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Reviews
Roman Holiday (1953)
Very rare aircraft in this film
A minor point, but of interest to enthusiasts of old airliners-"propliners"-like myself, is the fact that the aircraft used in the airport scene, was a unique-only one produced-type, the Breda BZ308, an early post-war period, sadly unsuccessful Italian machine. I've not seen the film, but on the strength of this alone-I was recently made aware of it-I now intend to buy a DVD of it. It was built and first flew in 1948 and was scrapped not long after it appeared in Roman holiday. I believe the scene with it shows some "men in black" deplaning from the aircraft, presumably at Ciampino or Fiumcino-Rome's two airports.
Out of the Clouds (1955)
Great aircraft, clunker of a film
I watched this film because it is set at Heathrow airport in 1955. For a convinced fan of the (pre-jet and now long since swept away) airliners of that era,(me, but I wasn't alive then) this film is nirvana, but otherwise, it seems to me that it is a typical absolute clunker of a British B-movie film of the fifties. The love scenes were so bad that I had to fast forward through them and the taxi ride sequence is just plain daft.
So watch this film for its amazing aircraft and also for a very interesting view of how innocent and courteous international air travel was in the mid-fifties, compared with the sometimes nightmare conditions of today. Interesting also to see Terence Alexander (of later Bergerac fame as the millionaire Charlie Hungerford) pop up in an early role; and Sid James and Bernard Lee.
La guerre d'un seul homme (1981)
A remarkable film
Wholeheartedly agree with other comment.
I first saw "One man's war" in the late 1980s, when it was shown at an art cinema here in Manchester in the UK. I have long been fascinated by the occupation of France during World War II-a peculiarly horrible but fascinating period, when all the norms in society were turned upside down-the crooks became the cops for example.
This film is a remarkable one, for its juxtaposition of wartime newsreels with commentary drawn from Ernst Junger's journals with a beautifully chosen soundtrack.
I know this film is very much a minority interest-there were only five other people in the cinema when I saw it.
I would dearly love to know what all the pieces of music in the soundtrack are-can anyone help?
Jesus Christ Airlines (2001)
Review
I watched Jesus Christ Airlines a few years ago on British TV, primarily to see the aircraft involved-I am very interested in old propeller-driven airliners.
It was very good from that point of view, but it was also a rather moving story, involving starvation and suffering, especially of children.
Very interesting interviews too with pilots, churchmen and other people involved in the Biafran airlift, which I'm able to recall dimly-I was 10 in 1968.
Overall an excellent piece of work, both as an aviation history film and as a documentary.