Above and Beyond (2014 film)

Last updated
Above and Beyond
Above And Beyond (2014).jpg
Directed by Roberta Grossman
Written by Sophie Sartain
Produced by Nancy Spielberg
CinematographyHarris Done
Edited byChris Callister
Music by
Production
company
Playmount Productions
Distributed byInternational Film Circuit
Release date
  • July 15, 2014 (2014-07-15)
Running time
90 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Israel
LanguageEnglish
Box office$288,751 (US) [1]

Above and Beyond is a 2014 documentary film about Mahal, produced by Nancy Spielberg, the youngest sister of Steven Spielberg, (known for Nazi Hunt: Elusive Justice (2011)), written by Sophie Sartain (known for Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh (2011)), and directed by Roberta Grossman (who also worked on Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh).

Contents

Above and Beyond documents the story of four American, foreign, and Israeli pilots who flew warplanes to help defend the new state of Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War against Arab armies that sought to destroy the new country. The film was notable with the cinematography of Harris Done ( The Last Days (1998)), special effects by Industrial Light and Magic, and an original score from Hans Zimmer's Studio. The film won the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival 34 Best Documentary Audience Award. [2]

Synopsis

In 1948, the new state of Israel is about to declare its independence after Mandatory Palestine is partitioned. The surrounding Arab states are about to launch an invasion with overwhelming superiority in numbers and weaponry compared to the emergent Israeli defences. With no air force or aircraft, American and other foreign pilots are called upon to start a nascent military air force. The first aircraft are bought from the massive U.S. government surplus stocks, and are former USAF Curtiss C-46 Commando transports, used in shipping war materiel back to Israel. Many pilots volunteered to join the Air Force in fear of a second Holocaust occurring.

Facing restrictions that precluded help to belligerent nations, the first volunteers who choose to help have to find ways to work around U.S. government regulations. Al Schwimmer, a U.S. citizen, later charged with violating U.S. neutrality, takes charge of a transport operation. He registered the C-46 transports to Panama as Lineas Aereas de Panama aircraft, and flew them to Israel via a circuitous route that includes Natal, Brazil, Casablanca, Morocco, and Rome, which becomes the headquarters of the volunteer fighter pilots. The Air Force were permitted to bring five aircraft with them to battle. Chief among the group is Canadian "Ace-of-aces" George "Buzz" Beurling, who dies in a mysterious crash while testing a Noorduyn Norseman light transport. When asked about their feelings, Schwimmer replied, "we were proud that we were finally doing something for our homeland."

With the assistance of officials in Czechoslovakia, a number of Avia S-199 fighter aircraft, a variant of the Messerschmitt Bf 109, were obtained. The fighter pilots who trained in Czechoslovakia include Lou Lenart, Leon Frankel, Harold Livingston, Milton Rubenfeld (father of Paul Reubens AKA Pee Wee Herman), George Lichter, and Gideon Lichtman. Universally, the trainees hated the Avia S-199, called the "Messer-shitt" by Lichtman. After transporting the fighter aircraft to Israel, the first four aircraft are deployed to attack an Egyptian armored column moving on Tel Aviv. With the attack taking the enemy by surprise, the Egyptians retreat. Other air attacks help to bring about a truce between the combatants. During the truce, Israeli volunteers in the United States manage to purchase and smuggle two Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers out of the country. When war is declared again, the B-17s are in the air, overflying the Middle East, and divert to an attack on Cairo.

Aerial prowess proves to be a deciding factor in the coming battles, as a group of Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk IXE fighter aircraft is purchased from Czechoslovakia. Israeli fighter pilots flying a mix of Avia S-199s and Spitfires tangled with Egyptian Spitfires, with the first air-to-air combat ending with Gideon Lichtman bringing down an Egyptian Spitfire, albeit in his "Messer-shitt". As the volunteer-driven program becomes more organized, with leaders such as Modi Alon, "Smoky" Simon, Ezer Weizman, and Dani Shapira taking charge, a strong defensive Israeli Air Force is created. Unfortunately, two of the pilots who volunteered died.

