Battle of Britain (film)

Battle of Britain
U.S. theatrical release poster
Directed by	Guy Hamilton
Written by	James Kennaway Wilfred Greatorex
Produced by	Harry Saltzman Benjamin Fisz
Starring	Harry Andrews Michael Caine Trevor Howard Curt Jürgens Ian McShane Kenneth More Laurence Olivier Nigel Patrick Christopher Plummer Michael Redgrave Ralph Richardson Robert Shaw Patrick Wymark Susannah York
Cinematography	Freddie Young
Edited by	Bert Bates
Music by	Ron Goodwin William Walton
Production company	Spitfire Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	15 September 1969 (1969-09-15)
Running time	133 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Languages	English German Polish
Budget	$14 million[1]
Box office	$13 million

Battle of Britain is a 1969 British war film documenting the events of the Battle of Britain, the war for aerial supremacy between the German Luftwaffe and the defending Royal Air Force waged over British skies during summer of 1940. The nature of the subject drew many respected British actors to accept roles as key figures of the battle, including Laurence Olivier as Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, Trevor Howard as Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park, and Patrick Wymark as Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory. Directed by Guy Hamilton and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz, it also starred Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, and Robert Shaw as Squadron Leaders. The script by James Kennaway and Wilfred Greatorex was based on the book The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster.

The film endeavoured to be a generally accurate account of the Battle of Britain, when in the summer and autumn of 1940 the British RAF inflicted a strategic defeat on the Luftwaffe and so ensured the cancellation of Operation Sea Lion, Adolf Hitler's plan to invade Britain. The film is notable for its spectacular flying sequences. It was on a far larger scale than had been seen on film before, or since, making the film's production very expensive.