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The young Oliver and Richardson -- especially Richardson -- are obviously having a ball in this mix of spies, high adventure, and tongue in cheek comedy According to Michael Powell, the two stars tore up the script, and devised their own scenes, and the pleasure they have in sending up the material, and in each other's work, shines through. (In fact, once or twice, Oliver seems to be trying not to crack up at Richardson's antics.) Patrick Macnee says he based The Avengers' John Steed on Richardson's character in this film, and that, too, shows. Thrills, spills,secret rays, gags and eccentric British characters, and villains from a country suspiciously reminiscent of Germany, but not named in 1938.

... instead it is a fun little espionage piece with a witty script with its tongue placed firmly in its cheek. Set during the tense years preceding the outbreak of WWII, the Brits are losing experimental aircraft (the titular Q Planes) in mysterious circumstances, and Ralph Richardson's character is head of a government agency out to discover whats really going on, whilst Valerie Hobson is seemingly a spy for a foreign power, trying none-too-subtly to extract information from a bemused, cynical test pilot played by Laurence Olivier just before he headed off to bigger things.

The tone of the film is set from the initial scene, which opens with a composed, but confused Richardson trying to work out what he's doing in a trashed room, why he's surrounded by police, and what the heck his own name is.

Aside from a fun plot & great cast, there are some neat period aircraft up for viewing, for those with an interest in such things. Some other interesting tidbits that Wikipedia turned up are that airfield shots in the film were filmed at Brooklands (an early center of aviation & motor racing) and that the film was apparently based off actual events where the British government believed that the Germans were behind the downing of an experimental plane over the English Channel, so they helped fund this movie to let the Germans know that they were on to them, without any messy diplomatic unpleasantness being needed.

You really can't go wrong with Ralph Richardson in a cast, and it holds true with "Clouds Over Europe," a 1939 film that also stars Laurence Olivier and Valerie Hobson.

It's pre-WW II, and Richardson plays a secret service man in England who is convinced that a series of missing planes from diverse places is no accident. He's convinced the planes are being sabotaged, but by whom, and why?

Olivier plays one of the pilots, and he's funny as well as handsome. Valerie Hobson is a reporter in an adversarial relationship with Olivier. She turns out to be related to someone else in the film.

But it's Richardson who steals the show with his eccentric portrayal of Major Charles Hammond, a man who always forgets his umbrella and returns for it. He helps to give this affair a lightheartedness that makes it enjoyable.

Recommended for its very good British cast.

A secret British aviation project is being disrupted by a foreign power. Agent Charles Hammond (Ralph Richardson), is assigned the case. What follows is an espionage thriller that refuses to take itself seriously. Yet strangely, this odd mixture of screwball comedy and political potboiler actually works.

"Q Planes" (released in the U. S. as "Clouds Over Europe") was directed by an American, Tim Whelan. He establishes an anarchic tone throughout. He satirizes what his contemporaries considered too serious to examine lightly. In the story, British experimental aircraft are being "electronically" hijacked right out of the sky. The culprits' nationality is never identified, but you can guess their origin as soon as they speak their lines in that thick Teutonic accent.

The dialogue, much of it written and improvised by Richardson and his co-star Laurence Olivier, is crackling and smart. The action, though wildly improbable, is as unreal and stylized as the characters. The joker in the deck is Hammond himself. He boasts of his own considerable skills as a solver of crimes, crossword puzzles, and lovers' squabbles. Despite such brashness, Hammond is never tedious. Richardson plays him as an eccentric of many shades - horse-racing addict, amateur master chef, verbal wit extraordinaire, constant belittler of his valet (Gus McNaughton), and a man whose obsession with his case causes him to repeatedly ignore his beloved Daphne (Sandra Storme), the single character who bests Hammond in the film's fittingly ironic conclusion.

Hammond is aided on the case by his intrepid sister-reporter, Kay (Valerie Hobson), and a temperamental test-pilot, Tony McVane (Laurence Olivier), whom Kay picks up while snooping around an aircraft factory. Kay's character, a caricature of the working English suffragette, holds her own when competing with her two male cohorts - McVane, who hates reporters no matter their gender and Hammond, the egoist-as-detective ("I'm right - and the whole world is wrong!"). As if any enemy country could measure up against single representatives of MI-5, Fleet Street, and the RAF.

Some 20 years before Ian Fleming started writing about these things, it's nice to know that the British Secret Service was on the job and apprehending spies and saboteurs even if they're a bit slow to catch on at times.

With a little inside help from the air plant, some Teutonic looking gentleman have perfected a ray that immobilizes airships and brings them down real nice on the ocean. No trace of about four warships has been found at all or their crews. It's of concern to test pilot Laurence Olivier, to British agent Ralph Richardson, and to news reporter Valerie Hobson.

Hobson and Richardson are brother and sister. As you can imagine his job involves secrecy and undercover work and Hobson's from the Lois Lane school of journalism. Family dinners must really be something in that family. She also falls for Olivier while she's undercover working as a waitress at a coffee shop near the plane factory.

Q Planes must have been seen as wildly fantastic by the 1939 audience, but two generations who saw Sean Connery and Roger Moore engage in even wilder derring-do than is shown in this film, would regard Q Planes as all in a day's work.

