Above and Beyond (2006)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above and Beyond

 

Filmmakers seem to be very fond of this title. It has been used at least three times for films, which focus on pilots and planes:

 

# 1. An old movie from 1952 about the pilot Paul W. Tibbets and the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

 

# 2. A Canadian historical drama – a miniseries in two parts - from 2006 about the RAF Ferry Command which transported military planes from the American continent to the United Kingdom during World War II.

 

# 3. A documentary film from 2015 about US pilots who assisted Israel during the war of independence in 1948.

 

This review is not about the old movie from 1952 or the recent documentary film from 2015. It is about the Canadian drama from 2006.

 

Here is some basic information about it:

 

** Director: Sturla Gunnarson

** Writers: John W. Doyle and Lisa Porter

** Run time: 2 x 80 minutes = 160 minutes

 

While this historical drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here, but the basic story is true.

 

The cast includes a combination of real historical persons and fictional characters:

 

The first group

** Winston Churchill (1874-1965), prime minister – played by Joss Ackland

** William Maxwell Aitken, aka Lord Beaverbrook (1879-1964), minister of aircraft production – played by Kenneth Welsh

** Archibald Sinclair (1890-1970), minister of the air force - played by Peter Messaline

** Donald “Don” Clifford Tyndall Bennett (1910-1986), navigator and pilot - played by Richard E. Grant

** Sir Frederick Banting (1891-1941), scientist, co-discoverer of insulin – played by Jason Priestley

 

The second group

**** Bill Jacobson, US pilot – played by Jonathan Scarfe

**** Nathan Burgess, manager of Gander Airport – played by Allan Hawco

**** Shelagh Emberly, Bennett’s assistant – played by Liane Balaban

 

Five historical persons (the first group) are marked with two asterisks, while three fictional characters (the second group) are marked with four asterisks.

 

The story is set in four different locations:

 

# 1. In London, UK

Cabinet meetings led by Prime Mister Winston Churchill

# 2. In Montreal, Canada

Training of pilots and navigators

# 3. In Gander, Newfoundland, Canada

Preparations for the Ferry Command

# 4. On airplanes

Flying from the American continent to the UK

 

Part one

In 1940, things were not going so well for Britain. One reason was the lack of airplanes.

 

In World War II, airplanes played a significant role. Airplanes for Britain were being been built in Canada and the US, but before Britain could use them against Germany, they had to be transported across the Atlantic Ocean.

 

This was a time-consuming and dangerous operation. Some cargo-ships did not make it across the ocean, because they were attacked by torpedoes from German submarines.

 

In the British cabinet, Lord Beaverbrook suggested the planes could and should be flown across the ocean; this was much quicker, he said, and there was no need to dismantle them before shipping and to re-assemble them again after shipping. Archibald Sinclair and other experts objected.

 

They said it was impossible to ferry planes from America to the UK. The distance was too long and during the winter season the weather was too hard.

 

But Beaverbrook insisted it could be done and he hired the famous pilot and navigator Donald “Don” Bennett to set up an organisation to implement this plan.

 

In this drama, we follow the planning and the preparations for the operation. The planes would fly along the following route:

 

# 1. From Montreal to Gander

# 2. From Gander to the southern tip of Greenland

# 3. From Greenland to Iceland

# 4. From Iceland to Northern Ireland

# 5. From Northern Ireland to England

 

The journey from Gander to Northern Ireland was a non-stop flight. The first run was made with seven Hudson planes which left Gander on 10 November 1940.

 

The next day all seven planes landed safely in Northern Ireland. The journey took about 11 hours. Bennett and his team had proved it could be done.

 

The Ferry Command continued until the end of the war in 1945. It made a significant contribution to the war against Germany, even though it is not well-known by the public. 

 

The purpose of this film is to ensure that this contribution to the war effort is not forgotten.

 

Part two

As stated above, this is a dramatized version of events, not a documentary film. Fictional characters have been added to the story.

 

A love story has also been woven into the account in order to give the story a human face and to make it more captivating.

 

While the main story follows the historical facts, some details are not correct. There are several cases where historical truth has been violated.

