Light Up the Sky!

When I was 8 my mother took me to see this as Tommy Steele was a big star to us kids . Everyone was singing ' Little White Bull' . I remember I enjoyed it especially when the German bombers appear . Benny Hill is his usual self . Seeing it now brings back memories . It's still a pretty decent film

You look at the cast and expect an out and out comedy. Instead what you get is a surprisingly well acted and poignant film that tells the story of a searchlight battery in world war two.

Somewhere in Europe, during the Second World War, a group of young men make up a Searchlight Squad. If an adventure is days of boredom interrupted by short bouts of terror, this is an adventure.... but for most of it they spend their time bickering, picking up women, and worrying about what's for dinner.

It's a comedian's show, with Ian Carmichael, Tommy Steele and Benny Hill at the top of the cast list, yet they are all tamping down their performances. If you've ever observed a comic actor giving a serious performance only to be surprised and impressed, you shouldn't be. As Edmund Kean said on his deathbed, dying is easy; it's comedy that's hard. Yet this quasi-service comedy tries to alternate the comedy with the difficulties of actual war, and doesn't really manage the first half of the remit. The actors step on the punchlines, deliberately.... but the result is 75 minutes of boredom, and 15 minutes of terror.

When this film was made war films were very popular at the box office.Privates On Parade was the first film to poke fun at the army followed by Carry On Sergeant,and contemporaneously with this film Very Important Person.This film betrays its stage origins by spending far too long in the confines of the squad hut.A good cast is really not given enough comedy situations to handle.the tragedy and drama don't mix well with the comedy.There is a rather artificial beginning and end which is most unsatisfactory.Ian Carmichaels character is strangely written and portrayed.he treats his men as errant children rather than men.It is little surprise that Lewis Gilbert does not mention this film in his autobiog.It is clearly a film that he would prefer to forget.

A unique film about a WWII searchlight battery. Great cast. Benny Hill is brilliant as a straight actor. I served in the last British Army Searchlight Squadron, 873 Movement Light Squadron. Royal Engineers. Technically the film is spot on and the special effects are good. I first saw this film when it first came out and have seen it several times since on TV. TV Choice give it one star. Shame on them. Ian