Aces High (film)

Aces High
Original British film poster
Directed by	Jack Gold
Screenplay by	Howard Barker
Based on	Journey's End (play) by R. C. Sherriff
Produced by	Benjamin Fisz Jacques Roitfeld
Starring	Malcolm McDowell Christopher Plummer Simon Ward Peter Firth David Wood John Gielgud Trevor Howard Richard Johnson Ray Milland
Cinematography	Gerry Fisher
Edited by	Anne V. Coates
Music by	Richard Hartley Charles Chilton
Production companies	S. Benjamin Fisz Productions Jacques Roitfeld (Les Productions)
Distributed by	EMI Films (UK)
Release dates	19 May 1976 (1976-05-19) (UK) 8 June 1977 (1977-06-08) (France[1])
Running time	114 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom France
Language	English
Budget	£1,250,000[2]

Aces High is a 1976 war film directed by Jack Gold, starring Malcolm McDowell, Peter Firth, Christopher Plummer and Simon Ward. An Anglo-French production, the film is based on the 1928 play Journey's End by R. C. Sherriff, with additional material from fighter ace Cecil Lewis's memoir, Sagittarius Rising. The screenplay was written by Howard Barker.

Aces High turns the trench warfare of Journey's End into the aerial battles fought in 1917 by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) above the Western Front. The film covers a week of a squadron where the high death rate puts an enormous strain on the surviving pilots. Many characters and plot lines are loosely based on those of Journey's End: the idealistic new officer who is killed at the end, and whose sister is the girlfriend of his tough but alcoholic commanding officer, the kindly middle-aged second-in-command (known as "Uncle" by the younger officers) who is killed on a dangerous intelligence-gathering mission ordered by the top brass, and the officer whose claims of neuralgia are taken to be cowardice.