Rent Reach for the Sky (1956)

Reach for the sky - Reach for the Sky review by CP Customer

Might be an old movie, bit supreb acting and action well worth a couple of hours of your day.

Wartime Biopic. - Reach for the Sky review by Steve

Of all the bizarre tales from WWII to be exposed in the 1950s and turned into a feature film, none was more strange than the one everyone knew. Douglas Bader was a national celebrity, famous throughout Britain for returning from civilian life and becoming a Squadron Leader during the Battle of Britain...

...After losing both legs in a plane crash during RAF training in 1930. And even less likely, he escaped from a German prison hospital by shinning down a rope of sheets. In real life, Bader was controversial and had the reputation of being cantankerous, but More plays him as a bluff, determined hero. A chap with charm and gusto.

Unfortunately, he still feels difficult to like! Though he commands respect for his astonishing endeavours. More dominates the film in a huge, relentlessly bullish performance. There is a massive support cast, with Dorothy Alison the stand out as the nurse who initially gets the young flying ace back on his feet...

It's a long film which occasionally lacks drama because Bader seems so unsubtle, like a cheerful fool. He just charges headfirst into danger, without much thought for himself or others. Least of all his suffering wife (Muriel Pavlow). It really is a hagiography for a blunt man of great courage, who became a legend.