The First of the Few
Title frame
Directed by	Leslie Howard
Screenplay by	Miles Malleson Anatole de Grunwald
Story by	Henry C. James Kay Strueby
Produced by	Leslie Howard George King John Stafford
Starring	Leslie Howard David Niven
Cinematography	Georges Périnal
Edited by	Douglas Myers
Music by	William Walton
Distributed by	General Film Distributors (UK), RKO Radio Pictures Inc. (USA)
Release dates	14 September 1942 (1942-09-14) 20 August 1942 (1942-08-20) (Leicester Square Theatre, London)
Running time	118 minutes (UK) 90 minutes (USA)
Country	United Kingdom
Languages	English, Italian, German

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.

David Niven co-stars as a Royal Air Force officer and test pilot, a composite character that represents the pilots who flew Mitchell's seaplanes and tested the Spitfire. The film depicts Mitchell's strong work ethic in designing the Spitfire and his death. The film's title alludes to Winston Churchill's speech describing Battle of Britain aircrew, subsequently known as the Few: "Never was so much owed by so many to so few".

The film premiered at the Leicester Square Theatre in London at 6.30pm on Thurs 30 August 1942, as a charity performance in aid of the RAF Benevolent Fund.^[1]

Leslie Howard's portrayal of Mitchell has a special significance since Howard was killed when the Lisbon-to-London civilian airliner in which he was travelling was shot down by the Luftwaffe on 1 June 1943. His death occurred only days before The First of the Few was released in the United States on 12 June 1943, under the alternative title of Spitfire.

Plot

Leslie Howard in The First of the Few

Poster for the U.S. release version, Spitfire

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 station commander of a Spitfire squadron, recounts the story of how his friend R. J. Mitchell designed the Spitfire fighter.

His pilots listen as Crisp begins with the 1922 Schneider Trophy competition, where Mitchell began his most important work, designing high speed aircraft. While watching seagulls with his binoculars, he envisages a new shape for aircraft in the future. Crisp, an ex-First World War pilot seeking work, captivates Mitchell with his enthusiasm and the designer promises to hire him as test pilot should his design ever go into production. Facing opposition from official sources, Mitchell succeeds in creating a series of highly successful seaplane racers, eventually winning the Schneider Trophy outright for Great Britain.

After a visit to Germany in the 1930s, a chance meeting with leading German aircraft designer Willy Messerschmitt, and hearing talk of German re-armament, Mitchell resolves to build the fastest and deadliest fighter aircraft. Convincing Henry Royce of Rolls-Royce that a new engine, eventually to become the famous Merlin, is needed, Mitchell gets the powerplant he requires.

Faced by the devastating news that he has only one year to live and battling against failing health, Mitchell dies just after hearing word that the government has ordered the Spitfire into production. Crisp ends his account when the squadron is scrambled to counter a German attack. The Germans are beaten, with the Luftwaffe losing more planes than the British.

In the end, Crisp is relieved with victory and looks to the clouds to Mitchell, voicing a thanks to him for creating the Spitfire. A single aeroplane ascends towards the sun, followed later by three others.

David Niven and Bunny Currant in The First of the Few

Leslie Howard and David Niven

Leslie Howard and Rosamund John

Cast members are in order as listed by the British Film Institute.^[2]

Production

R. J. Mitchell, subject of the biopic

The First of the Few is a British film produced and directed by Leslie Howard, with Howard taking the starring role of aviation engineer and designer R. J. Mitchell. Leslie Howard bore little resemblance to R. J. Mitchell, however, as Mitchell was a large and athletic man. Howard portrayed Mitchell as upper class and mild-mannered. Mitchell – "the Guv'nor" – was in fact working class and had an explosive temper; apprentices were told to watch the colour of his neck and to run if it turned red. Howard himself was well aware of these deliberate artistic discrepancies, and dealt delicately with the family and Mitchell's colleagues; Mrs. Mitchell and her son Gordon were on the set during much of the production.^[4] When told that the "authorities" had come up with the name "Spitfire", Mitchell is reported to have said "Just the sort of bloody silly name they would think of".

The film's score was composed by William Walton, who later incorporated major cues into a concert work known as Spitfire Prelude and Fugue.

