"One of Our Aircraft Is Missing" opens with the announcement of the execution of Dutch civilians by the occupying Germans for aiding the escape of a British airman shot down over Europe. The film then jumps to the crew of Vickers Wellington 'B for Bertie' as they prepare for a bombing run on Stuttgart. The bomber is brought down by German anti-aircraft artillery and the rest of the film follows the crew as they try to escape occupied Europe with the aid of the Dutch underground. The movie is strictly 'vérité', the acting is minimal and realistic, and there is no score. Clearly a 'propaganda' film, the British crew and the Dutch are heroic and resourceful, while the Germans are somewhat incompetent – but that's all part of war-time cinema and does not detract from the overall excellence of the production (especially the special effects used for the bombing raid and the crash of the bomber). The film didn't really benefit from the bit of fisticuffs toward the end but the tough Dutch woman's comments about what to do with the KO'ed Germans suggests some off-screen extra-judicial killing that the movie, regardless of the situation on the home front, would never 'condone'. Overall, a great film from both an entertainment and a historical perspective.

While not as well-known, nor as highly regarded, as their other later works this is every bit as good as one would expect from the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It's fairly predictable, flag-waving stuff following the fortunes of six British airmen shot down over Holland as they try to make their way to the coast and back to England.They are all well played by a stock company of British army types, though some of the 'Dutch' people they meet on the way, (Peter Ustinov, Robert Helpman, Googie Withers, Joyce Redman), leave something to be desired. The editor was David Lean and the photography was by Ronald Neame and they do a splendid job; it looks great and much of the airborne stuff has a documentary feel to it. It is also consistently tense and is actually better than the better known "49th Parallel".

A bit of a Curate's Egg,this.A "Microcosm of Society" - type aircrew is shot down over Holland,contacts the Dutch Resistance and is guided safely back home.Now I understand it was made at a time when the British Government needed to ensure that we were all singing from the same hymn sheet and that Europeans(Brits weren't considered to be Europeans in those days)had to pull together to free the continent from the yoke of Nazism,but resistance to the Germans in Holland - like in France - was the exception rather than the rule,and these were lucky airmen indeed to have managed to contact members of such a very small and brave elite without disaster befalling them. Many Dutch and French were enthusiastically embracing Fascism right up until the Second Front opened. Mr Robert Helpmann as the collaborator would not have been quite the exotic creature he is made out to be. But my main concern about "One of our aircraft is missing" is the way the Dutch are portrayed as perky rosy-cheeked and chirpy,almost like members of the von Trapp family.And surely they wouldn't spend so much of their time together as a group right under the noses of The Master Race who might reasonably be expected to be a little suspicious of such gatherings. But considering the parameters within which it was made and the audience for whom it was intended,the film is capable enough,just a bit of a disappointment considering the talent involved and the high standard of many British propaganda works of the same era. The flying sequences are well handled but once the crew have parachuted and gone to ground,for me the tension is dissipated,when surely it should be increased. "Jaw,jaw",may be better then "War,war" as Churchill posited,but in "One of our aircraft is missing" it gets to be a bit of a "Bore,bore" I'm afraid.

With the Second World War at its height, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger here made their debut under the title of The Archers with this story of downed Royal Air Force men escaping through occupied Holland.This is first and foremost a propaganda piece, and as such it works well. Pressburger created a story which at turns makes heroes of British soldiers, reassures and bolsters the civilians back home and, typically for the internationalist Pressburger but rare for propaganda pictures in general, pays tribute to the people of occupied Europe. While it would have been mostly aimed at the British public, and the heroes are British airmen, this is really a picture about the Dutch resistance. However the Dutch nationalism in the film does border on the ridiculous at times, such as when a resistance woman comments that she prefers the taste of Dutch water to French champagne.The circumstances of the airmen's escape are extremely tame, it has to be said. Forget Steve McQueen on a motorbike – here it's all push-bikes, rowing boats and tea with the vicar. As a result the picture doesn't stand up well as pure entertainment. But it seems as if it's the domesticity and sheer ordinariness that Powell and Pressburger are wanting to stress. This film is as much – if not more so – about the home front as the western front. It's also interesting that the two main Dutch resistance characters are both female. Something Powell and Pressburger stress throughout their propaganda films is the role of women during the war, an aspect often overlooked in the more gung ho war pictures.Michael Powell's bold and highly cinematic style seems well developed here. Here, even more so than usual in Powell's pictures, the direction is very self-aware and openly pointed at the audience. With the narrative moved along at every turn by text based devices – documents revealing the movements of the airmen or the occasional subtitles which directly address the audience – and the sweeping, highly-noticeable camera movement, it's almost as if you can feel the director's personality as he guides you through the story. It's the complete opposite of John Ford's "invisible camera" technique, but no less effective in its own way.This picture also has significance for me as featuring the screen debut of my favourite actor Peter Ustinov, here playing a Dutch priest. It's not a huge part, but he gets enough room to make some funny little gestures and facial expressions that are typical of his style. Had he been given much more screen time he could probably could have stolen the film, even at this young age. Aside from Peter the Great, none of the performances really stand out.One of Our Aircraft is Missing is an interesting propaganda piece, but it's a weaker Powell and Pressburger film today. Taken out of the context in which it was made it's not particularly enjoyable. It's probably only really of interest for Powell and Pressburger completists or those who have an interest in the specific ground it covers.