- Appointment in London
Infobox Film | name = Appointment in London
image size = 150px
caption ="Appointment in London" film poster
director =Philip Leacock
producer = Aubrey Baring
Maxwell Setton
writer =John Wooldridge (story)
John WooldridgeRobert Westerby
starring Dirk Bogarde]
Ian HunterDinah Sheridan
music =John Wooldridge
cinematography = Stephen Dade
editing = V. Sagovsky
distributor = British Lion Film Corporation Ltd.
released = 1952
runtime = 96 min.
country = UK
language = English
budget =
amg_id = 1:83866~T0
imdb_id = 0045513Appointment in London is a
1952 warfilm starringDirk Bogarde and set duringWorld War II .Directed by
Philip Leacock from a screenplay byJohn Wooldridge andRobert Westerby and based on an original story by Wooldridge, the film is set in anRAF Bomber Command squadron during1943 . It tells of the leader of the squadron's attempt to finish his third and final 'tour' of thirty operations.Plot
Wing Commander Tim Mason is nearing the end of his third tour of operations, meaning he has flown nearly 90 flights over Germany. Having twice volunteered to continue operational flying, Mason is keen to make it a round 90 'ops' but when he is nearing the end of his tour he receives orders banning him from further flying. Meanwhile, losses are mounting and several raids are being seen as failures, so that some of the members of his crews, Brown (Kerr) and 'The Brat' Greeno (Forbes) among them, are thinking that there must be a '
jinx ' at work. Soon after 'The Brat' is then caught sending unauthorisedtelegram s off of the station. These turn out to be written to his wife, Pam, rather than anything more sinister, however Mason reprimands Greeno for the lapse in security. Soon after, Greeno's aircraft fails to return from a raid and Mason agrees to meet Pam, who has asked to see him.With only one more flight to go he accepts that the decision to ground him was for his own good, and he visits Brown's aircraft as Brown and his crew prepare to take off on a mission. As the crew board the Lancaster the large 4000lb 'Cookie' bomb that is part of the bomber's load slips from the bomb shackles and injures one of the crew. With no time to obtain a replacement crew member, Mason takes his place and the bomber takes off. The mission is flown and while the target is being attacked the
Master Bomber is shot down, causing the remaining bombers to bomb inaccurately. Hearing and seeing this, Mason takes the Master Bomber's place on the radio, broadcasting corrections and accurate instructions, and the bombing becomes accurate again. Listening-in to the Master Bomber's broadcast back inEngland Mason's Commanding Officer, Logan (Hunter) hears Mason's voice and realises that he's disobeyed orders and flown on the operation. However, due to Mason's intervention the raid, which could have been a failure, has been a success, and on Mason's return Logan greets him at his aircraft. At the end of the movie Mason, along with Brown, and Greeno's Wife, Pam, take a taxi toBuckingham Palace to receive an award from the King - the so-called 'appointment' referred-to in the film's title.Cast
*
Dirk Bogarde as Tim Mason
*Ian Hunter as Logan
*Dinah Sheridan as Eve Canyon
*Bryan Forbes as The Brat (Greeno)
*Bill Kerr as Bill Brown
*William Sylvester as Mac
*Richard Wattis as Pascal
*Sam Kydd as Ackroyd
*Anne Leon as Pam GreenoProduction
The music was also written by Wooldridge and performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra under his conduction.
The film was produced by Aubrey Baring and Maxwell Setton and shot at British Lion's
Shepperton Studios and atRAF Upwood .
=Trivia= Trivia|date=January 2008Three of the Lancaster B VII bombers, "NX673", "NX679" and "NX782", used in the film, also appeared in "The Dam Busters" two years later.
In some ground shots several of the 'Lancasters' in the background are in fact the later Lincolns.
References
External links
*imdb title|id=0045513|title=Appointment in London
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