Cast

Production

Above and Beyond was filmed in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel. Interviews with former Israeli Air Force pilots and their families included an extended interview with Paul Reubens (born Rubenfeld) and his mother, describing the combat career of his father, Milton Rubenfeld, one of the first American volunteers to go to Israel. [3] [4]

The aerial sequences in the film were "a mix of archive footage seamlessly edited with special effects from Industrial Light and Magic ..." [5] Actual aircraft included the Curtiss C-46 Commando and de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver transports as well as examples of the Hispano Aviación HA-1112 fighter aircraft that had flown in the Battle of Britain (1969), and were a lookalike for the Avia S-199 fighter aircraft used in 1948. [6]

Reception

Above and Beyond was critically reviewed by Ben Keningsberg for The New York Times . He said, in part, "Drawing on interviews with historians and the surviving pilots, as well as re-enactments and archival footage, 'Above and Beyond' is partly a procedural. It explains how the pilots hopscotched countries to evade detection. (According to the film, Americans who helped Israel’s military risked jeopardizing their United States citizenship.) Some of the planes used were manufactured at a factory in Czechoslovakia that only years earlier had served the Germans. The men unabashedly reminisce about how their missions earned them female admirers. These fond recollections of derring-do hail from a different era, and the movie’s one-sided view of history is bound to start arguments. The film is best appreciated as a straightforward testimonial: old war buddies’ hurrah against anti-Semitism." [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 Arab–Israeli War</span> Second and final stage of the 1947–1949 Palestine war

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war became a war of separate states with the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948, the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight, and the entry of a military coalition of Arab states into the territory of Mandatory Palestine the following morning. The war formally ended with the 1949 Armistice Agreements which established the Green Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli Air Force</span> Aerial service branch of the Israel Defense Forces

The Israeli Air Force operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. As of April 2022, Aluf Tomer Bar has been serving as the Air Force commander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egyptian Air Force</span> Aerial warfare branch of Egypts armed forces

The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) (Egyptian Arabic: القوات الجوية المصرية, romanized: El Qūwāt El Gawīyä El Maṣrīya, Coptic: Ⲛⲉⲛⲡⲉⲧϩⲁⲗⲁⲓⲛⲙⲓϣⲓ ⲛ̀ⲕⲏⲙⲓ), is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all military aircraft, including those used in support of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy and the Egyptian Air Defense Forces. The latter was created as a separate command in the 1970s and it coordinates with the Air Force to integrate air and ground-based air defense operations. The EAF is headed by an air marshal (lieutenant general equivalent). Currently, the commander of the Egyptian Air Force is Air Marshal Mahmoud Fouad Abdel-Gawad. The force's motto is 'Higher and higher for the sake of glory' (Arabic: إلى العلا في سبيل المجد, I‘la’ al-'olà fī sabīl al-magd). It was known as the Royal Egyptian Air Force until 18 June 1953 following the declaration of the Republic of Egypt by Muhammad Naguib.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avia S-199</span> Czechoslovak fighter aircraft

The Avia S-199 is a propeller-driven Messerschmitt Bf 109G-based fighter aircraft built after World War II using the Bf 109G airframe and a Junkers Jumo 211F engine in place of the original and unavailable Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine. It is notable as the first fighter obtained by the Israeli Air Force, and used during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Balak</span> 1948 undercover operation to smuggle aircraft from Eastern Europe to Israel

Operation Balak was a smuggling operation, during the founding of Israel in 1948, that purchased arms in Europe to avoid various embargoes and boycotts transferring them to the Yishuv. Of particular note was the delivery of 23 Czechoslovakia-made Avia S-199 fighters, the post-war version of the German Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ezer Weizman</span> Israeli politician (1924–2005)

Ezer Weizman was the seventh President of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Air Force and Minister of Defense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahal (Israel)</span> Foreign volunteers who fought for Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War

Mahal, more often spelled Machal, refers to the group of overseas volunteers who fought alongside Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Some 4,000 volunteers, mostly Jews but also non-Jews, arrived from all over the world. Mahal is an acronym of מתנדבי חוץ לארץ‎.

