Charming and brutal

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

While not as well-known, nor as highly regarded, as their other later works this is every bit as good as one would expect from the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It's fairly predictable, flag-waving stuff following the fortunes of six British airmen shot down over Holland as they try to make their way to the coast and back to England.They are all well played by a stock company of British army types, though some of the 'Dutch' people they meet on the way, (Peter Ustinov, Robert Helpman, Googie Withers, Joyce Redman), leave something to be desired. The editor was David Lean and the photography was by Ronald Neame and they do a splendid job; it looks great and much of the airborne stuff has a documentary feel to it. It is also consistently tense and is actually better than the better known "49th Parallel".

"...one of our aircraft is missing ..." is a well-cast and well-written piece from Powell and Pressburger, key film makers in 1940s Britain.The crew of B for Bertie find themselves lost in enemy territory and have to depend on the resources of others to get them to safety. The crew are played by some of the best actors of the time: Godfrey Tearle as the upper-class rear gunner; Eric Portman as the bluff Yorkshire co-pilot; Hugh Williams (father of 1970s actor Simon) as the refined navigator; Bernard Miles - better than usual - as the front gunner; High Burden as the pilot; and Emrys Jones as the Welsh sportsman who became the radio operator.In support are Googie Withers, P&P regular Pamela Brown, Joyce Redman, Robert Helpmann (as the quisling), Alec Clunes (father of Martin) as the church organist, and Peter Ustinov (in his film debut) as the priest.This film has been done as a drama-documentary so has a very realistic feel and look, pulling the viewer right into the action alongside the aircraft crew. It is less atmospheric than the 30s P&P films featuring Conrad Veidt and perhaps represented a more grounded style to their work before their Technicolor fantasies of the late 40s.

The crew of B for Bertie is forced to bail out when their engines are damaged during a mission over the Netherlands. They regroup but lose one of their number in the air. They are discovered by a group of Dutch children who take them to their parents. The parents link to the Dutch underground and begin to facilitate their escape – but it is a perilous journey. The film is dedicated to the Dutch farmers who died helping British airmen escape the Germans.Made during the war, the realistic and low key nature of this film is perhaps understandable, as is the consistently shouted theme of ordinary people making a heroic difference. The plot on paper is interesting as it does involve sacrifice and bravery from ordinary farmers, however the delivery is surprisingly uninvolving. The film is very slow for the most part, an impression that isn't helped by having a large proportion of the dialogue in Dutch. I know this helps the realism but it did make it harder for me to get into the film as often minutes could pass without me understanding a word.The realism of this film is fair to those it is dedicated to, but they aren't given characters to speak of. The RAF officers are well established with backgrounds but the Dutch and the Germans are all pretty one-dimensional and not developed (with one or two exceptions), again, another barrier to me getting involved.The cast are hard working and mostly quite good. The RAF officers have all the best roles and best lines, while the Dutch characters are not given enough to do – any film where Peter Ustinov comes off looking bland and ordinary has done something wrong!Overall I wanted to enjoy this film more, and it's core story and message to a war time population is worthy at least. However the distant delivery and lack of strong characters makes for a quite dull film. I enjoyed the film but it is impossible to overlook it's flaws. Many other reviewers here have mentioned that this film often is forgotten beside the wider works of Powell and Pressburger (and Lean, who edited), I suggest that these flaws are the reasons that it is overlooked.

A very professionally made film which avoids some of the more patronising aspects of other British WWII films. This is even more surprising considering that it was made at a very dark time in UK history. An excellent dialogue which is very well delivered by the actors.