Director:
Actors:
Primary Location:
- Brooklands Aerodrome, Weybridge, Surrey, England, UK
Q Planes (1939) – Clouds Over Europe (US)
Q Planes is a 1939 spy movie. Clouds Over Europe was its name in the United States.
It is about a British Agent and his mission to discover who is trying to steal top-secret experimental equipment. The focus of this search is around the attempted theft of a new supercharger which should increase the flight speed of aircraft.
Above all, this light-hearted, spy comedy delivers a message to the world about threats. Released about 6 months before World War II, it was, in part, a propaganda movie.
Earlier movies influenced Q Planes. This movie influenced future spy movies such as James Bond and Mission: Impossible.
Our curated videos below show these influencers via video clips and descriptions. Also, check out our podcasts which discuss this movie in more detail.
WHERE TO STREAM:
- It is available on Amazon Prime (Prime Link). (There may be a cost)
- In addition, it is on YouTube: (YouTube Link)
Related Podcasts
Watch the Video Version of this podcast Join Dan and Tom as they pivot their analysis on the 1939 spy movie, Q PLANES. This movie was released just before the start of World War II and had some interesting historical…
Watch the Video Version of this podcast Join Dan and Tom as they dig deep into the key scenes of the 1939 movie, Q PLANES, which is also known as CLOUDS OVER EUROPE in the US. They'll look into where…
Related Content
Come see where the title for the movie Q Planes originated. We’ll look at how history gave it its name.
The movie opens with 2 things that may have influenced future spy movie, a sign that says “Eastern Importations Company” and Major Hammond’s amnesia. Take a look.
Q Planes gives us what may be the birth of a famous line from Mission: Impossible (disavow) and a real-world historical reference (The Nelson Touch).
This scene in Q Planes shows Hammond getting out of an airplane and asking a man “Got a cigarette?” You can probably guess what happens next.
We all know the gun barrel scene in the James Bond movies. Was this scene in Q Planes and inspiration for the gun barrel?
This is one of the first spy movies where a vehicle is captured by villains and it disappears from the monitors. This theme is used in 2 James Bond films directly and 2 more indirectly.
In this scene from Q Planes, the jig appears to be up for Jenkins. Here, Jenkins is almost run down by a car as the villains try to kill him. We see parallels to this in numerous spy movies. A relatively current example comes from the 2017 movie, ATOMIC BLONDE.
This fun scene lets us see how Major Hammond is confused by women. His monologue has a similar feel to one from another movie.
Breakout Tony McVane’s and his crew are captured. Therefore, he has a chance to talk with the crew captured earlier. McVane then leads a Bondian-like breakout by smashing the door with a large pole (where was that pole before?). This is an interesting part of the film. There is a huge James Bond-type shoot-out. A…
