Le grand cirque

This is written on a map hanging on a wall during a ;the Hun (in French :Le Boche ) is the pejorative name of the German.

There have been harsh words about the planes used during the shooting,past masters noticing numerous technical and historical mistakes.See Wikipedia for details.

Others complained about the cast :only one English actress (and no English actors)for a movie which almost entirely takes place in England.Nevertheless,English is largely spoken ,and there are no subtitles:it is not a problem:as the movie,based on Clostermann's story ,is close to documentary ,it's all the more useless since most of French fighter pilots (of the Free French Forces)seem to understand Shakespeare's language quite well,which may seem implausible in WW2.

The only song which is heard is the Canadian folk song (very popular in France too) "Gentille Alouette" ,sung by a choir of soldiers .But no English (or American) song of those years.

Now,let's accentuate the positive: Pierre Cressoy is a good smiling lead;too bad he got lost in mediocre sword and sandals mediocrities afterward .

We do feel the pilots' camaraderie ,their grief when one of them does not come back.

The two scenes located in France are endearing,and for a good reason:Pierre Larquey gives good support as the priest who hides the pilot in a hearse.

The final scene when the pilot remembers all the buddies he lost in the war,as he says Farewell to the planes ,a scene maybe influenced by that of William Wyler's masterpiece "the best years of our lives "