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IMDbPro

School for Secrets

  • 1946
  • 1h 42m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
295
YOUR RATING
Ralph Richardson in School for Secrets (1946)
Period DramaDramaWar

During World War II, on the eve of the Battle of Britain, British scientists develop the first radar systems to be employed against the German Luftwaffe.During World War II, on the eve of the Battle of Britain, British scientists develop the first radar systems to be employed against the German Luftwaffe.During World War II, on the eve of the Battle of Britain, British scientists develop the first radar systems to be employed against the German Luftwaffe.

  • Director
    • Peter Ustinov
  • Writer
    • Peter Ustinov
  • Stars
    • Ralph Richardson
    • Raymond Huntley
    • John Laurie
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.5/10
    295
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Peter Ustinov
    • Writer
      • Peter Ustinov
    • Stars
      • Ralph Richardson
      • Raymond Huntley
      • John Laurie
    • 12User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos5

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    Top cast58

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    Ralph Richardson
    Ralph Richardson
    • Prof. Heatherville
    Raymond Huntley
    Raymond Huntley
    • Prof. Laxton-Jones
    John Laurie
    John Laurie
    • Dr. McVitie
    Ernest Jay
    • Dr. Dainty
    David Tomlinson
    David Tomlinson
    • Mr. Watlington
    Finlay Currie
    Finlay Currie
    • Sir Duncan Wilson Wills
    Norman Webb
    • Dr. Wainwright
    Michael Hordern
    Michael Hordern
    • Lt. Cmdr. Lowther
    Pamela Matthews
    • Mrs. Watlington
    Joan Haythorne
    Joan Haythorne
    • Mrs. Laxton-Jones
    Joan Young
    • Mrs. McVitie
    Ann Wilton
    • Mrs. Dainty
    Richard Attenborough
    Richard Attenborough
    • Jack Arnold
    David Hutcheson
    • Squadron Leader Sowerby
    Patrick Waddington
    Patrick Waddington
    • Group Capt. Aspinall
    Cyril Smith
    Cyril Smith
    • Flight Sgt. Cox
    James Hayter
    James Hayter
    • Warrant Officer
    D. Bradley Smith
    • Air Marshal Cotter
    • Director
      • Peter Ustinov
    • Writer
      • Peter Ustinov
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews12

    6.5295
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    Featured reviews

    7gwydh

    Slow but steady

    A film of its time with classic stereotypes as characters. Nice shot of Chalfont St Peter village centre still largely recognisable today for those who know it.
    7georgewilliamnoble

    How The War Was Won

    The war had only just ended but as early as 1946 the British film industry swung into action to relive the actions victories battles and inventions of the British war effort. British movie goers in an era before television flocked to such stories for more than a decade the war was to remain big box office at British cinemas. This lesser know boffin movie was quickly produced soon after the end of hostilities and it proves accomplished entertainment with a very strong cast of famous names and faces with the highlight on British scientific achievement from somewhat eccentric but brilliant minds.
    8plan99

    A stirring story.

    A very nice bit of post war propaganda showing how our technological advantage helped to win the war, without this secret advantage the war may have been lost, the boffins contributed a lot to the victory. It was superior technology that won the war of the Atlantic against the U-Boats.

    Mostly posh people playing the boffins as is usually the case with a great script with lots of witty lines.

    A great cast who played their parts very well. Very well worth watching and currently being shown on TPTV in the UK. No slow bits that leads to the viewer losing interest and giving up watching it to the end.
    2rbrettknowles

    Facts from a JSO who was at TRE.

    I was a Junior Scientific Officer at TRE Malvern and lent my Wellington aircraft to the film makers to show 'window' deployment. I recall seeing a clip of this activity in 1946, whether in a cinema or at TRE theatre I cannot recall. The DVD does not show it. The DVD is factually incorrect,the acting dreadful and the plot frequently chronologically incorrect. Life at TRE was nothing like that portrayed and the love story sloppy in the extreme The operator in the Bruneval Raid was Flight Sergeant Cox, the only person dressed in RAF uniform. Probably as some colonel in a plush office whose nearest to the war was the golf course or polo ground saying that'We can't have an RAF chap in army uniform eh what' It was this raid which caused the overnight exodus from Worth to Malvern College for fear of reprisals. R.B-K
    9hedgehog-13

    Ripping yarn with classy cast and director is an English post war gem

    This film, about how "boffins" contributed to the English war effort (by inventing airborne radar and other technological miracles), was made to help everyone cheer up and keep that upper lip stiff during the hard post-war recovery years.

    The real delight in watching it from 50 years distance is in the acting, writing and direction. We have grown used to seeing the likes of Richardson, Huntley, Hordern, Attenborough, Laurie et al in "feature" roles (nay, on display as museum exhibits). Most of them are now gone, but when this film was made--at the hand of the incomparable Peter Ustinov--they were in their prime and they were playing main characters. It is a little like the days "when gods walked the earth".

    The delight in this film is not in the plot (although it is a sobering reminder of just how much technology has moved this century) but in the language of the Ustinov script and in the effortless way that the principals go about their craft. I doubt that any of the four knighthoods given to director and cast were for this film, but one can see in it film why they achieved this recognition in the end.

    "School for Secrets" remains, as I am sure it was always intended to be, a "jolly fine" cheer-up story.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      The raid on the German radar site involving Professor Heatherville, played by Sir Ralph Richardson, is based on a raid by British paratroops in 1942 on an installation near the French village of Bruneval.

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 7, 1946 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Languages
      • German
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Secret Flight
    • Filming locations
      • Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Two Cities Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 42 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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    Ralph Richardson in School for Secrets (1946)
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