The Way to the Stars

Good performances distinguish this evocation of a World War II bomber base in Britain, studiously anti-heroic in its concentration on human relationships rather than stirring combat (as one might expect with a script by Terence Rattigan). But it has dated badly in its genteelly romantic view of the hazards and heartbreaks, and in its cosy cementing of Anglo-American relationships. The best things in it are moments of pure atmosphere, like the opening shot in which the camera prowls through the deserted post-war airfield, picking up forlorn tokens of the past - a torn photograph, a scribbled signature - whose history is recounted in flashback.