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As a young man, Douglas Bader is gay, adventurous and passionately devoted to flying. A promising career is tragically interrupted in December 1931, when a serious air accident necessitates the amputation of both his legs. Determined to live a normal life, Bader learns to walk again on artificial limbs and proves his independence by flying at the Central Flying School. He marries Thelma, a young girl he meets at a country restaurant, but suffers a temporary setback when he is grounded because regulations do not provide for a man without legs. A monotonous civilian job is terminated by the war and Bader finds himself wanted again. His skill and powers of leadership are fully utilised in the Battle of Britain, during which he leads five squadrons of aircraft. An accident forces him to bale out, however, and he is taken prisoner. Numerous attempts at escape so enrage the Germans that, as a final resort, he is sent to Colditz. His desire for a "last fling" at the enemy is thwarted by the end of the European war, but a moment of triumph comes in September 1945, when the victory air parade over London is led, in a Battle of Britain Spitfire, by Wing Commander Douglas Bader, D.S.O., D.F.C.

A story of great human fortitude such as this can hardly fail to impress, and the integrity of the film's tribute to Douglas Bader cannot be doubted. However, good intentions, in this case, are not quite enough. Lewis Gilbert's script and direction appear too dispassionate, too eager to exploit the easy laugh, while the prevailing unwillingness of British film-makers to commit themselves to a personal statement flaws the film from the outset. Also, the attempt to combine a closely documented biography with an action-packed war story (involving some variable and complex special effects) drags out the narrative to an inordinate length. More seriously, the central figure of Bader himself - apparently an indomitable, often irascible, personality - has been conventionalised into a slangy, headstrong British air ace and is played here, very conscientiously, by Kenneth More with his customary easy charm. But, lacking strong directorial moulding, the character rarely becomes fully or richly alive and it is only in the early scenes (such as Bader's first painful experiments with his artificial legs) that one is made to feel a genuine emotional involvement with a real person. Most of the supporting characters are faintly sketched in and there is little feeling for the changing social background of the period. All in all, an inspiring subject, somewhat disappointingly realised.

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