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The First of the Few
The First of the Few (US title Spitfire) is a 1942 British black-and-white biographical film produced and directed by Leslie Howard, who stars as R. J. Mitchell, the designer of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft.
Plot
A newsreel sets the scene for summer 1940, showing Nazi advances in Europe with Britain facing invasion and aerial attacks on the island increasing. On 15 September 1940, during the Battle of Britain, RAF Squadron Leader Geoffrey Crisp, the commander of a Spitfire squadron, recounts the story of how his friend R. J. Mitchell designed the Spitfire fighter.
Cast
- Anne Firth
- Bernard Miles
- Brefni O'Rorke
- David Horne
- David Niven
- Derrick De Marney
- Erich Freund
- Filippo Del Giudice
- Fritz Wendhausen
- George Skillan
- Gordon McLeod
- J.H. Roberts
- John Chandos
- Leslie Howard
- Miles Malleson
- Patricia Medina
- Peter Gawthorne
- Roland Culver
- Rosalyn Boulter
- Rosamund John
- Toni Edgar-Bruce
- Victor Beaumont
More details
| author | Miles Malleson |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | England |
| director | Leslie Howard |
| editor | Douglas Myers |
| events | aviation Battle of Britain World War II |
| keywords | battle bunny currant chance meeting create end first world war follow germany great britain hear henry royce high speed lose meet merlin nazi germany r. j. mitchell raf rolls-royce rolls-royce limited rolls-royce merlin schneider trophy seagull test pilot than the willy messerschmitt win world war world war i |
| musicBy | William Walton |
| producer | George King John Stafford |
| publisher | General Film Distributors RKO Pictures |
| theme | biographical war |