How Long Is “Target for Tonight”?

Target for Tonight is another first-rate wartime documentary drama from the prolific writer-director Harry Watt, the onetime Robert Flaherty assistant whose talents truly blossomed under the guidance of master propagandist John Grierson. This 48-minute film details the experiences of a single Royal Air Force bomber and its courageous crew, all played by actual members of the RAF. After guiding the viewer through the various ground-crew stations, strategy centers and map rooms, director Watt enters the bomber itself as the crew gears itself for another mission over Germany-one which ends almost before it begins when the plane is hit with machine-gun flack (a truly frightening sequence). Though the screenplay is obviously a composite of several missions, the film's irrefutable authenticity is stamped on every frame. Target for Tonight was not only the film that "made" Harry Watt's reputation, but it also served as the prototype for all the British WW2 "semi-documentaries" to come.