Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Conquest of the Air (1940)
Director: Zoltan Korda, William Cameron Menzies, Alexander Esway, Donald Taylor, Alexander Shaw, John Monk Saunders
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Conceived in 1934, shot circa '37 and put together after the outbreak of war, this Korda flying picture is part of a lost genre, from a time when planes still held the thrill of the new. Its first half is a series of sketches - Icarus to the Wright Brothers - about humanity's attempts to outfox gravity. The succession of gaga monks and optimistic daredevils plummeting to earth, plus Olivier as Lunardi the ballooning Neapolitan, is more fun than the second part, a documentary survey of aviation between the wars, as the period had just become known. Alcock and Brown, the Vickers-Vimy, the R101 - it might have seemed quite romantic, but for Frend's posh schoolmaster commentating style.Author: BBa
Cast & crew
Director: Zoltan Korda, William Cameron Menzies, Alexander Esway, Donald Taylor, Alexander Shaw, John Monk Saunders
Producer: Alexander Korda
Cast: Valentine Dyall, Alan Wheatley, Hay Petrie, Laurence Olivier, Francis L Sullivan, Michael Rennie, Charles Frend full cast
Genre(s): Documentaries
Duration: 71 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now