Mosquito Squadron ** (1969, David McCallum, Suzanne Neve, Charles Gray) – Classic Movie Review 8509

The first outing for the RAF’s bouncing bomb, in which in 1944 the British attack a rocket base in France, is related in director Boris Sagal’s odd, very small-scale 1969 World War Two action thriller Mosquito Squadron, with a spot of contrived romance as the hero rekindles a flame with his dead buddy ‘Scotty’ Scott (David Buck)’s widow Beth (Suzanne Neve).

A young, dashingly handsome-looking David McCallum is okay as Squadron Leader Quint Munroe, the British airman RAF pilot leading the bombing mission attack on the crucial German target, a secret Nazi V-2 rocket testing facility in France. Mosquito Squadron is very familiar and so-so, with some dodgy back projections. But it is adequate enough as a time-passing war adventure, following in the wake of the same producer Lewis J Rachmil’s 633 Squadron.

However, it is very ordinary compared with a couple of contemporary British war movies, Where Eagles Dare (1968) or Play Dirty (1969).

Also in the cast are Dinsdale Landen as Wing Commander Clyde Penrose, Charles Gray as Air Commodore Hufford, Nicky Henson as Flight Sergeant Wiley Bunce, David Dundas as Flight Lieutenant Douglas Shelton, Bryan Marshall, Michael Anthony, Peggy Thorpe-Bates, Peter Copley, Vladek Sheybal, Michael McGovern, Robert Urquhart, George Layton and John Landry.

Mosquito Squadron is directed by Boris Sagal, runs 90 minutes, is made by Oakmont Productions, is released by United Artists, is written by Donald S Sandford and Joyce Perry, is shot by Paul Beeson, is produced by Lewis J Rachmil, is scored by Frank Cordell and is designed by William C Andrews.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8509

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