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Appointment in London
	; Appointment in London DVD cover
Directed by	Philip Leacock
Produced by	Aubrey Baring; Maxwell Setton
Written by	John Wooldridge (story); John Wooldridge; Robert Westerby
Starring	Dirk Bogarde; Ian Hunter; Dinah Sheridan
Music by	John Wooldridge
Cinematography	Stephen Dade
Editing by	V. Sagovsky
Distributed by	British Lion Film Corporation Ltd.
Release date(s)	1952
Running time	96 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Appointment in London is a 1952 war film starring Dirk Bogarde and set during World War II.

Directed by Philip Leacock from a screenplay by John Wooldridge and Robert Westerby and based on an original story by Wooldridge, the film is set in an RAF Bomber Command squadron during 1943. It tells of the leader of the squadron's attempt to finish his third and final 'tour' of thirty operations.

[edit] Plot

Wing Commander Tim Mason is nearing the end of his third tour of operations, meaning he has flown nearly 90 flights over Germany. Having twice volunteered to continue operational flying, Mason is keen to make it a round 90 'ops' but when he is nearing the end of his tour he receives orders banning him from further flying. Meanwhile, losses are mounting and several raids are being seen as failures, so that some of the members of his crews, Brown (Kerr) and 'The Brat' Greeno (Forbes) among them, are thinking that there must be a 'jinx' at work. Soon after 'The Brat' is then caught sending unauthorised telegrams off of the station. These turn out to be written to his wife, Pam, rather than anything more sinister, however Mason reprimands Greeno for the lapse in security. Soon after, Greeno's aircraft fails to return from a raid and Mason agrees to meet Pam, who has asked to see him.

With only one more flight to go he accepts that the decision to ground him was for his own good, and he visits Brown's aircraft as Brown and his crew prepare to take off on a mission. As the crew board the Lancaster the large 4000lb 'Cookie' bomb that is part of the bomber's load slips from the bomb shackles and injures one of the crew. With no time to obtain a replacement crew member, US Observer Mac Baker takes his place. Mason decides to go as well to reassure the crew's worries about the jinx, and the bomber takes off. The mission is flown and while the target is being attacked the Master Bomber is shot down, causing the remaining bombers to bomb inaccurately. Hearing and seeing this, Mason takes the Master Bomber's place on the radio, broadcasting corrections and accurate instructions, and the bombing becomes accurate again. Listening-in to the Master Bomber's broadcast back in England Mason's Commanding Officer, Logan (Hunter) hears Mason's voice and realises that he's disobeyed orders and flown on the operation. However, due to Mason's intervention the raid, which could have been a failure, has been a success, and on Mason's return Logan greets him at his aircraft. At the end of the movie Mason, along with Brown, and Greeno's Wife, Pam, take a taxi to Buckingham Palace to receive an award from the King - the so-called 'appointment' referred-to in the film's title.

[edit] Cast

Dirk Bogarde as Wing Commander Tim Mason
Ian Hunter as Group Captain Logan
Dinah Sheridan as Eve Canyon
Bryan Forbes as Pilot Officer Peter Greeno (The Brat)
Walter Fitzgerald as Dr. Mulvaney, Group Medical Officer
Bill Kerr as Flight Lieutenant Bill Brown
William Sylvester as Mac
Anne Leon as Pam Greeno
Charles Victor as Dobbie, The Innkeeper
Richard Wattis as Pascal
Carl Jaffe as German General
Sam Kydd as Ackroyd
Terence Longdon as Dr. Buchanan
Michael Ripper as Bomb Aimer
Campbell Singer as Flight Sergeant (Chief of Ground Crews)
Harold Siddons as Flight Lieutenant Saunders
Anthony Shaw as Smithy
Anthony Forwood as Sandy (Navigation Officer)

[edit] Production

The music was also written by Wooldridge and performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra under his conduction.

The film was produced by Aubrey Baring and Maxwell Setton and shot at British Lion's Shepperton Studios and at RAF Upwood.

[edit] Trivia

Three of the Lancaster B VII bombers, NX673, NX679 and NX782, used in the film, also appeared in The Dam Busters two years later.

In some ground shots several of the 'Lancasters' in the background are in fact the later Lincolns.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Appointment in London at the Internet Movie Database
Appointment in London at Allmovie