Battle of Britain

Harry Andrews - Senior Civil Servant
Michael Caine - Squadron Leader Canfield
Trevor Howard - Air Vice Marshal Keith Park
Curd Jürgens - Baron von Richter
Ian McShane - Sergeant Pilot Andy
Kenneth More - Group Captain Baker
Laurence Olivier - Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding
Nigel Patrick - Group Captain Hope
Christopher Plummer - Squadron Leader Harvey
Michael Redgrave - Air Vice Marshal Evill
Ralph Richardson - Sir David Kelly
Robert Shaw - Squadron Leader Skipper
Patrick Wymark - Air Vice Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory
Susannah York - Section Officer Maggie Harvey
Michael Bates - Warrant Officer Warrick
Isla Blair - Mrs. Andy
James Cosmo - Jamie
Robert Flemyng - Wing Commander Willoughby
Barry Foster - Squadron Leader Edwards
Edward Fox - Pilot Officer Archie

The air is thick with screen stars and 27 restored Spitfires flown by genuine WWII veterans defending Britain from the rampant Luftwaffe in the dark days of summer 1940. Laurence Olivier directs operations as Commander-in-chief Hugh Dowding, whose shrewd strategy with his limited fighter command induced the Luftwaffe to make fatal errors that led to its destruction.

The aerial sorties involve a vast number of big-name stars that prove a distraction from the actual story; including Michael Caine, Robert Shaw, Kenneth More, Christopher Plummer et al who relentlessly take to the air despite being exhausted. With such momentous events, Guy Hamilton's colourful big-budget spectacular should have been an epic war movie, the visually stunning aerial photography vividly recreates the London blitz and the fighter dogfights are impressive but Hamilton fails to get the story off the ground.