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Q Planes

Q Planes

  • Status: Released
  • 21-02-1939
  • Runtime: 82 min
  • Score: 5.9
  • Vote count: 39

In England, an eccentric police inspector, an earnest test pilot and a spunky female reporter team up to solve the mystery of a series of test aircraft which have disappeared without a trace while over the ocean on their maiden flights; unaware, as they are, that a spy ring has been shooting the planes down with a ray machine hidden aboard a salvage vessel which is on hand to haul the downed aircraft aboard, crews and all.

Ralph Richardson

Maj. Charles Hammond

Laurence Olivier

Tony McVane

Valerie Hobson

Kay Lawrence

George Merritt

Mr. Barrett

George Curzon

Jenkins

Roy Emerton

Viking First Mate

Frank Fox

Karl

Gus McNaughton

Blenkinsop, Hammond's Butler

George Butler

Air Marshal Gosport

Gordon McLeod

The Baron

Hay Petrie

Stage Door Keeper

Sandra Storme

Daphne

David Tree

R. Mackenzie

John Longden

John Peters, a Pilot

Ronald Adam

Pollack - Aviation Engineer

Patrick Aherne

Officer

Mark Daly

John - Factory Watchman

David Farrar

Viking Bo'sun

Ian Fleming

Air Ministry Officer

Franklin Kelsey

Inspector

John Laurie

Newspaper Editor

Herbert Lomas

Mattie - Fisherman

Raymond Lovell

Northern Salvage Company Manager

Gertrude Musgrove

Barmaid

Reginald Purdell

Pilot

John Robinson

Pilot

John Singer

Newspaper Boy

Lewis Stringer

Foreign Agent

Jack Vyvyan

Police Sgt

Hal Walters

Cornish Car Driver

Eileen Bennett

Minor Role

Leslie Bradley

Minor Role

Henry Caine

Minor Role

Derek Farr

Minor Role

Morland Graham

Minor Role

Sally Gray

Minor Role

Allan Jeayes

Minor Role

Colin Keith-Johnston

Minor Role

Gregory Stroud

Minor Role

Miles Malleson

Minor Role

CinemaSerf

When aircraft with secret gadgets aboard start disappearing all around the globe, "Maj. Hammond" (Ralph Richardson) reckons that there is something suspicious going on. His investigations - frequently interfered with by his aspiring journalist sister "Kay" (Valerie Hobson) - eventually, despite scepticism from the latest aircraft's manufacturers, manage to enrol budding pilot "McVane" (Laurence Olivier) into his cunning plan to identify and bring the perpetrators to book... As a story, it's all a bit far-fetched, but what gives it quite an edge is the really quirky - almost improv. style of delivery from Richardson. He doesn't exactly speak directly to camera, but much of his effort in this breezy espionage thriller appears more directly aimed at us (and his long-suffering butler "Blenkinsop" (Gus McNaughton)). That creates quite an enjoyable intimacy that, coupled, with quite a quickly paced series of scenarios and a better the average performance from the frequently too aloof Hobson to make for quite a fun 80-odd minutes. Even Olivier manages to shake off some of his traditionally rigid style on occasion, though it's never that far away, before an action packed denouement invoking a ray gun, a destroyer and... Ralph's umbrella! It's a hybrid of genres this, and at times is a bit of a mess - but I actually quite enjoyed it, and I'd give it a go.