This is the almost forgotten - except by those who were part of it - story of the plan to ferry Allied aircraft across the Atlantic from North American factories. Starting out as a clandestine project called 'the Atlantic Ferry' it became a vital link between a besieged Britain and the 'arsenal of democracy', the United States.
The production looks a bit like one of those Hallmark Channel specials w/c is not in and of itself a bad thing. The scripting is adequate and the plot sticks to the history without forgetting the drama. I liked the interplay between the lead, Shelagh and her two beaus, the dashing American expatriate 'top gun' and the quieter civilian Newfoundlander ex-boyfriend she left to make it big in the world. It's certainly a nice little movie that the people of Newfoundland can be proud of (certainly earns higher marks in my book than the Canadian 'Nouvelle France' and the dreadful American 'Pearl Harbor'). It's a movie my mom (who's a sap for love stories) - and I (the history buff) - can both enjoy.
Casting was good - by Hallmark movie standards. I liked the love triangle leads and the political heavies - Beaverbrook's newspaper mogul was well played as was the heroic Captain Don Bennett (played superbly by Richard E. Grant) - who, by the way was one of the youngest top rank officers in the RAF, attacked the German battleship Tirpitz and founded the legendary RAF Pathfinders which drastically improved the accuracy of the British bombing campaign against Germany.
I appreciate that this was done on a limited budget and having done my own ambitious yet limited budget movies in the past I can empathize with the producers. They did well with what they had. Sure they only had one 'Hudson' - I'm surprised that they were not able to get access to a B-17 Flying Fortress, there seem to be a lot of those for hire (or failing that, a flying model for aerial shots and a wood and canvas frame for the Lancaster to give it a bigger belly to simulate the B-24 Liberator that I know it was trying for!) - and maybe trying to at least keep post-war equipment out of sight. That being said... there were a few things that could have been better done.
The Lockheed Hudson was one of the workhorse anti-submarine bombers of the war, yet what Churchill mentions in the first cabinet scene is that 'the battle of Britain has begun'. Now I don't know about you but that immediately brings another, more iconic aircraft to mind - the SPITFIRE. Yet for all the 'battle of Britain' talk we don't see a single Spit throughout - nor should we. The Spits couldn't make it across the Atlantic. (Bear with me I'm going somewhere with this, honest). Now Beaverbrook complains that his convoys with crated aircraft are being sunk by German U-boats. Fine. Guess what aircraft was being sent AGAINST THE U-BOATS by RAF Coastal Command? Yup, it was the Hudson. The connection is never made that by ferrying Hudsons to the RAF, the Atlantic Ferry is making a contribution to ANOTHER equally important battle - the Battle of the Atlantic. The point could - and SHOULD - have been made that for every Hudson that reaches Britain, that's potentially one U-Boat killed and a better chance of the convoys reaching Britain. Yet it's only later, again with a high profile name, the Bismarck chase (though I liked that they referenced the HMS Hood!) that the sea war is brought into play. I think the scriptwriters 'missed the boat' (pun intended) by omitting this.
From the Wikipedia reference on the Hudson: "The Hudson achieved some significant feats during the war. On 8 October 1939, over Jutland, a Hudson became the first RAF aircraft to shoot down a German aircraft. (The accolade of the first British aircraft to shoot down a German plane went to the Blackburn Skua of the Fleet Air Arm on 26 September 1939.) They operated as fighters during the Battle of Dunkirk. A PBO-1 Hudson of US Navy squadron VP-82 became the first US aircraft to destroy a German submarine when it sank U-656 southwest of Newfoundland on 1 March 1942." Why weren't these brought into play about the Hudson? The last mentioned could have somehow been mentioned - at the very least we should have known that the Hudson was a key aircraft in the U-boat campaign, yet we never know what a valuable little aircraft this was, we only know it was nice to fly (once off the ground), apparently was prone to engine or mechanical failure w/c 'Yankee ingenuity' can fix with some foil cigarette wrapping.
It would have been nice to see some of the RESULTS of the flights - okay maybe it wasn't possible given budget constraints but a fight scene or two would have been good - maybe a montage sequence showing, after the Hudsons were delivered they were flown to Coastal Command squadrons, the pilots briefing and engines starting, recce missions over the coast, a U-boat attack on an unknowing victim thwarted by a snooping Hudson (achtung flugzeuger!) so we, the audience sees just HOW these guys contributed to the final victory.
