They Flew Alone

If any scholar of film wants to know better why the British Film Industry died on its feet, then watch this one. Essentially a propaganda piece whose aim was to (belatedly) encourage women into the second-line in WWII, with the achievements of Amy Johnson merely as the McGuffin (pardon my Hitchcock phraseology!). The stiff-upper lip was rarely stiffer, though the legendary Newton was less hammy than usual (recall he gave us the Long John Silver that we automatically think of). Once the need for propaganda had passed (along with its better actors) the British Film Industry had no real subject matter to interest anyone other than parochial Brits (I would only exempt David Lean and his entourage from this) and died a slow and painful death. It would have been better if this subject had been tackled after the War and concentrated more on Amy's endeavours (and indeed those of the great Jim Mollison).

Amy Johnson (Anna Neagle) works hard to learn about aviation and becomes a pioneering woman flyer. She tries to get backers for a flight to Australia, but no one is willing. In 1930, she flies to Australia on her own anyways and becomes a media darling. She falls for fellow flyer Jim Mollison (Robert Newton).

Her first big flight could be more dramatic. This is a bland biopic and the romance lacks heat. They never took the time to sell the relationship. The competition between the two and his jealousy is actually the most intriguing part of their relationship. In 1941, the real Amy Johnson would die while flying for the war effort. The movie does something weird and I don't think they actually say she died. At most, it's a montage like life flashing before her eyes. Of course, it's wartime and this ends with a patriotic call to arms. If only, the biopic part is more compelling.

The story of Amy Johnson may be a positive and inspiring one, but this film fictionalization of it never flies higher than a routine, check-all-the-boxes aviator yarn. What could be described as primitive, even for 1942, special effects really mar the suspense points, when the important flights she and/or her husband undertake. The pathetic miniatures, and obvious shoddy backgrounds give the film an uneven, cheap look. The shots of what the pilots see never match well, and at no time do we ever feel the supposed danger from the scenes of looking in on the cockpits, it's just so obviously a nice safe, immobile prop. The reliance on newspaper headlines (or the British equivalent, the newsagent's heralds) to help the story along, is truly ridiculous, more than any other film I believe I have ever seen. I don't know the reason why, but the print shown on TCM seems to be the original British film with the title switched out from the American version, though that copy is obviously a low-quality, perhaps 16mm print. But more strangely, there seems to be inept, ham-handed editing throughout, shortening scenes abruptly, or crashing out as a new scenes start. Why? If there were two prints at hand, couldn't a more complete one be assembled from them? Even second-choice quality material is better than missing altogether.

Anna Neagle gives a sterling performance in this otherwise dreary and pedestrian biopic of flying ace Amy Johnson - she even manages a very credible northern accent for a lady with such natural RP delivery. Anna was always slighted as an actress of limited range, promoted to major stardom by her besotted husband Herbert Wilcox, however of the two personalities, Wilcox was really the lesser talent. His direction of this - and every Wilcox/Neagle film - is uninspiring and flat. No wonder Anna rarely came across brilliantly on the screen, under her husband's leaden workmanship. How sad that the man who did pick her from nowhere and promote her to stardom was a director of such limited skill: had she been spotted by a Hitchcock, or a Korda, for example, who knows how much more Miss Neagle might have brought to her roles.

I think that thorwald should bear in mind the circumstances that lead to the making of this film. In 1942 Britain's wartime courage had slipped to it's lowest,and many people were doubting whether we could win the war.The US did not enter WW2 until Dec 1941,and this film was made before that. The main reason that this film was made when it was,is the fact that Amy Johnson died on January 5th 1941,whilst ferrying RAF planes to airfields(her plane crashed in the Thames Estuary).So the filmmakers used this as a tribute,AND a propaganda film. If it HAD been left until after the war the impetus would probably have gone and the film would not have been made at all.There are probably quite a few(US & UK) poor quality films that apart from propaganda would not have been made.It is unwise to judge such film from the distance of 70 years or so,given that the motives for making them might seem dubious to us now.We may criticise old films that are just plain bad,but to judge wartime films purely on their film value(without their historic context) is just stupid and demeans the memory of those that took part in WW2,whether in the forces,or in the filmmaking world. It would be nice to be able to alter history,but we can't.These wartime films (good or bad) are part of WW2 and if we judge them out of context,and we alter the history they are represent.