Olivier and Hobson are fine, but Richardson steals the film whenever he's on screen. Q Planes will never be ranked as in the top 10 of any of these players, but it's a nice breezy espionage comedy/drama made a lot better by some of the greatest thespian talent in the English speaking world of the last century.

Everyone involved with this brisk comedy/thriller seems to be enjoying themselves immensely. It's a ripping yarn about spies, disappearing planes and a secret ray gun, lit up by Olivier and Richardson, with lots of cheerful gags along the way. It's dated, of course, but if you can leave that aside it's still good fun.

Policemen raid an apartment to find the place generally ransacked and a Devil-may-care man who claims to have no memory. He's actually wacky British Secret Agent Major Hammond (Ralph Richardson) who is investigating plane manufacturers and possible espionage. He is assisted by his sister Kay and ace pilot Tony McVane (Laurence Olivier).

This delivers some light fun with espionage. It's a little surprising considering the state of the world during that time. The whole place is about to explode into world war in a few months. It's not unforeseen at that time. The subject matter is hitting something real and yet the characters are cracking jokes. I do like the joking aspect but I also wonder if the audience of its day was in the mood.

Produced before WW-II, this is a sort of British equivalent of the Saturday-matinée thrillers they used to produce in the U.S. by the hundreds in those days. However, this particular example sports A-List British stars Lawrence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Valerie Hobson. The story involves a nefarious plot by foreign agents to steal the newest British airplanes, and the efforts of an eccentric intelligence agent, a female reporter and a heroic pilot to thwart them. It's strictly comic-book stuff but these three pros, and particularly Ralph Richardson, lift the material up above the level of mediocrity.

This was early in Olivier's career, before he made "Withering Heights", the movie on which he admittedly learned how to act in movies. Olivier was still clearly not entirely at home in front of the camera.

On the other hand, Valerie Hobson was a major British film star and was at the peak of her relatively short career at the time this movie was produced. She retired from acting in the mid 1950s, when she was still only in her thirties.

However, this is clearly Richardson's movie. He is delightfully hilarious as an eccentric British Intelligence agent, and milks every scene he is in for all it is worth. When Richardson and Olivier share the same scene Olivier doesn't stand a chance.

One of my all-time favorite actors, Ralph Richardson was one of those versatile British actors who seemingly could turn his hand to everything, from Shakespearean tragedy to low comedy, with equal grace. And he possessed that incredible voice, the sort that actors don't seem to have anymore. Small wonder that, when Terry Gilliam had to cast an actor to play the role of "The Supreme Being" in "Time Bandits", he chose Ralph Richardson. After all, if there is a God, doesn't it stand to reason that He would have to be something like Ralph Richardson?

If you don't mind checking your mind at the door this is the perfect movie with which to sit back and enjoy some vintage fun.

No wonder that this picture anticipates Bond by 25 years, it was co written by Jack Whittingham, who was one of the principle architects of the movie version of James Bond.

Whittingham shares a credit on the film, and the novel, Thunderball, which was originally intended to be the first James Bond picture.

More than a few of the classic Bond tropes are contained in the story--it actually points to Dr No (bringing down planes electronically) and to so many of the Bond stories that have huge battles at the end, with the hero freeing, and/or working alongside troops of one kind or another.

The British are flying test planes that keep disappearing and Major Ralph Richardson (Charles) thinks he knows what is happening. His theory is one of espionage and he is correct. Laurence Olivier (McVane) plays a pilot who is destined to fly one of these doomed planes. Can the British prevent their secrets from falling into enemy hands? Well, this is played as a comedy so I think you know the answer.

This film is carried primarily by Richardson who wins the acting honours hands down over his rival Olivier. He is funnier and has a more powerful screen presence - the true lead in this film. Olivier is unintentionally funny as he is so unnecessarily angry and shouts his dialogue, originating the Whit Bissel-style employed in the 1960s "Time Tunnel" series. There is no need for Olivier to be such a horrid man and he comes out second best to undercover journalist Valerie Hobson (Kay) during their scenes together as well.

As for the story, you need to pay attention, and, on occasion, we know that it is English that is being spoken but you may struggle to decipher what they are saying. The story gets pretty stupid at the end with Olivier and a machine gun. How easy it is resolved - let's break out and shoot everyone. OK, And off they go. Ha ha. Total nonsense.

You should be able to guess the news that Sandra Storme (Daphne) tries to tell Richardson throughout the course of the film. It's an ok film to watch but no need to revisit.

As a confirmed Ralph Richardson fan, I can say that this is one of his best performances. I watch it happily avery several years or so and always come away delightfully entertained.. I've probably seen it ten times and I always laugh at the same bits.

When newly developed planes being disappearing during testing with no trace a police Inspector and a test pilot begin to look into the possibility of espionage within the company.

Wartime dramas are very much of a standard affair – feel good affairs where we beat the Germans. This is very much one of those – the story is very flimsy and unlikely but it manages to have plenty to commend it. The story is carry by the comedy and the characters that make you overlook the sheer unlikely way in which the planes vanish. The story progresses to the inevitable shootout between the Brits and the Germans but on the way there's plenty to enjoy.

