Journey Together

Made by the RAF Film Unit, this is essentially a celebratory film that starts off a bit propagandist in nature but actually turns into quite an enjoyable and characterful wartime story. It centres around "Wilton" (Richard Attenborough - who did actually serve in the Royal Air Force) who joins up intent on being a pilot. He passes through basic training and is sent to Canada where he encounters "Dean" (Edward G. Robinson) whose job it is to teach him to fly a plane. Thing is, he can fly the thing ok - but his landings look like they were designed by Barnes Wallace! "Dean" recommends he switch to navigating, but the young man feels that a demotion, a failure, and so it falls to his colleagues to instil in him the critical value of that role to all aboard. The last half of the film leaves the training behind as he and his crew are involved in a perilous bombing raid over Germany and, somewhat shot-up, have to make their way back home to safety. The film takes it's time to get going, maybe a wee bit too long spent developing the characters - but that does pay off as the denouement approaches and "Wilton" - and the audience - find the values of loyalty and teamwork re-iterated and reinforced. The cast consists plenty of familiar faces including a rare appearance from Bessie Love and they gel well together to deliver a sense of inter-reliability and comradeship. Very much at the better end of these feel-good dramas, this, and well worth a watch.

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.

This is a fairly interesting British film produced during WW-II on the subject of RAF crew training. Although produced by the RAF, there are some people involved in this production who would become better known in later years, including the directer, John Boulting, writer Terrance Rattigan and actors Richard Attenborough, Jack Watling and David Tomlinson. Also present is well-known British actor John Justin ("The Thief of Bagdad"), who was then serving in the RAF. Also appearing is the well-known American film actor Edward G. Robinson, who supposedly participated in this film without pay in order to help the British war effort.

The film itself is surprisingly well done for a military production made under wartime conditions, and it probably presents a fairly accurate depiction of WW-II RAF flight training and bomber operations. For instance, it is true that thousands of British aircrew were trained in Canada and the U.S. during WW-II.

It is nearly forgotten today that there were no less than seven airfields operated in the U.S. as British Flight Training Schools which were completely separate from USAAF and US Navy training facilities. Although the schools were operated on behalf of the RAF, they employed American civilian pilots as flight instructors rather than British or American military personnel. That probably explains the somewhat unusual uniform worn by Edward G. Robinson in the film, in which he depicts one of those American civilian flight instructors.

This film still holds the viewer's interest, both as a story and as a historical document of the period during which it was produced.

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.

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.