Journey Together

Richard Attenborough, Jack Watling, and David Tomlinson are up for training as potential RAF pilots in this movie directed by John Boulting, written by Terrence Rattigan, and financed by the RAF. Only one will get his wings, but the other two will serve.

It's a star-studded international film, with Edward G. Robinson and Bessie Love as a couple in Arizona; Robinson is the instructor whose training will make or break Attenborough and Watling. The story sometimes skirts being purely conventional. However Attenborough is so darned youthful and heartsore that it never ceases to be interesting, and the sequence where the crew has to get out of a downed plane as it sinks into the sea is genuinely frightening.

"That same day [30th August 1944], the RAF Film Unit arrived at Methwold with all of the necessary equipment to shoot the Squadron Lancasters for sequences in a movie titled 'Journey Together'. Great pains were taken to exclude No. 149's Stirlings from any of the shots." From "Strong By Night" History and Memories of No. 149 (East India) Squadron Royal Air Force 1918/19 - 1937/56; John Johnston and Nick Carter; An AIR-Britain Publication.

In one of the external scenes of a Lancaster Squadron Station, there is a fleeting glimpse of a Lancaster in the background sporting the Squadron code letters "OJ" of 149 Squadron. The Squadron had just completed conversion from Stirlings to Lancasters and most of the Stirlings were still at Methwold, hence the comment about excluding them from any of the shots although whether that was at the RAF's or director's insistence is not explained.

I had no idea what to expect when I started watching Journey Together. The intro didn't help: in lieu of credits, it merely states that the movie was acted and produced entirely by "Members of the Royal Air Force."

Well, it must have been a grand time to be in the RAF, because the star turns out to be a very young Richard Attenborough. He's supported by a roster of faces familiar to any fan of old British movies. It's harder to believe that Edward G Robinson was in the RAF, but maybe they gave him an honorary commission or something. He's got a very nice bit as a gruff American flight instructor.

It's typical of British film-making that what could have been a dreary propaganda film, badly dated as soon as it was made, turns out to be cracking little drama, with interesting characters and clever situations. Not to give away too much, Attenborough wants to be a pilot, but his plans take an interesting left turn. Will he rise to the occasion?

That question is presented with a good deal of very realistic piloting detail. I did some flying myself at one time, and this movie brought back a lot of my training. The flight-crew accoutrements of the period were particularly interesting, and realistically portrayed.

If you're debating whether to bother with yet another WW2 wartime propaganda flick, fear not: Journey Together is much more. It's a satisfying little drama, evocative of its time, and highly entertaining. It's also a particularly good depiction of the experience of aviation.

This is in many aspects an ideal war film for its consistently documentary and realistic character, showing just how it was to get trained as an Air Force pilot. Not everyone made it, but those who didn't instead got the chance of proving the more indispensable for their supporting effort, in this case Richard Attenborough as the very young and green navigator. Although a documentary film with no real romantic thriller plot but just plain hands-on realism all the way, it is terrific at times and has some memorable scenes worthy of Powell-Pressburger. It was in fact written by Terrence Rattigan and directed by the famous Boulting brothers, who practically only accomplished masterpieces, usually totally realistic ones and not seldom of a documentary character. Besides Richard Attenborough, there is Edward G. Robinson, playing a part of an American instructor voluntarily without being paid, and another very young George Cole is among the crew. In brief, this is a very enjoyable and enriching film for its very positive and edifying character, and the music by Gordon Jacob also adds to its lasting interest and quality. It's a thriller, but it is real.

I was fortunate to be one of the students at one of the BFTS training schools in Texas. The main theme, was to show students that flunked the flying course that it was just as important to be retrained as a navigator or other crew member. The principal flight instructor was Edward G Robinson who is not listed. He gave his services free out of respect for the war effort. The "few" refer to the original fighter pilots that that served at the beginning of the war '39 to '42

W.H.Stannard Ex RAF.