Landfall (film)

A British Coastal Command pilot in world War II, Rick, based near Portsmouth, sinks what he believes to be a German submarine, unaware that a British submarine is also in that part of the Channel. When it emerges that the British submarine has been lost with all hands, an enquiry is held and it is concluded by the senior Naval officer that Rick mistakenly attacked a British submarine in a friendly fire incident.

The Naval Court of Inquiry finds that the captain of the submarine was principally at fault for poor navigation: Rick is officially criticized for having failed to properly visually identify his target. Although his RAF Commanding Officer disagrees with the Court's finding and encourages Rick to stay with the squadron, Rick requests another posting.

Meanwhile, his fiancé Mona, who works as a barmaid, overhears information which might help to uncover what really happened to the British submarine in the Channel. She brings this information to the Navy, who re-open the investigation and find that the German submarine torpedoed the British submarine and took its place, running on the surface until sunk by Rick.

In the interim, Rick's new posting is a dangerous flying duty testing a new type of guided bomb for the Navy. His aircraft crashes and he is critically injured. He is met at the hospital by the Naval Captain who originally found against him to tell him that he was exonerated in the re-opened enquiry.

• Michael Denison as Rick
• Patricia Plunkett as Mona
• Kathleen Harrison as Mona's Mother
• Denis O'Dea as Captain Burnaby
• David Tomlinson as Binks
• Charles Victor as Mona's Father
• Joan Dowling as Miriam, the Barmaid
• A. E. Matthews as Air Raid Warden
• Maurice Denham as Wing Commander Hewitt
• Margaretta Scott as Mrs. Burnaby
• Sebastian Shaw as Wing Commander Dickens
• Nora Swinburne as Admiral's Wife
• Laurence Harvey as Petty Officer Hooper
• Paul Carpenter as Petty Officer Morgan
• Frederick Leister as Admiral Blackett
• Hubert Gregg as Lieutenant Commander Dale
• Walter Hudd as Professor Legge
• Margaret Barton as Rosemary - Rick's Sister
• Edith Sharpe as Mrs. Chambers - Rick's Mother
• Ivan Samson as Commander Rutherford

The Radio Times gave the film two out of five stars, calling it a "dainty item from a vanished era of British war movies";[4] and TV Guide rated the film similarly, concluding that "Adequate performances are marred by a script burdened with some soap opera dramatics."[5]

• Landfall on IMDb