Malta Story is a 1953 British war film, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, which is based on the heroic air defence of Malta during the Siege of Malta in the Second World War. The film uses real and unique footage of the locations at which the battles were fought and includes a love story between a RAF pilot and a Maltese girl, as well as the anticipated execution of her brother, caught as an Italian spy. The character of "Peter Ross" is apparently loosely based on that of Adrian Warburton. In 1942, Britain is trying hard to keep Malta while invasion seems imminent and Italians and Germans are... regularly bombing the airfields and towns regardless. The RAF fight to survive against the odds using the few fighter aircraft available. Flight Lt. Peter Ross , an archaeologist, is posted to Egypt but is stranded in Malta due to the air attacks. He is then asked to join the RAF squadron there as an air reconnaissance pilot. He meets Maria , a lovely Maltese girl working in the RAF operations room. The two fall in love and spend a few romantic hours in the Neolithic temples of Mnajdra and Ħaġar Qim on the island. In the meantime, the situation becomes desperate.
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| Release date: | 1953 |
| Directed by: | Brian Desmond Hurst |
| Runtime: | 103 Minutes |
| Producer: | Peter De Sarigny |
| Music by: | William Alwyn |
| Cinematography: | Leon Shamroy |
| Screenplay by: | Nigel Balchin, Peter De Sarigny, Hugh Pugh Lloyd |