by Barb Lentz.
The five movies Bob provided me from which to choose were these:
Detective Story (1951)
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
Q Planes (Clouds Over Europe) (1939)
West of the Pecos (1945)
The Wolf Man (1941)
Actually, Bob provided the movies, but he did not choose them this time. We were visited by our friends from Illinois, Debbie Wordinger and Bayneeta Freeland, and they had lists of titles they wished to see. Bob worked from their choices and narrowed their lists down to about fifteen, some of which I had already seen. The five finalists are all films Bob feels qualify as potential classics, and Bayneeta chose Q Planes (Clouds Over Europe). I went along with it as a classics choice because I had heard Bob talk about it and was curious to see it for myself.
I had a difficult time following it at first because it seems to start in the middle of its story. There isn’t much detail as to why the police are raiding an office, or what Major Hammond (Ralph Richardson) is doing there, or why he can’t seem to remember who he is. It all becomes clear once he, thought to be an amnesiac or a criminal (or both), is delivered to Scotland Yard, where his assistant takes charge of him from the police so he can report to himself. That’s the kind of movie this is, where things are not what they seem to be, and where surprises lurk around every corner and every ring of the telephone. Major Hammond is quick and self-assured, not at all the bumbler that Bob describes. He is the only man in England smart enough to realize that spies are after specialized equipment and sly enough to arrange for that equipment not to be carried on a test flight he is sure will be sabotaged.
Because the owner of the airplane factory refuses to believe his theory, Hammond is on his own, at least until pilot Tony McVane (Laurence Olivier) arrives to help him. McVane also realizes that something sinister is afoot, though he doesn’t know what it could be. Their biggest obstacle proves to be Hammond’s sister, Kay Lawrence (Valerie Hobson), a persistent newspaper reporter who considers her own work just as important as her brother’s. When they put all of their brains together, things begin to make sense — although none of them seems able to make a good stew.
This is most definitely a comedy. It’s filled with cheeky dialogue, rapid-fire banter and occasional nonsense. But it’s smart comedy, based on allowing the characters to inhabit their world and being naturally amusing in it. Major Hammond is marvelous; I wish that he had starred in other such adventures. He’s sort of like a scatterbrained Sherlock Holmes, puzzling things out until he is sure that he is right. And like my husband Bob, he just loves being right.
My top five moments of the movie are:
1. When the police enter the office at the beginning and find what seems to be a dead body. That proves to be Major Hammond, but we won’t know that for a while. This opening instantly grabs one’s attention, because things are not at all what they seem to be, and nothing seems to make sense.
2. When the men at the aircraft plant all flirt with the waitress, but nobody realizes that she is taking notes on everything they say. The waitress proves to be Kay Lawrence, a newspaper reporter looking for information, but the men are too dumb to notice. She could have been a spy!
3. When test pilot Tony McVane stands up to his blowhard boss and calls him a “parboiled, pudding-minded myopic deadhead” for not following his advice regarding the missing planes earlier. You just don’t hear insults like that anymore. McVane takes the two flight crews’ disappearance hard, and he feels responsible for bringing them back, if they are still alive.
4. When McVane leads the revolt aboard the S. S. Viking. Why didn’t the other crews try to escape? It finally happens when McVane is revived after being knocked unconscious by the foreign agents on the ship. McVane instigates the other men to fight back against their captors and mans the machine gun himself, effectively wiping out about half of the enemy crew.
5. Major Hammond’s calls to Daphne. Every call occurs at a moment when he ought to be calling someone else for help or assistance, so each call is memorably funny. Poor Daphne has something important to tell him, but he just won’t listen. Naturally he finds out at the end, and for once, he is proven wrong!
Q Planes (I prefer the title Clouds Over Europe) is a very enjoyable adventure. Why are they called “Q” planes, since each identification number begins with the letter E? Anyway, it is a very memorable movie with a wonderful character, Major Hammond, who should have been provided many more mysteries to solve. His sister Kay is just as extraordinary; it is she who learns that the plane that has “washed up” in Cornwall hasn’t really “washed up” at all. And there is no one you would want on your side more than pilot Tony McVane. Together, they make the movie a real winner.
Is Q Planes (Clouds Over Europe) a classic? Yes, undoubtedly so. It has an energy and vitality that is timeless, even though its technology is dated. It is very funny, often when humor is least expected. It boasts captivating characters and dialogue that suits them perfectly. It is interesting that the film never identifies who the foreign spies are, but that doesn’t detract from the adventure. I like this film a lot and I am very glad that I have seen it.
BRL 16 August 2014.
Q Planes (Clouds Over Europe) (March 4, 1939 – UK / June 20, 1939 – US)
Harefield (Irving Asher Productions) / Columbia Pictures.
Directed by Tim Whelan. Produced by Irving Asher and Alexander Korda.
Screenplay by Ian Dalrymple, based on a story by Brock Williams, Jack Whittingham and Arthur Wimperis.
Principal Cast (character, performer):
Tony McVane Laurence Olivier
Major Charles Hammond Ralph Richardson
Kay Lawrence Valerie Hobson
Jenkins George Curzon
Mr. Barrett George Merritt
Blenkinsop (Hammond’s Butler) Gus McNaughton
Daphne Sandra Storme
82 minutes. Black and White. Not Rated.