The First of the Few (AKA Spitfire)

Dir: Leslie Howard

1942

****

1942’s The First of the Few is a fascinating case study, not just for cinephiles but for historians too. It is a biographical film that tells the story of R. J. Mitchell, the designer of the Spitfire, the fighter plane regarded as a key factor that helped win the Second World War and prevented Britain from being invaded by the Nazis. The title is taken from Winston Churchill’s infamous speech describing the Battle of Britain aircrew that included the immortal line “Never was so much owed by so many to so few”, and while that is indeed true, not everything about the film is factual. Hardly surprising though, as being made in 1942 in the very middle of the war, The First of the Few (or Spitfire as it was known in the US), was a valuable propaganda weapon. Director and lead actor Leslie Howard had been travelling through Spain and Portugal lecturing on film, but also meeting with local propagandists and shoring up much support for the Allies. The British Film Yearbook for 1945 described Leslie Howard's work as "one of the most valuable facets of British propaganda”, something that Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in Nazi Germany knew all too well. Goebbels had been ridiculed in Howard's film, and believed him to be the most dangerous British propagandist, something that may have cost him his life. Howard worked closely with Mitchell’s family and colleagues and knew of his fiery temperament – none of which was depicted on screen. Mitchell didn’t work himself to death trying to get the Spitfire into production, he died of bowel cancer. The famous Rolls-Royce Merlin engine was not named after the wizard of Arthurian legend as is depicted in the film, but was named after the bird of prey, as all the RR engines were. Mitchell never met Willy Messerschmitt and he didn’t name his famous aircraft after suggesting that he wanted to create “a bird that breathes fire and spits out death and destruction – a ‘spitfire’ bird”. The Spitfire was named by the RAF, and when he was told of the name he remarked that it was “The sort of bloody silly name they would choose”. I don’t like historical inaccuracies in historical films but The First of the Few is something of an exception. It is history, the Spitfire was a huge factor in winning the war – so was Mitchell, and in depicting him slightly differently after his death continued his fight. You can have all the aircraft and guns in the world but you can’t win a war without propaganda. This means that the film isn’t really about history, it is history. David Niven’s character is fictional, a composite character who represents the pilots who worked with Mitchell through his career and who offered needed support. It was vital that the film have narrative coherence, given the subject, time it covers, limited time it had and the point it needed to get across. I think that the film contains some historically significant footage that would otherwise have been lost makes up for much of the historical inaccuracies anyway. It contains the only footage available of the Supermarine S.4 taking off from Southampton and in flight, footage of real workers building the Spitfire at the Hamble Supermarine Factory (one being Wilfred Hillier working on the only left-handed lathe made at the time) and footage of real-life Battle of Britain fighter pilot in the opening and closing scenes. There are plenty of historical accuracies that were important to address, including Mitchell’s work in Italy and his visits to Germany when the Nazis were rising into power. Another example is the representation of Lady Houston. Lady Houston did indeed travel around the British Isles with an electric sign on her yacht ‘Liberty’ but instead of ‘Down with the government’ and ‘Wake up England’ the sign actually read ‘Down with MacDonald the traitor’. History suggests we were right to prepare for a war that many never thought would happen again but Lady Houston refers to MacDonald as a traitor due to his anti-war speeches in the run up to the First World War. If there was no First World War there more than likely wouldn’t have been a Second, who knows, but anti-war is hardly traitorous, so Howard rightfully included her but toned her down a bit. It is beautifully filmed and well performed, with one of the most glorious endings to a film of all time. The message was well received by the nation and the film did a great deal for the cause. However, the film became rather poignant when, on 1st June 1943 the commercial airliner he was travelling on was shot out of the sky by Luftwaffe junkers over the Bay of Biscay. Various theories regarding why flight 777 was shot down in particular have still never been proven. The BOAC DC-3 Ibis had been operating on a scheduled Lisbon–Whitchurch route throughout 1942–43 that did not pass over what would commonly be referred to as a war zone. By 1942, however, the Germans considered the region an "extremely sensitive war zone. On two occasions, 15 November 1942, and 19 April 1943, the camouflaged airliner had been attacked by Messerschmitt fighters while en route; each time, the pilots escaped via evasive tactics. Luftwaffe records indicate that the Ju 88 maritime fighters were operating beyond their normal patrol area to intercept and shoot down the aircraft. First Oberleutnant Herbert Hintze claimed that his Staffle shot down the DC-3 because it was recognised as an enemy aircraft. Hintze further states that his pilots were angry that the Luftwaffe leaders had not informed them of a scheduled flight between Lisbon and the UK, and that had they known, they could easily have escorted the DC-3 to Bordeaux and captured it and all aboard. A long-standing hypothesis states that the Germans believed that Winston Churchill was actually on board the flight and the then Prime Minister himself expressed sorrow over the incident in his autobiography. Churchill was due to fly but changed his plans to leave the following day, Howard’s manager whom he was travelling with bore a strong resemblance to Churchill and Howard had the same build as his chief minder, which he thought the reason for the attack. The Germans could have suspected even more surreptitious activities, since Portugal, like Switzerland, was a crossroads for internationals and spies from both sides. British historian James Oglethorpe, investigated Howard's connection to the secret services. Ronald Howard's book explores the written German orders to the Ju 88 squadron, in great detail, as well as British communiqués that verify intelligence reports indicating a deliberate attack on Howard. These accounts indicate that the Germans were aware of Churchill's real whereabouts at the time and were not so naive as to believe he would be travelling alone on board an unescorted, unarmed civilian aircraft, which Churchill also acknowledged as improbable. Ronald Howard was convinced the order to shoot down Howard's airliner came directly from Goebbels himself, who knew the dangers of his propaganda. Howard’s son believed this to be true after extensive research but Spanish writer José Rey Ximena’s claim that Howard was on a top-secret mission for Churchill to dissuade Francisco Franco, Spain's authoritarian dictator, from joining the Axis powers are also quite convincing. Either way, Britain lost two great men who wouldn’t live to see what they achieved but Mitchell’s legacy and Howard’s film live on.