Aces High (film)

Plot

In October 1916, fighter ace John Gresham speaks at Eton College, where Stephen Croft, his former house captain and his sister's boyfriend, idolizes him. A year later, 2nd Lt. Croft arrives as a replacement at Gresham's base in northern France. Captain 'Uncle' Sinclair warns Croft that Gresham may have changed. Gresham, reliant on alcohol to maintain his flying ace status, fears Croft might report his drinking to his sister.

He initiates Croft into combat, shooting down a German fighter on Croft's tail. Gresham intercepts a letter from Croft to his sister, but Sinclair reads it aloud. When Croft returns the next night, she ignores him. Croft shoots down his first plane and is then killed in an air-to-air collision.

Gresham struggles to write a letter to Croft's sister. As new replacement pilots enter, Gresham sees an apparition of a smiling Croft through his office window, then notes the dirty window to Bennett.

Production

Producer Benny Fisz, a Second World War RAF veteran who made The Battle of Britain, proposed remaking Journey's End with an air force setting to director Jack Gold. Gold, initially wary of an aviation film, agreed after Howard Barker revised the screenplay. Gold was drawn to the innocence and extreme youth of pilots who knew they would die, and to showing fear alongside chivalry and bravery. Barker felt Fisz's idea opened up the play, as a film could not be set entirely in a dugout.

EMI Films co-financed the production, announced in July 1975 by Nat Cohen as part of a £6–7 million slate. Peter Firth and Christopher Plummer joined Malcolm McDowell, who agreed to appear because of Gold's reputation. Editor Anne Coates noted Gold did not particularly want McDowell, but Benjamin Fisz had cast him before Gold joined. The seven-week shoot included one week of rehearsal.

Exteriors were filmed in Spain and Southern England at Booker Airfield, St Katharine Docks, and Eton College; interiors at Pinewood Studios. Malcolm McDowell recalled a highlight was Douglas Bader visiting the set.

Reception

The film was not a box office success. Malcolm McDowell attributed this to having too much action for a psychological drama but not enough for a proper action film. The Sunday Telegraph noted the cast's potential would likely be wasted by British studios. The Observer called it a shrill anti-establishment squawk.

The Guardian described it as a straightforward epic handled with competence and confidence. The Evening Standard found it predictably good in the sky but a deep disappointment in exploring the hearts and minds of the pilots. Film historian Michael Paris saw it as another attempt to de-mystologise warfare. Film archivist Stephen Pendo praised the aerial photography by Gerry Fisher but considered the film standard fare.

Howard Barker later said the theme revealed the absurdity of producer-power, converting Journey's End into a flying film and dissipating the play's power. Filmink argued Journey's End did not translate to the sky in this version.

Legacy

Howard Barker mentioned the film in a 2017 interview, joking about it being ill-conceived but noting he would not have his house without it. The Blackadder Goes Forth episode 'Private Plane' reuses scenes from Aces High during its aerial sequence.