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Between June 1947 and October 31, 1949, the Jewish agency seeking weapons for Operation Balak, made several purchases of weapons in Czechoslovakia, some of them of former German army weapons, captured by the Czechoslovak army on its national territory, or newly produced German weapons from Czechoslovakia's post-war production. In this deal, sale activities of Czechoslovak arms factories were coordinated by a special-purpose department of the Československé závody strojírenské a kovodělné, n.p. Holding, called Sekretariát D, headed by Gen. Jan Heřman (ret.).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Czechoslovak Air Force</span> Military unit

The Czechoslovak Air Force or the Czechoslovak Army Air Force was the air force branch of the Czechoslovak Army formed in October 1918. The armed forces of Czechoslovakia ceased to exist on 31 December 1992. By the end of the year, all aircraft of the Czechoslovak Air Force were divided between the Czech Air Force and the Slovak Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Levett</span>

Gordon Levett (1921–2000) was a former Royal Air Force pilot in World War II who volunteered for a covert mission to fly supplies including dismantled fighter planes into the fledgling state of Israel in its 1948 Arab–Israeli War as part of Operation Balak. Later Levett joined the first squadron of the newly created Israeli Air Force, helping establish a permanent Israeli military and aiding in the founding of the state of Israel. Levett was the only English gentile pilot in the Israeli Air Force, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iftach Spector</span> Retired Israeli brigadier general

Iftach Spector is a retired Israeli brigadier general, a former fighter pilot and commander of the airbases at Tel Nof and Ramat David. He serves on the Israel Advisory Council of the Israel Policy Forum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modi Alon</span> Israeli fighter pilot

Mordechai "Modi" Alon was an Israeli fighter pilot who with the formation of the Israeli Air Force in May 1948, assumed command of its first fighter squadron. Flying the Avia S-199, Alon participated in the IAF's first combat sortie on 29 May 1948, and on 3 June scored the IAF's very first aerial victories, downing a pair of Royal Egyptian Air Force C-47s over Tel Aviv.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli Air Force Flight Academy</span> Israeli Air Force School

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milton Rubenfeld</span> American aviator, one of the five founding pilots of the Israeli Air Force

Milton Rubenfeld was a pilot who flew for the Royal Air Force and U.S. Army during World War II, later becoming one of the five founding pilots of the Israeli Air Force in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It is widely believed that Rubenfeld, the other four volunteer pilots, and the other machalniks changed the course of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. He was injured and returned to the United States, and settled in New York state, where he married and owned a local business with his wife, Judy. Later, he moved his family to Sarasota, Florida, where he and his wife owned another successful business until he retired. He died in 2004. He was the father of actor/comedian Paul Reubens, who was known for creating and portraying the character Pee-wee Herman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Israeli Air Force</span>

The History of the Israel Air Force begins in May 1948, shortly after the formation of the State of Israel. Following Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, its pre-state national institutions transformed into the agencies of a state, and on May 26, 1948, the Israeli Air Force was formed. Beginning with a small collection of light aircraft, the force soon transformed into a comprehensive fighting force. It has since participated in several wars and numerous engagements, becoming what has been described as "The mightiest air force in the Middle East".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitchell Flint</span> American lawyer

Mitchell Flint was an American lawyer and veteran aviator. He was a United States Navy fighter pilot during World War II, and later served as an American volunteer pilot in Israel's first fighter squadron during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Mitchell Flint was credited as one of the people who assisted in the creation of the Israeli Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lou Lenart</span> Israeli aviator

Louis Lenart was a Hungarian-born American-Israeli fighter pilot. His exploits during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War were documented in the 2015 documentary film A Wing and a Prayer.

George Lichter was an American fighter pilot and one of the founders of the Israeli Air Force.

References

  1. ↑ "Above and Beyond." Box Office Mojo. Retrieved: January 3, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Audience Award Winners - Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival". Archived from the original on 2019-10-03. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  3. ↑ Scheibner, Hildegard. Veteran of British, U.S., Israeli air forces." Sarasota Herald-Tribune, February 24, 2004.
  4. ↑ Weizman 1976, pp. 60–61.
  5. ↑ Montalbano, Dave. "Off we go into the Israeli blue younder <sp> ..." CinemaDave: LiveJournal, February 23, 2015. Retrieved: January 1, 2016.
  6. ↑ Aloni 2001, p. 11.
  7. ↑ Keningsberg, Ben. "Jewish American pilots fighting for Israel; ‘Above and Beyond’." The New York Times, January 29, 2015. Retrieved: January 1, 2016.

Bibliography

  • Aloni, Shlomo. Arab–Israeli Air Wars, 1947–82. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2001. ISBN   978-1-8417-6294-4.
  • Weizman, Ezer. On Eagles' Wings: The Personal Story of the Leading Commander of the Israeli Air Force. New York: Berkley Medallion, 1976. ISBN   978-0-0262-5790-9.
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