A Piece of Cake-BBC TV

[tanker]

Just found this in my Local PBS gift catalog, ordered it and watched it twice. This is the story (based on the novel) of the fictional "Hornet Squadron" during the "Sitskrieg" and "Battle of Britain" period. This is aviation history at its best, with stunning aircraft scenes(real Spitfires and German aircraft of the period) flown by REAL crack pilots. The combat scenes are first rate and feature some really grisley death portrayals. Six episodes on DVD that make Disney's PEARL HARBOR look like the piece of Crap it is. This one is a classic. The scene where Mark Hanna actually flys a Spit under this little rural bridge is breath-taking. Tally Ho, Chaps!!!!! ;D ;D ;D

[Keith Heitmann]

I had the foresight to record this when it was aired on PBS stations in my area. It's an excellent story and the flying scenes (wish there were even more) were stunning. This is one program that is well worth adding to your video collection.

One of these days I'll have to finish reading the book. I started and got side tracked.

[PUFF88]

is the book named a piece of cake? never heard of the show that i can remember. how much is it

[Keith Heitmann]

PUFF88 said:

is the book named a piece of cake? never heard of the show that i can remember. how much is it

Yes, the book's name is the same. I bought it in paperback shortly after the show aired on tv. Back then I don't think it was much more than $5.

The price of books has gone up since that time you can order it from Amazon for $9.95 or from one of their Z-shops used for $3.75.

The author Derek Robinson has written other similar books about WW1/WW2:

A damn Good Fight
Goshawk Squadron
War Story
Kentucky Blues

I just spotted another one that looks interesting. It's the re-print of the book "The Hunters" the book that was inspiration of the Korean air war movie of the same name.

The Hunters: A Novel

[tanker]

I found "The Hunters" by James Salter(an alias) last year at a Discount Book Outlet. I loved the movie with Mitchem so much I taped it off of AMC and have watched it several times. I actually liked the movie alot more than the book, except for the swept-winged F-84s pretending to be MIGs. The book is probably more realistic, but I hate unhappy endings. You would hardly believe it's the same story, the way they switched things around and rewrote the whole story. The title is about the only thing in common. ;D

[Keith Heitmann]

tanker said:

I found "The Hunters" by James Salter(an alias) last year at a Discount Book Outlet. I loved the movie with Mitchem so much I taped it off of AMC and have watched it several times. I actually liked the movie alot more than the book, except for the swept-winged F-84s pretending to be MIGs. The book is probably more realistic, but I hate unhappy endings. You would hardly believe it's the same story, the way they switched things around and rewrote the whole story. The title is about the only thing in common. ;D

Unfortunately, rewrites by Hollywood are all too common. I recorded "The Hunters" years ago along with many other war movies when they used to aired on commercial TV and before cable became really popular. I've got quite a small library of som 150+ video tapes with movies, documentaries and shorts subjects on them. Some tapes have three or more movies on them.

Every once in a while when there is nothing on tv during the dead of night when I'm wide away, I'll go downstairs and load one of my tapes and watch one or two of the movies.

Since most of these movies are no longer on commercial tv, I don't do much recording anymore, except from PBS that runs some good documentary stuff now an then.

Instead I've been buying DVDs slowly as time goes on. I don't have many DVDs yet, less than 20 in the 5 years I've been buying them, but I've got a long list of films I want to get eventually. I gave the list to the wife and she got me 5 for my birthday last month and I know she's getting me some more for Xmas.

[Lito]

I want a movie to come out involving P-51's, the most beautiful plane ever built. You could really make a good movie out of Bud Anderson's and Chuck Yeager's story. Bud Anderson has an excellent book called "To Fly and Fight" if your interested in that department.

[tanker]

Two movies with alot of P51 action that come to mind are "Tuskeegee Airmen" and "Battle Hymn"(1957) which stars Rock Hudson. This movie is about WWII flighter pilots in Korea fighting the Commies and training ROK pilots. Both are available from www.MoviesUnlimited. com for less than $20.00. Another good WWII airplane movie is "Fighter Squadron"(1948). This is about P47s and stars Edmund O'Brien, Bob Stack, and Rock again in his first picture. I don't think this is out on tape or DVD, I have seen it on AMC and FMC and recorded it for myself.