Ferry Pilot (1941 film)

Ferry Pilot is a British short documentary film produced in 1941 about the work of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). Directed by Pat Jackson and produced by Ian Dalrymple the film was the work of the Crown Film Unit and was released at the end of 1941.[1][2] Originally conceived as a very short five minute film, it was expanded to a running time of over 30 minutes during production.[3]

This article is about the 1941 British film. For the 1942 Canadian film of the same title, see Ferry Pilot (1942 film).
Ferry Pilot
Title card
Directed byPat Jackson
Produced byIan Dalrymple
Production
company
Distributed byAssociated British Film Distributors
Release date
  • 1941 (1941)
Running time
31 minutes[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Synopsis

The film starts with the commander of one of ATA ferry pools and his assistant receiving telephone calls about aircraft to be moved between factories and airfields and working out pilot rosters. It moves on to introduce the variety of people, both men and women, who are pilots in the ATA. The movements of two pilots, an older Englishman and a young American as they are transported to a factory in an ATA Avro Anson to collect two Supermarine Spitfires for delivery to an RAF base somewhere in England. After delivering the Spitfires, the English pilot flies an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley to another airfield with the American pilot as a passenger. The two land, unaware that they came close to being attacked by German aircraft, and are picked up by another ATA crew to return to their base. The film ends with the two signing-off for the day with the ferry pool commander.[4]

Reception

The Times described the film as having "an attractively deceptive casualness about it", not indulging in heroics but paying "an admirable tribute to a service about which the public knows little."[5] The Northern Whig called the film "a sound competent piece of film production" urging its readers to see the film, while Flight said "the film bears the stamp of authenticity one would expect in a production of the Crown Film Unit", ending the review "This little flim was well worth making; it is also well worth seeing."[6][7]

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gollark: 🐝, I may have to rewrite the osmarks.tk™ horrible accursed python script controlling everything™ asynchronously.

References
  1. "Short films issued between December 21 and January 20". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 9 no. 97. BFI. January 1942. p. 8.
  2. Chapman, James (2000). The British at War:Cinema, State and Propaganda, 1939-45. p. 286. ISBN 978-1860646270.
  3. Chapman, James (2000). The British at War:Cinema, State and Propaganda, 1939-45. p. 132. ISBN 978-1860646270.
  4. "Ferry Pilot". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  5. ""Ferry Pilot" Film of Air Transport Auxiliary". The Times (49, 135). 16 January 1942. p. 6.
  6. "Work of the Air Transport Auxiliary". Northern Whig (41, 640). 25 February 1942. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Ferry Pilots. The Crown Film Unit shows the A.T.A. at work". Flight. Vol. XLI no. 1, 727. 29 January 1942. p. 93.
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