# "Hollywood and the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan"



## The Bread Guy (12 Apr 2016)

Via the RCAF Info-machine:


> Although focused on the commercial realities of film-making, Hollywood is, at its most basic level, concerned with the telling of stories and, unfortunately, it seems that war has been fertile ground from which to draw material. Being no exception, the Second World War has spawned countless films covering a myriad of subjects. However, there seems to have been only three films that either dealt with or touched upon the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP).
> 
> (...)
> 
> In the meantime, if you are aware of any other commercial films (not documentaries) that look at the BCATP, please let me know at william.march@forces.gc.ca.


From IMDB (in chronological order of when they were made):

_A Yank in the R.A.F._ (1941)
_Captains of the Clouds_ (1942)
_For the Moment_ (1993)


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## Pusser (12 Apr 2016)

Strictly speaking, _For the Moment_, is not a "Hollywood" film.  It was a Canadian production (won Most Popular Canadian Film Award at the 1993 Vancouver International Film Festival).


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## FSTO (12 Apr 2016)

Pusser said:
			
		

> Strictly speaking, _For the Moment_, is not a "Hollywood" film.  It was a Canadian production (won Most Popular Canadian Film Award at the 1993 Vancouver International Film Festival).



Parts of that film was staged on my Grandparents farm near Rivers Manitoba.


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## The Bread Guy (12 Apr 2016)

FSTO said:
			
		

> Parts of that film was staged on my Grandparents farm near Rivers Manitoba.


Small world, indeed!


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## ueo (12 Apr 2016)

Much of "Captains of the Clouds" was shot in North Bay. My Dad's family had a farm at the end of the runway and he still tells the story.


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## MarkOttawa (12 Apr 2016)

"Captains of the Clouds" is the only Hollywood movie I can think of that featured Ottawa with scenes shot there.

Mark
Ottawa


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## Blackadder1916 (12 Apr 2016)

milnews.ca said:
			
		

> Via the RCAF Info-machine



While discussing movies that have a RCAF connection would be an amusing pastime on these means, I'm left wondering "what is the purpose of this official news article from the RCAF" ?  There is no mention in the article connecting it to any current or upcoming event or commemoration, nor linking it to something peripherally stupid as the historical basis of making the CAF air element uniform ranks silver.   Is the RCAF (or at least the senior editor of its Journal) so lacking in real work that they have time (wrapped in the perks of "duty") to whine about Hollywood ignoring their forefathers of seven decades ago. 




			
				MarkOttawa said:
			
		

> "Captains of the Clouds" is the only Hollywood movie I can think of that featured Ottawa with scenes shot there.



Here's another.
The Iron Curtain (1948)


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## The Bread Guy (12 Apr 2016)

Blackadder1916 said:
			
		

> While discussing movies that have a RCAF connection would be an amusing pastime on these means, I'm left wondering "what is the purpose of this official news article from the RCAF" ? ...


Part of sharing the history of the RCAF, I suppose - other similar bits (notice other Commonwealth flight training pieces):

_"Air power and the battle for Vimy Ridge"_
_"RCAF commemorating Second World War air training program in 2016"_
_"BCATP aircraft: the Northrop Nomad"_
_"The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and Article XV squadrons"_
_"Flying Officer Allan Bundy: The RCAF’s first Black pilot"_


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## Rifleman62 (12 Apr 2016)

If you re mentioning Hollywood movies filmed in Canada during the Second World War:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033627/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_pl_syn

