Q Planes (1939) – Historical Influences

Podcast Episode

Q Planes (1939) – Historical Influences

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 ties. Take a listen.

Join Dan and Tom as they Crack of Code of the history that surrounded & impacted directly the making of the 1939 movie, Q Planes (Clouds Over Europe).

Our first podcast on Q Planes called, Q Planes (Clouds Over Europe) is an analysis of the movie, scene by scene.  In this new podcast, a different approach is taken, looking at historical events (the oncoming of World War Two, etc.) that directly affected the making of the film, looking at some very interesting connections!

The real world does find its way into spy movies!

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Some of the items we discuss are:

  • How the British Secret Service was involved with this movie
  • How the movie was made to try to influence the United States from its neutral stance on Germany
  • How a phrase by Lord Horatio Nelson made its way into the movie
  • How the newspaper headlines in the movie are reflective of real 1938 headlines raising alarm of the British people
  • How the characters were created to portray different classes of people
  • How a scene with an American showgirl may have been made to make some not-so-flattering impressions about Americans
  • How this movie influenced the TV show “The Avengers”
  • The many ways this movie influenced the James Bond series of movies
  • Some similarities to The 39 Steps
  • and more …

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Did this inspire the James Bond gun barrel scene?

We all know the iconic gun barrel scene in the James Bond series of movies. First, you see the gun barrel.  Then, James Bond turns and shoots toward the camera, and the red blood drips down. This was actually filmed through a gun barrel. However, it does have a similar look to this lens aperture in Q Planes. Therefore, we have to ask: Was this scene in Q Planes the genesis of the gun barrel scene we see in almost every James Bond movie?

This quick scene is interesting. A villain aims some sort of ray toward a plane. Somehow, the ray appears to cause an electrical problem on the plane bad enough to take the plane down. Look closely, as they fire, the apparatus they use makes it look like a camera lens aperture opening. Yet, it looks somewhat familiar to James Bond fans.

We hear it wasn’t the inspiration but it is close enough of an image to make us wonder.
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