We were off to fight the Huns
This movie is a filming of a famous Canadian one man play about Billy Bishop. Bishop was a famous World War 1 flying ace credited with shooting down more enemy planes than any other pilot during the war except for Rene Fonck and the Red Baron. The movie tells the story of how Bishop worked his way out of the infantry and into the flying corps, his battles in the air and eventual retirement from service.
The movie is well shot, but really just a filmed version of the play. As such, you should not expect to see actual aerial combat or historical reenactments of Bishop's life. Instead you will see Bishop reminiscing about his life while he drinks in a bar and sings songs with the pianist. The story can be sad at times and funny at others (in a black humor sort of way).
It stars the original stage actor Eric Peterson, who I saw perform this play about 20 years ago in Toronto. While much older, Peterson still has a great presence.
Overall, the movie is well...
Reader's Digest version of stage play
This is the first video of this play I have found in years of searching. It is an updated version to allow for the age of the two actors and is very good. There are a few bits of the original production that have been either written or edited out of this version. Most do not make much difference, but a few leave out lead-ins to later parts of the play. For instance, the discription of Cedric the butler is left out. So, when Cedric is refered to at the end of the scene one wonders who he is. I was able to follow along with the printed version of the play, which helped fill in the gaps.
All-in-all I'd say its a Hell of a good time.
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