49 Parallel (1941)


> U-37, the first German submarine to reach Canada, sinks a merchant ship in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, then runs for cover in Hudson Bay. Captain Bernsdorff sends men ashore to capture a trading post - just before U-37 is destroyed by an RCAF bomber. Lieutenant Ernst Hirth, eager but inexperienced leader of the shore party, (comprising his resentful deputy Lieutenant Kuhnecke and the sailors Vogel, Kranz, Lohrmann and Jahner), follows his orders regardless. In the trading post, the Factor is updating French-Canadian trapper Johnnie Barras (just back from eleven months in the wild) on the outbreak of war when Hirth and his men burst in, injuring the Eskimo servant, Nick. After an edgy night, a radio ham from Grand Rapids, Michigan, calls up for his regular chess game with the Factor and Johnnie shouts an alarm into the microphone. Jahner shoots him, and he later dies. Knowing that a seaplane will come to the post to investigate, the Nazis plan to hijack it and fly to the neutral U.S.A. They take the plane (with much loss of life), but Jahner is shot by an Eskimo marksman as it takes off. Kuhnecke misjudges the plane's fuel reserves and dies when it crashes into a lake, still well north of the 49th parallel. The four survivors come upon a Hutterite community of émigré Germans, led by Peter. The gentle Vogel befriends the fifteen-year-old Anna and, impressed by the community's spirit, volunteers to bake its bread. Hirth takes the Hutterites for secret Nazi sympathisers and openly appeals for their help at a general meeting, where Peter angrily refuses him. While Hirth, Kranz and Lohrmann prepare to move on, Peter persuades Vogel to stay on as the baker. But Hirth returns and summarily executes him for desertion. The three Nazis reach Winnipeg, and learn that the Mounties are on their trail. They set off for Vancouver, intending to take a Japanese boat to Russia. Mounties suspect their presence at the Indian Day celebrations in Banff, and Kranz is arrested when he panics and reveals his identity. Hirth and Lohrmann proceed on foot across the Rockies and stumble into the camp of Philip Armstrong Scott, an English aesthete and academic researching the history and culture of the Blackfoot Sioux. They respond to his hospitality by burning his paintings, books and research notes and tying him up, but he breaks free and captures Lohrmann. The wounded Hirth hops the freight car of a train heading for the U.S. border and overpowers fellow stowaway Andy Brock, an AWOL Canadian soldier. The train halts at Niagara Falls and Hirth identifies himself to the U.S. customs officers, demanding to be taken to the German embassy. But Brock persuades them to classify himself and Hirth as "improperly manifested freight" and to return his carriage to Canada. Now disarmed, Hirth is no match for Brock's fists...



Great movie. I was fascinated with the scenes of war time Canada especially Winnipeg (with the famous Wagon Wheel restaurant, that just closed a few years ago), the Hutterites around Steinback, and all the other locals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commandos_Strike_at_Dawn

Commandos Strike at Dawn (1942)



> Erik Toresen (Paul Muni), a widower and peaceful man, is stirred to violence after the Nazis occupy his quiet Norwegian fishing village. German abuses lead Erik to form a Resistance group. He kills the head of the Nazis occupying his village, and then escapes to Britain, and guides some British Commandos to a raid on a secret airstrip the Germans are building on the Norwegian coast.
> 
> The film was shot in the Greater Victoria, Canada, area. Saanich Inlet stands in for Norwegian fjords. The airstrip is what would become the Victoria International Airport. Hall's Boat House (now Goldstream Marina) is where the wharf scenes are shot. Aircraft shown include two Bristol Bolingbrokes and two Westland Lysanders.



A wartime feel good movie. a bit corny now but great shots of serving Cdn soldiers. Apparently you can still see the steps the actors used to get up the hill for the final attack.

 The One That Got Away (1957), after the war, a true story. He got back to Germany and was later shot down and killed. The only successful German escape.

http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2010/02/british-cinema-one-that-got-away-1957/



> During the Battle of Britain a Luftwaffe plane is hit and plunges down into the British countryside. Although the pilot is captured, he is extremely confident and focussed on his plan: to escape and return home against all odds.
> 
> The One That Got Away Hardy Kruger
> 
> ...


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## The Bread Guy (12 Apr 2016)

Rifleman62 said:
			
		

> If you re mentioning Hollywood movies filmed in Canada during the Second World War:
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033627/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_pl_syn
> 
> ...


AND Lawrence Olivier to boot!  Neat film, indeed.


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## MarkOttawa (6 Oct 2018)

More on "Captains of the Clouds", Hollywood propaganda movie about RCAF shot--much in Canada--before Pearl Harbour with James Cagney. Good fun:

1) Good read:



> Captains of the Clouds - the making of a BCATP Classic Movie
> http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/203/Captains-of-the-Clouds--the-making-of-a-BCATP-Classic-Movie.aspx



2) Turner Classic Movies shows from time-to-time:
http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/78131%7C0/Captains-of-the-Clouds.html

3) Plus:



> 'The RCAF and WW II: “Captains of the Clouds”'
> How odd that the only feature movie about the RCAF in World War II was made by Hollywood in 1941.  Scenes in Ottawa!  In colour!  As part of Hollywood’s dastardly plot to get the US into the war...
> https://cgai3ds.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/mark-collins-the-rcaf-and-ww-ii-captains-of-the-clouds/



Mark
Ottawa


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## dimsum (6 Oct 2018)

Movie posters back then had a ton of print.


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## daftandbarmy (6 Oct 2018)

Dimsum said:
			
		

> Movie posters back then had a ton of print.



You're just jealous that the handle 'Hell Rider of the Heavens' was already taken, right?


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## dimsum (6 Oct 2018)

daftandbarmy said:
			
		

> You're just jealous that the handle 'Hell Rider of the Heavens' was already taken, right?



While it doesn't roll easily off the tongue, the mental image is pretty nice.


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