Collection search - Ferry Pilot

Record information – Brief

1

Ferry Pilot

Item number (ISN):

383066

Series title:

The World in Action

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Item number (ISN):

383066

Type of material:

Moving images

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

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Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

WILLIAMS, Ginette

Accession:

2007-0125

Media:

Film

Part:

1 of 1

Release date:

1942

Production company:

National Film Board
Crown Film Unit

Production credit:

producer, Stuart Legg; Ross McLean; narrator, Lorne Greene

Country of production:

us

Sponsor:

United Kingdom Ministry of Information
Director of Publicity and Information

Distributor name:

United Artists

Description:

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Film about the role of Ferry Command in the Second World War. To bridge the gap between the aircraft factory and the fighting front of World War II, the Allies created various ferry systems, chief amongst which was the Royal Air Force Ferry Command. Former bush pilots and transport pilots risked their lives to keep the planes flowing in an endless stream across the Atlantic. The film states: "This film is a tribute to those new pioneers of World War II, the Ferry Pilots, and particularly to those among them who have not returned from their dangerous flights."It begins with footage of: It uses both actuality and dramatized scenes. The footage includes: Allied bombing raids on Germany; dog fights; fighter planes getting hit and going out of control; aircraft crashes; aircraft wreckage; aircraft guns firing; workers in British aircraft factories as Britain steps up aircraft production; airplanes being flown across the Atlantic Ocean to Britain; U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announcing to Congress that aircraft production in 1942 will rise to 60,000 planes; scenes in American aircraft factories; an airplane being rolled out of a hangar; narrator Lorne Greene stating that planes are being built in Canada too; more scenes of aircraft factories; sign on plane in a factory identifying it as Catalina 12134, Job No. 402; more aircraft workers; some planes aboard ships bound for Europe as the narrator explains that there is little room for planes in the convoys so the Allies set up the system to fly the new planes to Britain; an airfield at Dorval near Montreal; ferry pilots receiving instructions; briefing session by an officer with a British accent; references in the briefing to Newfoundland as a destination along the ferry route; commentary by narrator that the ferry pilots include bush pilots, a veteran of Dunkirk and a clipper captain; ferry pilots getting into their planes and taking off; the control tower issuing instructions to pilots, telling them they are clear to go; aerial views of the St. Lawrence River, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean as the planes fly overhead; pilots during the flight, juxtaposed with snippets of voiceover from the briefing by the officer; aerial view of a convoy of ships at sea; planes on the approach to England; civilian men look up at the sky; the briefing of pilots of the Ferry Pool of the Air Transport Auxiliary, who take over the job of transporting bombers to the front line British bases; sign reading ATA 15 Ferry Pool; an officer discussing a route and looking at a map with an American pilot nicknamed “Alabam” who has a southern accent; names of pilots being called out; reference in narration to Hudson bombers arriving the night before from Montreal; a taxi plane taking a ferry pilot over to make a delivery from an aircraft factory; “Alabam” and a British pilot named “Thompson” chatting on the airfield; the pilots going to a plane on the airfield to find out what it is and how it flies; Thompson asking another pilot how to fly the Whitley aircraft as compared to a Wellington; warning about German aircraft on the attack; close-ups of pilots in planes; dogfight scenes; a Spitfire protecting the Whitley by fending off a German plane; a plane crashing; juxtaposition of aerial combat with scenes of the taxi pilot and his passenger “Alabam” who is reading a comic book called “The Lone Eagle”; the taxi pilot landing the plane and commenting to “Alabam” that it was a “nice, uneventful little trip”; and the concluding scene of aircraft formations in the sky as narrator Lorne Greene reiterates the importance role of the ferry pilots. <19mn>

Language:

English

Notes:

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1. This appears to be the Canadian version of a film of the same name, attributed in the Imperial War Museum online catalogue as a 1941 British film by the Crown Film Unit, directed by Pat Jackson, produced by Ian Dalrymple and photographed by R.McNaughton. The IMW description makes no reference to the NFB.~2. Produced in co-operation with the United Kingdom Ministry of Information and the Crown Film Unit.~3. Produced by the National Film Board for the Director of Publicity and Information.

Detailed holdings information:

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Vault ISN:

446844

Format:

FILM

Location number:

2007-11-0231

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

COMP

Stock:

REL PRT

Max. shrinkage:

1.2%

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

1016528

Format:

VIDEO

Location number:

2007-11-0231-DPX

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

SIL

Duration:

19:16

Made from:

2007-11-0231

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

1016530

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

2007-11-0231.WAV

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

BWF

Duration:

19:16

Made from:

2007-11-0231

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

1016531

Format:

VIDEO

Location number:

383066.MOV

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

SOF

Duration:

19:16

Made from:

2007-11-0231

Status:

REF

Vault ISN:

1016532

Format:

VIDEO

Location number:

383066.MP4

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

SOF

Duration:

19:16

Made from:

2007-11-0231

Status:

REF
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