Splendidly English premise with villagers taking on the might of the Royal Air Force over nesting birds.Still living on the goodwill engendered by its heroics in the recent war,the R.A.F.by 1954 had become involved in less immediate conflicts in Asia that only the unfortunate National Servicemen felt any impact from. Back home with Rationing being gradually phased out most people wanted to get on with life as best they could,respecting the Armed Forces,certainly,but with an increasing sense of England's waning influence on world affairs. Against this background "Conflict of wings" portrays the people of the beautiful county of Norfolk as Animal Rights activists before their time. The fundamentally decent Air Force personnel are cast as the not very bad bad guys using an area frequented by nesting birds as a firing range. The film makes its point quite gently,with excellent performances in the British tradition and a wonderful support cast including ex - RAF pilot Humphrey Lestocq,at the time a huge star on BBC children's' TV "Whirligig" as stooge to a puppet called Mr Turnip."H.L.",as he was known,had a brief career as a sub - Kenneth More type before Mr More himself took over the roles "H.L."might have taken.Rather sad,really. If you read "R.A.F.Flying Review",or "Flight" of "The Aeroplane" in 1954 you will love the shots of the Vampires and Meteors.If you love that quintessentially English county of Norfolk the scenery of its beautiful northern coast will enchant you. Fifty five years on,"Conflict of wings" is rural England and its inhabitants preserved in amber.Perhaps some cosmic scientist can come up with a "Jurassic Park" reconstruction from its DNA.A lot of people would pay a lot of money to visit it.
Review of Fuss Over Feathers
