The Memphis Belle

England, 1943. A B-17 bomber called the Memphis Belle and its crew of ten prepare for their twenty-fifth mission. A crew that completes twenty-five goes home, and very few had managed it. The documentary follows that day: the briefing, the take-off, the raid on the submarine pens at Wilhelmshaven, the flak, the fighters, and the damaged aircraft coming back down. Then, on the runway, the counting of who returned. William Wyler directed it; forty-five minutes, shot on sixteen-millimetre colour film during actual missions. Wyler was serving in the air force at the time. One of the cameramen, Harold Tannenbaum, was killed during filming when the aircraft he was in was shot down.