Given that this was evidently thrown together in five weeks, it's pretty good - for what it is, a piece of pure propaganda designed to make the English believe that they would be safe from German air attack in the forthcoming war. (Of course, the English would soon learn that that was an optimistic non-truth.)
Much of this is comprised of newsreel footage and what I gather was air force training film. It reviews how HItler moved from 1933 to the invasion of Poland in 1939. It presents a remarkably positive view of Chamberlain's efforts to avoid war, one that history has not preserved.
The last part is a simulation of how the British might easily fight off a German air attack with calm courage and superior modern technology. We watch as they repulse three waves of attack. That gets rather tedious, especially since we know that is not how things would work out in reality.
The brief acting scenes in between all of this are pretty flat.
The highlight is Merle Oberon's concluding speech, out in a park, about everything that England stands for and why the English will fight to preserve it. That's very stirring.
Although I imagine it was less stirring for the tens of millions of inhabitants of the British colonies who did not enjoy the freedom that England is presented as embodying.
Even at 80 minutes this was too long for me. It's a historical curiosity, but nothing more.
I imagine it was withdrawn from circulation and hidden once the German air raids began.
Much of this is comprised of newsreel footage and what I gather was air force training film. It reviews how HItler moved from 1933 to the invasion of Poland in 1939. It presents a remarkably positive view of Chamberlain's efforts to avoid war, one that history has not preserved.
The last part is a simulation of how the British might easily fight off a German air attack with calm courage and superior modern technology. We watch as they repulse three waves of attack. That gets rather tedious, especially since we know that is not how things would work out in reality.
The brief acting scenes in between all of this are pretty flat.
The highlight is Merle Oberon's concluding speech, out in a park, about everything that England stands for and why the English will fight to preserve it. That's very stirring.
Although I imagine it was less stirring for the tens of millions of inhabitants of the British colonies who did not enjoy the freedom that England is presented as embodying.
Even at 80 minutes this was too long for me. It's a historical curiosity, but nothing more.
I imagine it was withdrawn from circulation and hidden once the German air raids began.