THE MEMPHIS BELLE...
The True Story
1 x 104’
In 1943 the US War Department commissioned the Hollywood film director William Wyler to make a film about what their immensely courageous air crews were doing in Europe. He chose the Memphis Belle as his subject.
It was a standard typical B17 with a crew of 10 young air crew who had flown 24 missions into Europe. They had just one more mission to complete their tour of duty and be transferred out of the
hell that the bombing campaign in Europe had become. On that last raid they were assigned to a massive 1,000 bomber raid on Wilhelmshaven, on the Baltic.
It was the raid that Wyler chose as the subject for his film. All the combat film was shot on that raid. Many B17’s were badly hit. So was the Memphis Belle but she made it to the target,
dropped her bombs, and made it back to base, at Bassinbourne, in Lincolnshire.
The producer has recently located the original rushes shot by Wyler’s crews, together with a
great deal more remarkable and hitherto unseen footage of the American 8th Air Force in operation, on the ground and in the air over Europe, between 1943 and 1945. It is breathtaking
stuff. An unforgettable record of the brutal reality of war.
Producer: Inca (London) Ltd
Availability: Worldwide, all media ex UK Video/DVD.