Being something of a Nevil Shute devotee, I have been trying to track down a copy of this film for some time and finally succeeded.
This is one of Shute's simpler stories but in common with most of his novels, it concerns the issues of good people doing a job well. It should be read, or viewed, bearing in mind the time that it was written and the social and political climate of the time.
Landfall is no exception to this caveat applicable to many films of the time. I was relieved to find that this was a straightforward adaptation of the novel and was told without any twists and turns and unnecessary changes to the plot (unlike "Far Country" - a mangled adaptation of a later Shute novel).
I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the acting was much better than I expected in a 1949 film of this type. The issues of class difference were nicely handled and the story is just enough to fill the time. The main protagonists are portrayed well by the leads, particularly Patricia Plunkett, who resists the temptation to overdo the differences between her barmaid character and her flying officer boyfriend. A few of the lesser parts are a little conventionally and slightly woodenly handled but the ensemble of Maurice Denham, Kathleen Harrison, Nora Swinburne and Margaretta Scott are reliable.
The early flying scenes are reasonably convincing but they go downhill somewhat with the special (or not so special) effects in the bomb trials. This really doesn't matter too much in the context of this type of film where the important aspects are the story and the character development.
A simple story, well told. It would be nice to see it added to the collection of available classic movies on DVD.
