Main Cast: Ralph Richardson, Raymond Huntley, John Laurie, Ernest Jay, David Tomlinson
Release Year: 1946
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 108 minutes
Plot
Produced, directed and scripted by Peter Ustinov (who did not star), Secret Flight was released in Great Britain in 1946, but not distributed in the U.S. until 1951 -- at which time it was panned as being out-of-date! The fact-based screenplay details the efforts of five dedicated British scientists to develop Radar and other preventative measures on the eve of WW II. The five "boffins" are played by Ralph Richardson, Raymond Huntley, John Laurie, Ernest Jay and David Tomlinson. Some excitement is engendered when a test pilot (Richard Attenborough) cooperates with the scientists' remote-control airflight experiments. Given the film's sober treatment of certain British wartime military maneuvers, it is surprising that Peter Ustinov frequently chooses to depict the scientists as Dr. Watson-style comic figures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Finlay Currie - Sir Duncan Wilson Wills; Pamela Matthews - Eve Watlington; Richard Attenborough - Jack Arnold; David Hutcheson - S/Ldr. Sowerby; Patrick Waddington - Cpl. Aspinall; Joan Haythorne - Mrs. Laxton-Jones; Marjorie Rhodes - Mrs. Arnold; Joan Young - Mrs. McVitie; Ann Wilton - Mrs. Dainty; Edward Lexy - Sir Desmond Prosser; Tony Arpino; Robin Bailey - Billeting Officer; Paul Carpenter - Flight Leader Argylle; O.B. Clarence; Hugh Dempster - Squadron Leader Slatter; Peggy Evans - Daphne Adams; Sonia Holm; Vida Hope; Michael Hordern - Lieut. Commander Lowther; Robert Long; Aubrey Mallalieu; Murray Matheson; Kenneth More; Bill Owen - Sergeant; Hugh Pryse; Des Roberts; Cyril Smith - Flight Sgt. Cox; Robert Wyndham; Robert Elson; Kenneth Buckley; Andrew Blackett; Alvar Liddell; Anthony Dawson
