The Auditorium at Northeastern Illinois University – Building E, 3701 W. Bryn Mawr Ave
General Admission: $7 • NEIU Students: $3
Wednesday, June 19 @ 7:30 PM
ONE OF OUR AIRCRAFT IS MISSING
Directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger • 1942
When Royal Air Force bomber “B for Bertie” is hit by the Axis, her crew of six parachute to safety in the Dutch countryside, leaving the pilot behind. The survivors plot an escape with the help of the locals, only a few miles away from Nazi patrols. The fourth collaboration between Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger was the first for their own production company “The Archers” and was conceived and shot as a piece of wartime propaganda for the British Ministry of Information. Like their previous film 49th Parallel, the filmmakers’ best attempt at propaganda is an uncynical view of humanity trying to do its best in times of humanity doing its worst, never without a crucial sense of humor (this may be the only Archers’ wartime production with crossdressing). One of Our Aircraft Is Missing carries all the weight of WWII by necessity, and becomes even more striking and paralyzing when one considers the proximity – both time and place – to the actual events portrayed. This was the last picture edited by David Lean before he began his directing career, and Peter Ustinov’s first role in a feature film. Great things were to come from all involved. Preserved by the Library of Congress (JA)
102 min • British National Films Ltd. • 35mm from the Library of Congress
Short: “They Fly Through the Air” (Owen Crump, 1952) – 12 min – 35mm Technicolor — For fans of aerial adventure, this “Sports Parade” segment showcases Navy parachuting in California in the early 1950s.