 

Here are a few examples:

 

# 1. When a general from the US Air Force visits Gander Airport, we can see he is a five-star general. 

 

This is wrong.

 

In the history of the US there are very few five-star generals. There was no five-star general at Gander.

 

# 2. In the control tower, aircraft are cleared for landing or take-off on several runways which are numbered 24, 25, 26, and 27. But these runways do not exist.

 

There is only one runway in Gander, as we can see in the drama. The two ends of this runway are named 03 and 21.

 

# 3. In February 1941, a famous person arrives at Gander Airport. His name is Sir Frederick Banting, co-discoverer of insulin, who is going to be a passenger on one of the planes flying to the UK.

 

In this drama, we see him arrive one day. The next day, he boards a plane which takes off. Shortly after take-off, the pilot reports that they are in trouble and after that there is silence on the radio. We get the impression the plane crashed while it was over the ocean. 

 

In the next scene, we are in London where members of the British cabinet talk about the front page of a newspaper which says Banting was killed in an airplane accident.

 

What we see in the drama is not quite correct, because the director does not give us the whole story.

 

The plane did not crash over the ocean; it crashed over land, near Musgrave Harbour (not far from Gander) on 20 February.

 

Banting survived the crash, but he was seriously injured and died the next day, 21 February 1941.

 

# 4. Frederick Banting is played by Jason Priestley, who is not well-chosen.

 

First reason: he does not look like Banting at all. 

Second reason: he is too young. Banting was 49 when he died. Priestley was born in 1969. In 2006 he was 37.

In other words, the actor is 12 years younger than the character he has to portray!

 

# 5. On the cover of the DVD cassette, there are three faces:

 

** On the left, we have Richard E. Grant, who plays Bennett. This is fine, because he organised the Ferry Command.

** On the right, we have Liane Balaban, who plays Shelagh Emberly. This makes sense, because she plays a major role in the fictional love story.

** In the centre, we have Jason Priestley who plays Banting, but this does not make sense, because Banting is a minor character in this film. In fact, Priestley is only seen for two minutes in this drama which runs for more than two hours.

 

Why is Priestley placed in the centre of the cover illustration? Perhaps because he is a famous face in the US. Perhaps because the producers wanted to use his face and name to promote the film in the US.

 

But this kind of marketing is highly misleading. Since Priestley only appears for two minutes in this drama, it is not honest to place his face on the cover of the cassette.

 

# 6. An on-screen message at the end of the film states that more than 500 men and women died flying for the Ferry Command during the war.

 

This is true.

 

The message also says more than 25,000 aircraft were delivered by the Ferry Command during the war.

 

This is a huge exaggeration.

 

The Ferry Command delivered more than 9,000 aircraft from 1940 to 1945. This figure is quite high. There is no need to exaggerate.

 

Conclusion

The RAF Ferry Commend made an important contribution to the war effort. This story deserves to be told and in this film, it is done quite well.

 

Perhaps the flow is a bit slow in the beginning, but after a while the details begin to come together, and when this happens, I feel the story really takes off (pun intended).

 

Since Above and Beyond is a dramatized version of events, and not a documentary film, we cannot expect every detail to be historically correct. I am not going to complain about the fictional characters or the love story that has been woven into the account.

 

But as you can see, there are some flaws, which cannot be ignored. I have to remove one star because of the flaws. This is why this drama deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).

 

PS # 1. For information about the ferry command, see the following books:

 

Ferry Command 

by Don McVicar 

(1981)

 

Ocean Bridge: The History of the RAF Ferry Command 

by Carl A. Christie and F. J. Hatch 

(1995) (1997)

 

PS # 2. Flying the Secret Sky: The Story of the RAF Ferry Command is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2008.

 

** Writer and director: William Vanderkloot

** Released on DVD in 2008

** Run time: 74 minutes

 

PS # 3. For information about the life and career of Frederick Banting, including the discovery of insulin, see the following items:

 

Banting: A Biography

by Michael Bliss

(1984) (1992)

 

Glory Enough for All

This historical drama premiered on Canadian television in 1988

 

PS # 4. Gander Airport Historical Society has a website where you can find additional information about the Ferry Command during World War II. Here is a link: 

 

Gander Airport Historical Society

 

*****