Rent Q Planes (1939)
3.3 of 5 from 54 ratings
1h 20min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Major Hammond of Scotland Yard (Ralph Richardson) is called in to investigate the mysterious disappearance of prototype British aeroplanes when on their test flights. At first Hammond is seen as an outsider at the factory but he soon finds a friend in star pilot Tony McVane (Laurence Olivier) who helps him try to unravel the case. Hammond becomes convinced that the company secretary at the factory Jenkins (George Curzon) is a foreign agent and follows him to London. Meanwhile, the mystery still remains unsolved when Tony returns to the aircraft factory determined to make the next test flight. His aircraft is brought down by a powerful ray beamed from a mysterious salvage ship. Tony is taken hostage on the ship, where he discovers many other missing pilots have suffered the same fate. Will Hammond come to McVane's rescue and save the day? - Actors:
- Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Valerie Hobson, George Curzon, George Merritt, Gus McNaughton, David Tree, Sandra Storme, Hay Petrie, Frank Fox, George Butler, Gordon McLeod, John Longden
- Directors:
- Tim Whelan, Arthur B. Woods
- Producers:
- Irving Asher
- Writers:
- Brock Williams, Jack Whittingham, Arthur Wimperis, Ian Dalrymple
- Studio:
- DD Home Entertainment
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Comedy, Drama
- Collections:
- The Instant Expert's Guide to Powell and Pressburger, Top 10 British Actresses of the 1940s, Top 10 Films About Planes and Pilots, Top 10 Films By Year, Top 10 Films of 1939, Top Films
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Reviews (1) of Q Planes
Comedy Thriller. - Q Planes review by Steve
Cheerful spy comedy which matched up theatre stars Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier. But this isn't an acting masterclass. It's fast talking hijinks with Ralph as the ebullient secret service officer and Larry as the waspish, moody test pilot who snap laconic witticisms at each other in cut glass accents.
These government agents are so posh, Valerie Hobson is able to pass as a tea lady. The lower orders are mostly represented by a superb comedy butler. It is very funny, in a British screwball style. The plot is perfunctory, with mysterious spies stealing hi-tech planes, and the three stars out to track them down, climaxing with a punch up at sea.
The crisp wisecracks and Richardson's comic aplomb are the main attractions. Apparently his undercover fixer from the ministry in a bowler hat was the model for Stead in The Avengers. Olivier is disengaged, but Hobson brings a lot of elegant fizz as a proto-Sloane Ranger/reporter who pugnaciously spars with Larry before deciding to marry him.
This is one of the pre-WWII thrillers that hint at the coming hostilities, but don't yet name the enemy. Though the baddies have pretty thick German accents. Still, with hostilities are only weeks away, it doesn't take itself at all seriously. This is end-of-the-pier frivolity. At least the British sense of humour was in good shape and ready to go.
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