The film is mainly saved by a wonderful performance by Ralph Richardson as the inspector – he is funny from the first scene and his character is wonderfully charming and forgetful. Olivier is also good, but it's not his best! The supporting cast of sassy women and foolish businessmen also add to the mix to make for an enjoyable romp.

Overall this isn't a classic but the comedy and a superb Richardson makes this better than the sum of it's parts.

The two stage actors rattle off the rapid-fire dialogue like two Spitfires in a dogfight. I got the feeling they were almost in a goof-off competition to see who could memorize their lines right before the take and spit them out with the most unrehearsed verve.

Enemy agents (of undisclosed (but clearly not British) origin) employ a ray-gun that knocks out an aircraft's engines and radio so the villains can recover the downed plane and steal experimental technological secrets. The premise and 'special effects' (secret agents employing a secret weapon from the secret base to steal secrets) resemble contemporaneous Republic Studios serials but the cast, which includes Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier), is top-notch (although Olivier is somewhat wasted in his routine role as 'love interest' and heroic test pilot). On the other hand, Richardson carries the picture and, as Patrick Macnee has acknowledged, his droll, eccentric umbrella-carrying British intelligence officer was the inspiration for the debonair 'John Steed' in 'The Avengers' (1961). The light-hearted script is excellent but the simplistic and trite climax is a bit of a letdown. As always, watching 1930's 'state of the art' aeronautical technology is entertaining given a post-WW2 perspective and knowledge of what would be in the air within a decade of the film's production. All in all, "good show".

Oh my, what a delight. Good old Ralph made outshining Larry on screen look as easy as taking your pet mouse for a walk. (Yes that's right Ralph Richardson used to take his pet mice for walks).

Plots a bit silly, but it's just good fun all round. The scenes in the kitchen between Ralph and Larry, and than Valerie and Larry was very charming indeed.

Definitely a good Sunday afternoon movie if you don't want something too serious and you're fed up of James Bond films being repeated on a loop.

"Clouds Over Europe" (also known as "Q Planes") is a film that has been mischaracterized by some as a 'wartime' picture, though it actually came out several months before WWII began. Additionally, although the baddies in the film COULD have been Germans, no mention of their nationality is given and most have very British accents.

Several experimental planes have been lost around the world. In each case, no trace of the planes ever turned up and the Major (Ralph Richardson) is convinced someone is behind this. But, inexplicably, the latest company that is the victim of such a loss seems amazingly sure that there is no conspiracy and they do their best to thwart his investigation. Good thing that a hot-shot pilot (Laurence Olivier) is out to help the Major.

In some ways, it's a very good film. I love some of the main characters-- particularly the Major . When it comes to the characters, this is the big strength of the movie. He is very quirky and enjoyable to watch. The story idea also is quite nice. What is NOT so nice is how easily the baddies are beaten at the end of the film. Why would they allow the planes' crews to live and have ANY opportunity to fight back?! And, when the pilots are fighting back, why do NONE of the bad guys yell out for help when they notice the pilots have escaped from their jail?! Weird and sloppy...yet everything up until that is enjoyable and well done. With a better handled ending, it easily could have scored an 8 or 9.

Beneath the British B-picture exterior lies a hidden gem of an espionage thriller. Q PLANES is briskly paced and delightfully entertaining, balancing exciting spy intrigue with lighthearted character moments. The villains' dastardly scheme foreshadows James Bond villainy to come, and one can almost hear the John Barry music swell up during certain scenes.

The film is anchored by Ralph Richardson in a droll performance as a slightly Holmesian secret service man: undeniably brilliant, if a tad eccentric and prone to absent-mindedness. The triumvirate of stars is completed by Laurence Olivier as a pilot (and all-around good guy) and Valerie Hobson, who we learn is a newspaper reporter out looking for a scoop (in the grand tradition of such characters).

Top-secret experimental planes are disappearing under mysterious circumstances and Richardson is doing everything he can to get to the bottom of it. The main cast of Richardson, Olivier, and Hobson are great together and the movie manages to blend real comedy with real excitement. This little-known British thriller is a real winner. It's lots of fun and a wonderful surprise. Try to catch it on TCM sometime.

A 'Korda Collection' classic film and I shan't part with my videocassette - 'Tiger' comic script and stilted dialogue notwithstanding. Doesn't even matter that McVane appears to take off in a different airplane to that which is captured and seen in flight. Only trouble with Valerie Hobson is she retired too early.

1939 was a good year for movies. It was at the end of this year that England declared war on Germany so no one could have predicted the outcome. You can get a feel for the time and events by watching Mrs. Miniver (1942). Laurence Olivier is the head pilot for an aeroplane test firm. Planes are missing from the test of a new turbocharger. The use of Marconi's ray in the movie has shades of EMP (electromagnetic pulse) and looks like a particle beam generator that we are perfecting today for our anti-ballistic missile defenses system.

Aside from being a great spy movie, there is a love interest (Valerie Hobson) that does not overwhelm the story. And we see the mysterious workings of the intelligence service (Ralph Richardson).