Q Planes [DVD]

Made in 1939, when the storm of war was about to burst over our heads, this Boy's-Own adventure story is made and acted with real brio.The story, briefly - Major Hammond, of the S.I.S. ( Ralph Richardson, playing - as another reviewer has pointed out - a sort of prototype John Steed) is convinced that top-secret aircraft the world over are being brought down and their secret apparatus stolen by an un-named foreign power (obviously Germany, though this is never explicitly stated). The latest disappearance is of a British aircraft equipped with a new supercharger. The boss of the aircraft company, an obstinate northerner straight out of the pages of an Arnold Bennett novel, refuses to believe this espionage tale, but his top test-pilot (Tony McVane, played by Laurence Olivier) does, and he and Hammond conspire to unmask the spy working for the company, solve the mystery of the disappearances, and save the world from everything (remember, the war had yet to start).There is excellent support from Valerie Hobson (playing McVane's love interest) and George Curzon (playing the spy). The film is beautifully made, with excellent photography and, for anoraks such as myself, film of several interesting aeroplanes - Tiger and Gypsy Moths and, above all, the lovely Airspeed Envoy, surely one of the most beautiful aircraft ever to take to the air, and shown here in all its glory, both on the ground and in the air.A short film of less than 90 minutes duration, this is a light-hearted and enjoyable romp that only the most stony-hearted could fail to enjoy.

I first saw Q PLANES about 40 years ago on television here in America under its US title of CLOUDS OVER EUROPE, and was delighted by it. The current DVD, while not earth-shattering in its clarity -- and seriously lacking in some audio presence -- is a pretty fair representation of the movie, given its age. As to the film itself, Ralph Richardson is the spark-plug as an eccentric, droll-witted intelligence agent investigating a series of disappearances of experimental aircraft (which, as it turns out, have occurred not only in the British isles but elsewhere around the world). His presence throughout the various corners of the action, brushing up with sparks against his own journalist sister (Valerie Hobson) and more genially against brooding macho test pilot Tony McVane (Laurence Olivier), as well as impatient industrialists, duplicitous corporate stooges, and the evildoers themselves, drives the whole movie as though it were a precursor to The Avengers TV series (which it was). The mystery, laced by equal measures of comedy, romantic by-play, and suspense, is in the mode of Alfred Hitchcock, but also anticipates by several decades the plot of the James Bond movie YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, albeit on a smaller scale and a fraction of the budget. There aren't many extras on the disc -- this is a low-frills if not no-frills release -- but that this late date that's hardly surprising. The time to have done something special would have been when the key participants were still alive, but in those days this movie wasn't considered all that special. It is still a LOT of fun!

A rather fun 1930s thriller, some aspects of which have aged rather but which still have a fair amount of pace, wit and tension which more than makes up for the sometimes rather implausible details of the story and the continuity errors.A salvage ship, which is never named as German but viewers are clearly given the impression it is, is sabotaging and stealing secret military plans on test flights. A pilot, a man from the (military) ministry and his sister, a reporter, attempt to solve the mystery, providing some good by-play along the way about the relationship between journalism and society. There's a fair amount of humour and a decent amount of tension at points in what is, in the circumstances, a pretty good quality DVD. It's only a shame that the extras are so very thin, such as a few seconds of titles from the differently named American release of the movie.

Superb storyline of a dastardly ray machine deployed at sea, magnificent stereotypes of outrage and disorganised incisiveness - and all in black and white with a superb cast. Sit back and suspend your disbelief !!

A somewhat complex and extremely enjoyable mystery over who is stealing the advanced prototype aircraft all over the world. It derives from the premise that resulted in RDF/Radar, that of a beam which could stop engines in flight. A salvage ship of an un-named but Teutonic sounding power is conveniently present at each test site where an aircraft is lost, and it is up to Major Charles Hammond (Ralph Richardson) of the Air Ministry to discover the reason, he is assisted in this endeavour by Olivier as Tony McVane and alternately helped and hindered by his (Hammond's) sister Kay Lawrence played by Valerie Hobson. Complete with a shoot-out on the salvage ship, all is eventually well and consistently funny.Directed by an American, Tim Whelan, and co-written by Jack Whittingham author of a couple of later James Bond scripts. Reputedly dialogue between the principals is full of ad-libs and improvisation.Try to keep track of Major Hammond's umbrella, and his girlfriend.Rob Boyter

Good little film this, in a stiff upper lip sort of way. Dated obviously, and with a plot you can see a mile off its still watchable. I liked it.

I love Ralph Richardson. His crackling quickfire delivery makes this film and Laurence Olivier's slightly effete foil is a nice contrast.Highly enjoyable!

Good idea -- and I never thought Ralph Richardson was such a polished actor. ... and a little funny too.The plummy accents seem so dated.I guess they were limited to just how much they could say or do----- how different to today and our exposure to everything as soon as it happens.