A U.S. Air Force colonel convinces the Allies during World War II that a daylight bombing raid of Germany will bring a quick end to the war.A U.S. Air Force colonel convinces the Allies during World War II that a daylight bombing raid of Germany will bring a quick end to the war.A U.S. Air Force colonel convinces the Allies during World War II that a daylight bombing raid of Germany will bring a quick end to the war.
Lee Broker
- Navigator
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe belly landing sequence was lifted from the film "Twelve O' Clock High" and was originally executed by Hollywood pilot Paul Mantz in June 1949 at the then-closed Ozark Army Airfield west of Dothan, Alabama, for a reported fee of $2,500. B-17 N17W was marked exactly as the bomber in the 1949 production, right down to the spurious serial number, to match the borrowed footage.
- GoofsThe movie states that this is the first 1000-plane air-raid. Actually the first 1000-plane raid was carried out in 1942 by the RAF, and was a night raid on Cologne.
Featured review
This film takes place during World War II on a fictitious USAAF bomber base in England, referred to as Steeple Bassington. It was released to local California audiences only in the summer of 1969, and stars Christopher George as the no-nonsense, by-the-book bomb group commander Colonel Brandon, who develops a plan to attack a heavily defended German aircraft factory using 1,000 bombers, that if successful, could turn the tide of the air war in the allies favor. The remainder of the cast is a proverbial who's who of TV-Movie character actors of the day including J. D. Cannon, Laraine Stephens, Gavin MacLeod, Ben Murphy, Bo Hopkins, and Charles Dierkop. British actor Gary Marshal portrays Wing Commander Howard, a free-spirited and highly successful RAF fighter ace, who's been assigned to the base to teach fighter tactics to Brandon's hard luck outfit, the 103rd Heavy Bombardment Group. The cliche riddled script is predictable, and the combat sequences are a hastily prepared mishmash of wartime footage, movie clips, and cheesy, low budget airplane sets. In spite of all that, I actually found this movie to be semi-entertaining; the acting is competent and believable, and the use of actual B-17 aircraft for the location flying scenes, including the extremely LOW buzz job of the field, was particularly satisfying. In addition, historical credibility was enhanced by the period control tower, base operations, and maintenance buildings that were constructed on the site of what is now Santa Maria Public Airport, formerly known as Santa Maria Army Airfield, which was an actual B-25 and P-38 pilot transition training base during WWII.
- flyinhawaiian58
- May 29, 2022
- Permalink
- How long is The Thousand Plane Raid?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The 1,000 Plane Raid
- Filming locations
- Santa Maria Airport, Santa Maria, California, USA(aerial shots)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 33 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content

Top Gap
By what name was The Thousand Plane Raid (1969) officially released in India in English?
Answer