Biggles (film)

As early as 1968, and inspired by the success of films such as The Blue Max, it was planned to make a film based on W.E. Johns' books entitled Biggles Sweeps The Skies scripted by Chris Bryant to be filmed in Algeria and financed by Universal Pictures.[7] Pre-production work was completed, including building replica period aircraft. James Fox was tapped to play Biggles and even appeared in promotional material.[8] However, the film was cancelled, due to budgetary and location problems.[9]

Peter James bought the rights to the Biggles stories in 1976, but the film remained in development hell for several years.[10] The film was produced by Kent Walwin's Yellowbill Films. Walwin had plans to make a series of Biggles adventures and other works, stating:

We want to do not only another 'Biggles', but other films… by buying rights in a whole slew of books, we foresaw the fact that we might be able to go on. We were looking for something with the quality of Bond, not just aesthetically in terms of what we could create, but financially. The subject lends itself to a mini-series – and there is almost certainly that somewhere down the line. And we could do another feature. What we are saying is that 'Biggles' is our Bond.[11]

In December 1979, Dudley Moore, who had just become a star with 10, said he would make the film in Europe after he finished Arthur.[12]

In October 1980, Disney announced they would make Biggles as a co-production with producer Robert Stigwood.[13][14] In April 1981, a newspaper report said that the movie would be produced by Kent Walwin of Yellowbill Productions, Jack Briley had written the script, Moore would star as Biggles and they hoped for Oliver Reed to play von Stalhein.[15]

In February 1982, it was announced that Biggles would be played by Jeremy Irons, coming off Brideshead Revisited instead of Moore.[16]

John Hough had already directed several movies for Hammer Films and Walt Disney Productions in the United States, and had had box office hits with Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry and Escape to Witch Mountain. He had read the Biggles books as a child and was available after a deal to direct a James Bond film fell through.[17] He was attracted by the unconventional story and signed to direct in November 1984.[18] Neil Dickson was cast as Biggles after the producers and Hough saw his performance in the miniseries A.D. Like Hough, he was a fan of the novels and was thrilled at getting the chance to play the character.[19] Alex Hyde-White landed the role of Jim based on his work in The First Olympics: Athens 1896. The two leads became friends during filming.

Early versions of the script were written by Michael Fallon and called for an adventure film in the mould of Raiders of the Lost Ark.[20] The original story would have been much more faithful to Johns' original novels. Some sources claim that during scriptwriting, however, Back to the Future was released and became a major hit, so the script was duly altered by Walwin and John Groves to follow this trend, in an attempt to capitalize on Back to the Future's popularity. However, Biggles had already completed filming by the date of Back to the Future's UK release date of December 1985.[21]

The film takes much liberty with the storyline of the original novels. In addition to the introduction of a science-fiction plot, Biggles is much older than in the books (where he is only a teenager in 1917), and the characters, Ginger and Bertie, feature, although they don't join Biggles until much later in the book series. However, the presence of Biggles' friend, Algy, adversary Erich von Stalhein and love interest Marie fits with the earlier books in the series, as does the presence of Commodore Raymond, who employed Biggles for covert operations in the later stories.[22]

The film was mostly shot in London and on various locations in the home counties.[32] Tower Bridge and the surrounding area was extensively used, including the Tower Hotel, which doubled as the film crew's base of operations. The hotel also featured during The Wild Geese, Brannigan and the first Sweeney! spinoff film.[33] Some of the aerial sequences were shot near Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire. The 1917 weapon testing ground scene was shot at the Beckton Gas Works, which, a year later, was used for scenes in Full Metal Jacket and had been the location for the pre-title sequence in the 1981 Bond film, For Your Eyes Only, in which, coincidentally, Marc Wolff had also performed similar helicopter stunts, and it was seen during the finale of Brannigan.[34] The weapon itself was a custom-made fiberglass dish mounted on a mobile crane. It was filmed at the former London Brick Company works near Brogborough in Bedfordshire, as were the trench scenes. The site is now a landfill and recycling center owned by FCC Environment.[35][36] The sound weapon appears to be based on a real-life sonic device that the Nazis were working on during the Second World War. It used a reflector to transmit high-energy sound waves.[37] The exterior church scenes were all filmed at All Saints Church, Holdenby, and the courtyard scenes were filmed by the stable blocks of Holdenby House.[38]

Several aircraft were used in the film. These included a Stampe SV.4 G-BXNW, which is flown by Biggles, and a Boeing Stearman G-AROY, which is flown by his arch-rival, von Stalhein. Both these biplanes are actually from the 1930s, as flying and maintaining actual WWI aircraft was considered prohibitively expensive. The period aircraft seen in the background during ground scenes belonged to the Shuttleworth Collection. The Stampe was flown by Stuart Goldspink, while the Stearman was piloted by former WWII bomber pilot John Jordan.[39] The Stampe was a popular choice for filming, having featured heavily in Aces High and was later seen in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.[40] Both aircraft still exist as of 2021.[41]

Jon Anderson – "Do You Want to Be a Hero?"
Jon Anderson – "Chocks Away"
Deep Purple – "Knocking at Your Back Door"
Mötley Crüe – "Knock 'Em Dead, Kid"
Queen - "Another One Bites The Dust"
The Immortals – "No Turning Back" co-written by John Deacon in his second non-Queen recording. Deacon was asked by John Hough to compose a song for the film after meeting him shortly after Live Aid. The track was released as a single, and the accompanying music video also starred Peter Cushing in his very last on-screen appearance. The song failed to chart.[53]