfully fast plane, Mitchell struggles on to complete his work even if the effort brings his life to an untimely end.
Genres: Biopic, War
Subjects: Spitfires, World War II, Royal Air Force
Releases
Date: 1942Country: United KingdomRelease type: unknownFormat: 35mm Film - Black and White - SoundRuntime: 118 mins Length: 10585 FeetDialogue (original): English
Date: 1942 (Release)Country: United KingdomDirected by: Leslie Howard
Synopsis: Biographical drama. The story of later years in the life of Reginald 'R.J.' Mitchell, aeronautical engineer and designer of the Spitfire fighter plane. When he becomes ill with a life-threatening condition, his doctor warns him he must give up his work to rest, or he will die within a year. Convinced of the importance of creating this powerfully fast plane, Mitchell struggles on to complete his work even if the effort brings his life to an untimely end.
Genres: Biopic, War
Subjects: Spitfires, World War II, Royal Air Force
Releases
Date: 1942Country: United KingdomRelease type: unknownFormat: 35mm Film - Black and White - SoundRuntime: 118 mins Length: 10585 FeetDialogue (original): English
Credits
(41)
Production Company: British Aviation Pictures, [Production Company]: Misbourne Film Company, Produced by: Leslie Howard, [Producer]: George King, [Producer]: John Stafford, Adrian Brunel, Production Manager: Phil C. Samuel, Production Consultant: Adrian Brunel, Assistant Director: George Pollock, [Assistant Director (2nd)]: Frank Bevis, [Assistant Director (3rd)]: Frank Hollands, [Continuity]: Hazel Wilkinson, Screen Play by: Miles Malleson, Anatole de Grunwald, Original Story by: Henry C. James, Kay Strueby, Lighting Expert: Georges Perinal, Camera Operator: Jack Hildyard, [Focus Puller]: Ray Sturgess, [Stills]: Eugene H.E. Pizey, Jack Dooley, [In Charge of Model Work]: Johnny Mills, [Model Photography]: Eric Cross, [Model Photography Camera Operator]: Arthur Ibbetson, Backgrounds: W. Percy Day, Film Editor: Douglas Myers, [Assistant Editor]: Eve Catchpole, Hazel Wilkinson, Art Director: Paul Sherriff, Music Composed by: William Walton, [Music Played by]: London Symphony Orchestra, Musical Direction: Muir Mathieson, Recording Director: John Dennis, [Sound Camera Operator]: Sid Cowcher, [Boom Operator]: Stanley Lambourne, Recorded on: Western Electric Mirrophonic, Sound Editor: Harry Miller, Technical Advisor: Sidney Cole, [Publicity]: Hugh Findlay, Made at: D&P Studios
Cast
(28)
Leslie Howard (R.J. Mitchell), David Niven (Geoffrey Crisp), Rosamund John (Diana Mitchell), Roland Culver (Commander Bride), Anne Firth (Miss Anne Harper), David Horne (Mr Higgins), J.H. Roberts (Sir Robert McLean), Derrick De Marney (Squadron Leader Jefferson), Rosalyn Boulter (Mabel Lovesay), Herbert Cameron (MacPherson), Tonie Edgar Bruce (Lady Lucy Houston), Gordon McLeod (Major Buchan), George Skillan (Mr Henry Royce), Erik Freund (Willi Messerschmitt), F.R. Wendhausen (Von Straben), John Chandos (Krantz), Victor Beaumont (Von Crantz), Suzanne Clair (Madeleine), Filippo Del Giudice (Bertorelli), Brefni O'Rorke (the specialist), Gerry Wilmot, Jack Peach (radio announcer), Peter Gawthorne ([board member]), Miles Malleson ([Vickers representative]), Bernard Miles ([Lady Houston's messenger]), Patricia Medina ([young Venetian lady]), Leslie Ruth Howard ([nurse]), Robert Beatty ([uncredited])