The First of the Few (1942)

Geoffrey Crisp: Mitch, what do really think I can get out of her?
Reginald J. Mitchell: Oh, two eighty five.
Geoffrey Crisp: [astonished] Two eighty-five? Mitch, this is 1927, not 1977!

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[the Mitchells have bumped into Crisp at a Dress Ball]
Reginald J. Mitchell: Well, who's the lucky lady?
Geoffrey Crisp: Don't know, I haven't met her yet!

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In the film Leslie Howard's Mitchell says he wants his new fighter to be "a bird that breathes fire and spits out death and destruction; A *spitfire* bird", giving the aircraft its name. In reality, when RJ Mitchell was told the name the RAF had given to his design he is supposed to have said: "That's the sort of bloody silly name they *would* choose!"
The film's opening prologue is a quote from Alexander de Seversky. It states: "In the grim days of 1940, when Britain stood alone between mankind and the Nazi hordes, a fighter plane staved off disaster. Behind this plane lies the heroic and unselfish story of R.J. Mitchell - - the British Engineer whose story is a great inspiration to American engineers and designers - - those invisible members of the air-power team - - who toil relentlessly to forger superiors weapons, so that their teammates, the gallant air-men, may go into combat with the kind of advantage they deserve." MAJOR ALEXANDER P. DE SEVERSKY
The "Merlin" is actually a kind of European Falcon; Rolls-Royce named a great many of their aircraft engines after birds of prey.
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