Because The First of the Few was made during the Second World War and dealt with subjects related to the conflict, it was, in effect, propaganda. Because of its value as propaganda, the RAF contributed Spitfire fighters for the production. U.S. producer Samuel Goldwyn allowed Niven to appear in exchange for U.S. rights to the film, which was distributed by RKO Pictures. After seeing the prints, Goldwyn was furious that Niven was cast in a secondary role and personally edited out 40 minutes before reissuing the film as Spitfire.

Wing Commander Bunny Currant ("Hunter Leader")^[5][6] Squadron Leader Tony Bartley,^[7] Squadron Leader Brian Kingcome, Flying Officer David Fulford, Flight Lieutenant 'Jock' Gillan, Squadron Leader P. J. Howard-Williams and Flight Lieutenant J. C. 'Robbie' Robson^[8] are among the pilots and RAF Fighter Command personnel who make uncredited appearances. Some pilots seen in the early sequences did not survive to see the completed film. Jeffrey Quill is the test pilot who flies the Spitfire prototype in the scene demonstrating its ability to climb to 10,000 feet and dive at more than 500 miles per hour.^[9]

Historical accuracy

David Niven as Geoffrey Crisp

Screencapture from The First of the Few, showing the Supermarine S.5 racer

World War II poster featuring the famous quotation by Winston Churchill

Geoffrey Crisp is a fictional character that is an amalgam of Vickers's test pilots, Jeffrey Quill (also an RAF veteran) and "Mutt" Summers. Having one character personify the test pilots is a liberty that gives the story narrative coherence, as well as a narrator and occasional comic relief.^[9] The character embodies all those who gave Mitchell encouragement in the face of bureaucratic opposition. The Observer wrote, "Oddly enough, since Mitchell was a real man and Crisp is merely a symposium of test pilots, an imaginary creation, it is Mitchell who seems the figment, Crisp the flesh-and-blood character. David Niven's flippant assurance is just right here. The real-life story is the more real for his imagined presence; he gives the rather abstracted film a body."^[10]

Mitchell's fatal illness is deliberately not specified in the film. Through dramatic licence, it is implied that a period of rest could have saved or at least extended his life. In fact, Mitchell had bowel or rectal cancer, which he battled for four years. In 1933 he underwent a colostomy^[9] and he was ill, often seriously ill, for the remainder of his life. Following surgery in February 1937 he spent a month at a clinic in Vienna, but his cancer was too advanced for the treatment to be effective. Mitchell returned home and, as in the film, spent his last conscious hours in his garden. He died on 11 June 1937, aged 42.^[11][12]

The First of the Few contains several historical inaccuracies:

• Mitchell did not work himself to death on the Spitfire. He did, however, continue to work despite the pain of his illness, tweaking and perfecting the Spitfire design up until his death.
• The famous Rolls-Royce Merlin engine was named after a bird of prey, following the Rolls-Royce convention adopted for its piston aircraft engine designs.^[13] It was not named after the wizard of Arthurian legend, as depicted in the film.
• It is believed that Mitchell visited Germany while convalescing from his 1933 surgery, but he never met aircraft designer Willy Messerschmitt.^[9][14]

The film contains historically significant footage that would otherwise have been lost to posterity:

• Film footage of the Supermarine S.4 taking off from Southampton Water, and in flight, now available nowhere else.
• Footage of many real-life Battle of Britain fighter pilots in the opening and closing scenes. RAF fighter pilots such as Tony Bartley and Brian Kingcome (with pipe) have cameo roles in the scenes at the dispersal, and are seen discussing their flights with David Niven before takeoff and after landing.
• Film footage of Jeffrey Quill flying a Spitfire Mk II in the final scenes of the film. Jeffrey Quill's log book records that the aerobatic flying sequences featured in the last 20 minutes of the film were made by him from Northolt on 1–2 November 1941, in a Spitfire Mk II, flying for one hour, five minutes on 1 November and for 45 minutes on 2 November 1941.
• The workers seen building the Spitfire, near the end of the film. These are the real workers, filmed at the Hamble Supermarine Factory, one being Wilfred Hillier (wearing spectacles), working on the only left handed lathe, imported from Germany.

Leslie Howard's portrayal of Mitchell has a special significance since Howard was killed when the BOAC Flight 777 Douglas DC-3 airliner in which he was a passenger was shot down by the Luftwaffe one year after the film was released.^[15]

Reception

References

External links

• The First of the Few at IMDb
• The First of the Few at the TCM Movie Database
• The First of the Few at AllMovie
• The First of the Few at YouTube