But I guess you can't win 'em all. Like Don Bennett we must end the show with a bit of disappointment yet hopeful of better things to come. All in all, Above and Beyond, while not really 'going above and beyond the call of duty', was quite a worthy effort.
The production looks a bit like one of those Hallmark Channel specials w/c is not in and of itself a bad thing. The scripting is adequate and the plot sticks to the history without forgetting the drama. I liked the interplay between the lead, Shelagh and her two beaus, the dashing American expatriate 'top gun' and the quieter civilian Newfoundlander ex-boyfriend she left to make it big in the world. It's certainly a nice little movie that the people of Newfoundland can be proud of (certainly earns higher marks in my book than the Canadian 'Nouvelle France' and the dreadful American 'Pearl Harbor'). It's a movie my mom (who's a sap for love stories) - and I (the history buff) - can both enjoy.
Casting was good - by Hallmark movie standards. I liked the love triangle leads and the political heavies - Beaverbrook's newspaper mogul was well played as was the heroic Captain Don Bennett (played superbly by Richard E. Grant) - who, by the way was one of the youngest top rank officers in the RAF, attacked the German battleship Tirpitz and founded the legendary RAF Pathfinders which drastically improved the accuracy of the British bombing campaign against Germany.
I appreciate that this was done on a limited budget and having done my own ambitious yet limited budget movies in the past I can empathize with the producers. They did well with what they had. Sure they only had one 'Hudson' - I'm surprised that they were not able to get access to a B-17 Flying Fortress, there seem to be a lot of those for hire (or failing that, a flying model for aerial shots and a wood and canvas frame for the Lancaster to give it a bigger belly to simulate the B-24 Liberator that I know it was trying for!) - and maybe trying to at least keep post-war equipment out of sight. That being said... there were a few things that could have been better done.
The Lockheed Hudson was one of the workhorse anti-submarine bombers of the war, yet what Churchill mentions in the first cabinet scene is that 'the battle of Britain has begun'. Now I don't know about you but that immediately brings another, more iconic aircraft to mind - the SPITFIRE. Yet for all the 'battle of Britain' talk we don't see a single Spit throughout - nor should we. The Spits couldn't make it across the Atlantic. (Bear with me I'm going somewhere with this, honest). Now Beaverbrook complains that his convoys with crated aircraft are being sunk by German U-boats. Fine. Guess what aircraft was being sent AGAINST THE U-BOATS by RAF Coastal Command? Yup, it was the Hudson. The connection is never made that by ferrying Hudsons to the RAF, the Atlantic Ferry is making a contribution to ANOTHER equally important battle - the Battle of the Atlantic. The point could - and SHOULD - have been made that for every Hudson that reaches Britain, that's potentially one U-Boat killed and a better chance of the convoys reaching Britain. Yet it's only later, again with a high profile name, the Bismarck chase (though I liked that they referenced the HMS Hood!) that the sea war is brought into play. I think the scriptwriters 'missed the boat' (pun intended) by omitting this.
From the Wikipedia reference on the Hudson: "The Hudson achieved some significant feats during the war. On 8 October 1939, over Jutland, a Hudson became the first RAF aircraft to shoot down a German aircraft. (The accolade of the first British aircraft to shoot down a German plane went to the Blackburn Skua of the Fleet Air Arm on 26 September 1939.) They operated as fighters during the Battle of Dunkirk. A PBO-1 Hudson of US Navy squadron VP-82 became the first US aircraft to destroy a German submarine when it sank U-656 southwest of Newfoundland on 1 March 1942." Why weren't these brought into play about the Hudson? The last mentioned could have somehow been mentioned - at the very least we should have known that the Hudson was a key aircraft in the U-boat campaign, yet we never know what a valuable little aircraft this was, we only know it was nice to fly (once off the ground), apparently was prone to engine or mechanical failure w/c 'Yankee ingenuity' can fix with some foil cigarette wrapping.
It would have been nice to see some of the RESULTS of the flights - okay maybe it wasn't possible given budget constraints but a fight scene or two would have been good - maybe a montage sequence showing, after the Hudsons were delivered they were flown to Coastal Command squadrons, the pilots briefing and engines starting, recce missions over the coast, a U-boat attack on an unknowing victim thwarted by a snooping Hudson (achtung flugzeuger!) so we, the audience sees just HOW these guys contributed to the final victory.
But I guess you can't win 'em all. Like Don Bennett we must end the show with a bit of disappointment yet hopeful of better things to come. All in all, Above and Beyond, while not really 'going above and beyond the call of duty', was quite a worthy effort.