The First of the Few (1943)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Pretty Good

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

I enjoyed this movie reasonably well while watching it. It was afterward that my disappointment rose.In some sense, I suppose the movie was a victim of its own success: by successfully sparking in me an interest in its protagonist, R. J. Mitchell, it drove me to do a little reading up on the real-life story of Mr. Mitchell, and unfortunately, the gap between the movie Mitchell and the real Mitchell is rather too wide for my taste. In particular, some of the most compelling parts of the movie story just never happened.So, in actuality, Mitchell never went to Germany, never met Messerschmitt, never encountered strutting Nazi bluster that galvanized him to devote his life to developing a superior fighter plane for the British with which they could meet the Nazi threat. Actually, he was working on fighter aircraft design back in 1931, two years before the Nazi's assumed power in Germany.What's more, the real Mitchell did *not* work himself to death on the Spitfire. The unspoken affliction which ultimately consumed him was actually cancer-- which no amount of rest was going to cure. So he did *not* deliberately choose to sacrifice his life for the cause. Yes, he did keep working during his illness, which is certainly heroic and praiseworthy. But it's a *far* cry from what the movie depicts.It's a pity, because I think the real Mitchell's story was interesting enough all by itself to make a good movie out of, without manufacturing lies. Still, it was an entertaining movie, and most of the broad outlines of the history seem to be reasonably accurate. The print I saw was creaky and antique, with poor picture quality and sound (I *still* don't know what the offensive sign on the yacht said, since I could neither read it nor make out the dialog around it), but I won't take off points for that. I could've given the film seven or eight stars had it been accurate, but all the lies take it down to a six.

It is ironic that Leslie Howards last film would be about the fate he would suffer soon after. Howard shot this film before flying into the war and his death mere months later.This biography of RJ Mitchell who created the famous British fighter is documented in this movie. In support is David Niven in one of his better more serious film roles. The film made in 1942 is definitely war propaganda. Still it tells an important story.Mitchell knew he was ill, but was a man on a mission to get the Spit Fighter complete before he died. While the movie is not real clear on Mitchell's illness, the fact is that he did die within a year of his getting the first Spitfires built.A good cast puts together a good film which elevates Mitchell (Howard) into a key historic position. The real Mitchell died of Cancer within a year of the plane design completion and the first major orders by the British Government.

Directed by Leslie Howard(who also played Mitchell)The First Of The Few tells his story from an idea he had one day watching the birds to the planes flying in the war.Made in 1942 a year after the Spifires helped win The Battle of Britain this is an uplifting film,made I imagine for the sole purpose of building troop morale. R.J Mitchell(Leslie Howard)is a plane designer who's designs were deemed too revolutionary for the time.Along with his old friend Geoffrey Crisp(David Niven)who was a pilot in the First World War he sets out to build the plane.Geoffrey backs him up 100 percent and is the test pilot for Mitchell's aircraft.However tragedy is just around the corner when (after working flat out without sleeping or eating)Mitchell feels unwell and consults a Dr who tells him if he does not stop he will die in just a year.Will Mitchell ignore the advice or heed it?well if you've read about him you will know,if you don't know the story then watch this wonderful film.David and Leslie have a great chemistry and play their parts well,in this brilliant film about an important part of British history.

The development of the Spitfire fighter plane by the Royal Air Force is considered a crucial factor in winning the Battle of Britain in that crisis year of 1941. It could fly faster and higher than the best German fighters and of course being right at home base it had the advantage of being able to instantly refuel. Unless a German pilot could shoot one down, a tie was always to the defenders because the German eventually had to return home for fuel. Though he didn't live to see it, credit for the design of the Spitfire and a share of winning the Battle of Britain goes to Reginald J. Mitchell who had been dead four years before the Battle of Britain. This film is a tribute to him as realized by Producer/Director/Star Leslie Howard. The problem one encounters in biographical films of this sort occurs when the subject lead colorless lives. We don't get that much of Mitchell here I suspect because outside of designing aircraft he probably was a pretty dull fellow. But Howard and David Niven who played his friend and test pilot are capable players and there's enough aerial footage to satisfy any buff.Howard's seminal moment in the film occurs when he goes to Germany to view their nascent airplane industry and realizes just who is the target of all these new warplanes. He comes back and through sheer persistence and conviction persuades the Air Ministry and the Baldwin government to start the development of a better fighter plane.Curiously enough the American aviator hero Charles Lindbergh got the same treatment from the Germans and came back to America with a message of defeatism. Interesting the different reactions when aviation people start talking shop.Had Leslie Howard not died ironically enough a battlefield casualty as the airliner he was on shot down in 1943 in the Bay of Biscay, The First of the Few might have been the beginning of a great career behind the camera. Probably would have extended into British television as well as the cinema.Still this film is a fine farewell and a tribute to two British patriots, Leslie Howard and Reginald J. Mitchell.