The first World War is in its third year and aerial combat above the Western Front is consuming the nation's favored children at an appalling rate. By early 1917, the average life-span of a British pilot is less than a fortnight. Such losses place a fearsome strain on Gresham, commanding officer of the squadron. Aces High recreates the early days of the Royal Flying Corps with some magnificently staged aerial battles, and sensitive direction presents a moving portrayal of the futilities of war.
Practical Effects
Actual WWI planes rebuilt for stomach-dropping dogfight sequences.
Acting
Plummer's paternal warmth vs. McDowell's crumbling command.
Direction
Gold balances spectacle horror with intimate psychological decay.
Director
Jack Gold
Malcolm McDowell
Maj. John Gresham
Christopher Plummer
Capt. 'Uncle' Sinclair
Simon Ward
Lt. Crawford
Peter Firth
Lt. Stephen Croft
David Wood
Lt. 'Tommy' Thompson
John Gielgud
Headmaster
Trevor Howard
Lieutenant Colonel Silkin
Richard Johnson
Major Lyle
Ray Milland
Brigadier General Whale
Gilles Béhat
Captain Beckenauer
Tim Pigott-Smith
Major Stoppard
David Daker
Bennett
Christopher Blake
Lieutenant Roberts
Barry Jackson
Joyce
Ron Pember
Eliot
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film reused actual WWI aircraft from 1930's 'Hell's Angels,' making some planes nearly 50 years old during filming. They were genuinely terrifying to fly.
Released during Britain's 1970s WWI revisionist wave, it deliberately echoed Vietnam-era questions about sending boys to senseless death—audiences then read McDowell's Gresham as a proxy for traumatized officers in any war.
FR
US
