Journey Together

This British propaganda film was intended to show folks what the process was like going to RAF training school for pilots, navigators and the like. The story focuses primarily on a character played by a young Richard Attenborough. However, one thing surprised me about this one...and that was many of the trainees were sent to the United States for training. And, Edward G. Robinson appears as an American flight instructor!

So is this any good? Yes. Unlike some propaganda films, this one is very high on realism, low on jingoism and is told in a semi-documentary style. No evil, snarling Germans or Japanese in this one, as it just focuses on what it's like to go through training. Because of this, it's more like a historical record of the RAF for future generations. Overall, a very well made film...one that is well worth your time.

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This film still holds the viewer's interest, both as a story and as a historical document of the period during which it was produced.

"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 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.

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.