Aces High

Transposition of RC Sherriff's play Journey's End from the trenches into the air. Off the ground the film is entertainingly cinematic (photography by Peter Allwork from Roger Corman's The Red Baron): the aerial battles, combining comic strip close-ups with long shots, produce a cumulative intensity that achieves the right degree of awe and horror. But on the ground the script fails to provide much more than a routine account of a young flier's brief active service. The film offers some perspective on the officer/public school product, and deals well with negatives - suppressed emotions, solitariness - but falls apart over such 'positive' clichés as the rural interlude, the brothel visit, and subsequent sexual initiation. Disappointing when you consider writer Howard Barker's stage work and Gold's TV achievements.