Battle Of Britain Movie – footage of the making of!

Hi Folks,

Daz,
Contentiously I think that Dark Blue World is probably the best film about the B of B to date. Seen on the big screen some of the formation out-takes from B of B are quite breathtaking. And it is of course the perfect antidote to Pearl Harbour.

Piece of Cake would have been so much better if it had followed the same route and used more out-takes, and there is plenty of Hurricane footage as well so it could have been even better still. Such a missed opportunity.

Septic,
Judging by the scale of that model ie bigger than 1/8th, I would say that it is the pre-production Hurricane re-painted although I could be wrong. I had though only seen it in a DB? scheme before. So it’s probably not test footage seen in the film when it explodes.

Robbo,
Didn’t know about Mick Charles, that’s a shame. That’s an interesting photo on the website of what is probably the same model Hurricane.

All the best,

Steve

Hi Steve,

I met Jack Morton many years ago and have attached a photo of Jack with a RC Hurricane model. It is painted in the correct Polish squadron markings unlike the preproduction model shots I have seen.

The art dept also constructed models to be dropped by helicopters, I have seen photos of the Casa’s and Buchon’s in this guise. They are quite crude but were never intended to be seen in close ups. I’m sure they would have constructed Hurricane’s and Spits to be helicopter dropped.

Septic.

I’m currently watching Dark Blue World, and the smoking Hurricane crash does indeed make it into the film (and it was ALSO used in Piece of Cake!).

I love the use of the out-take footage in DBW, as it saved the film-makers an absolute fortune and looks virtually brand-new.

Hi Daz,

I know it’s there in the Christopher Plummer sequence, and also I think at the end of the Michael Caine sequence? I also have a Hurricane in some out takes crashing into the sea (this may have been used in Dark Blue World as well). All I am suggesting is that it was one of the pre-production test models and maybe even test footage.

Mick Charles and the model crew did not make any Hurricanes as far as I am aware. Of course any of you who are in the UK could always call into his shop and ask him.

I also think that the exploding Hurricane footage is used in A Piece of Cake.

All the best,

Steve

Daz,

You mention the exploding Hurricane, which I have always thought was odd since only Spitfires, Buchons, and He111s were made for the movie. However way before production started some R/c test aircraft were built to see if it was possible to use them. A Hurricane and a Me110 were constructed (maybe a Stuka as well?) and I can only assume that the exploding Hurricane is from the original pre-production test footage!

Steve

If you look closely in some of the battle sequences, there IS a model Hurricane in amongst the carnage. I think, but I’m not sure, that it is in the scene where Christopher Plummer’s character, S/L Harvey, gets shot down.

Do we get to find out where then? :confused:

Hi Hunterxf382,

Not meaning to be obtuse. I have mentioned this footage before on another B of B thread. It’s 8mm and owned by Stuart Uwings (sp?) who ran Skyleadrer Radio Control at Croydon. He flew the aircraft with the model unit for the duration, and did a presentation evening for the model club in 1980?. About 30mins of film and 200 or so slides. Very interesting. This film was made by the individuals involved as a record, and for marketing purposes. None of this was used in the B of B film, although it (Stuart’s) does contain some footage transferred from the movie.

Daz,

You mention the exploding Hurricane, which I have always thought was odd since only Spitfires, Buchons, and He111s were made for the movie. However way before production started some R/c test aircraft were built to see if it was possible to use them. A Hurricane and a Me110 were constructed (maybe a Stuka as well?) and I can only assume that the exploding Hurricane is from the original pre-production test footage!

All,
So where can you see all of the footage shot for the movie?

www.worldbackgrounds.com

Search for spitfire.

They have 50 hours of B of B movie footage in a mixture of 70mm and 35mm stock. Quite a bit (6-7 hours) is downloadable but the quality is a bit iffiy.

If you ask them nicely or offer them money they may send it to you on DVD. I think that Moggy may have done this. Ask him.

A contact was sending me all of it on DVD but he left WB after forwarding the first two DVDs. Note to self, must contact them again.

I used to work in the industry and looking through that much footage is a daunting task however much you like Spitfires and Buchons.

All the best,

Steve

There’s a great 2 minutes of BoB film taxiing and take offs on the follow on reel 3 from about 12 and a half minutes in: http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=2567

Interesting idea that homosexuality, ethnicity and marital problems did not exist in the 1940’s and that no such person with those would have taken part in the battle of Britain. You also managed to slight all people younger than yourself as if they are historical dullards.~
~its just that you come across as an ignorant bigot ~

Nobody said they never existed in 1940 – and that’s Mr ignorant bigot to you…

Some of the model footage made it into Piece of Cake, most notably a scene with a Buchon having its starboard wing shot off by a pursuing Spitfire, and a Hurricane(!) exploding in mid-air.

And radio controlled model footage as well!
Steve

Do we get to find out where then? :confused:

I can imagine what it would look like – ‘Pearl Harbor’ compared to ‘Tora Tora Tora’! Instead of real aircraft they had CGI’d Zeros and P-40s maneuvering around like a mach one arcade game.
Must pander to the kids nowadays though, and it would be bloody awful. Who would have guessed that were so many gays, ethnic minorities, and unmarried mothers flying those Spitfires and Hurricanes back in 1940?
Oops – I was going to include disabled people, but remembered Douglas Bader…

Interesting idea that homosexuality, ethnicity and marital problems did not exist in the 1940’s and that no such person with those would have taken part in the battle of Britain. You also managed to slight all people younger than yourself as if they are historical dullards.
Perhaps you should have a think about what you are about to type before you type it next time; its just that you come across as an ignorant bigot and i’m sure you wouldn’t want that to be how people see you.

For every Pearl Harbor, there is a Dark Blue World…. 😉

I bet they couldn’t physically make a film in that way anymore!

I can imagine what it would look like – ‘Pearl Harbor’ compared to ‘Tora Tora Tora’! Instead of real aircraft they had CGI’d Zeros and P-40s maneuvering around like a mach one arcade game.
Must pander to the kids nowadays though, and it would be bloody awful. Who would have guessed that were so many gays, ethnic minorities, and unmarried mothers flying those Spitfires and Hurricanes back in 1940?
Oops – I was going to include disabled people, but remembered Douglas Bader…

There’s some much better film unit 8mm footage floating around that’s not made it onto YouTube.

And radio controlled model footage as well!

Steve

Bloody hell, loved that 8mm stuff!

Well in light of the hangar destruction – I sincerely hope not 😮

I bet they couldn’t physically make a film in that way anymore!

If you thought THAT was interesting – guess what I found on Youtube then? 😉

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfhAMwgJTc4

Some memorable scenes being filmed in this 9+ minute clip, including both attempts at blowing up that hangar at Duxford 😡

Excellent stuff (and far more interesting than the thread title suggests!).
Definately Lincolns at Kemble, looks really hard work with that kit though!

😮 Link corrected now…. oops!

The incorrect one was from Kemble which I had been viewing prior to finding the BofB one