Classic War Films

HELL IN THE PACIFIC  (1968)

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During World War II, a shot-down American pilot and a marooned Japanese navy captain find themselves stranded on the same small uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean. Following war logic, each time the crafty Japanese devises something useful, he guards it to deny its use to the Yank, who then steals it, its proceeds or the idea and/or ruins it. Yet each gets his chance to kill and/or capture the other, but neither pushes this to the end. After a while of this pointless pestering, they end up joining forces to build and man a raft... 


Directed byJohn BoormanProduced byReuben Bercovitch
Henry G. Saperstein
Selig J. SeligmanWritten byReuben Bercovitch
Alexander Jacobs
Eric BercoviciStarringLee Marvin,
Toshirō MifuneMusic byLalo SchifrinDistributed byCineramaRelease date(s)18 December, 1968Running time103 minutesLanguageEnglishBudgetUnknown

THE DAM BUSTERS  1955

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The film falls into two parts. The first part involves Wallis struggling to develop a means of attacking Germany's dams in the hope of crippling German heavy industry. Working for the Ministry of Aircraft Production, as well as doing his own job at Vickers, he works feverishly to make practical his theory of a bouncing bomb which would skip over the water to avoid protective torpedo nets. When it came into contact with the dam, it would sink before exploding, making it much more destructive. Wallis calculates that the aircraft will have to fly extremely low (150 ft) to enable the bombs to skip over the water correctly, but when he takes his conclusions to the Ministry he is told that lack of production capacity means they cannot go ahead with his proposals.

Angry and frustrated, Wallis secures an interview with Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris (played by Basil Sydney), the head of RAF Bomber Command, who at first is reluctant to take the idea seriously. But he is eventually convinced and takes the idea to the Prime Minister, who authorises the project.

The second part of the film involves Bomber Command forming a special squadron of Lancaster bombers, 617 Squadron, to be commanded by Wing Commander Guy Gibson. He recruits experienced crews, especially those with low-altitude flight experience. While they train for the mission, Wallis continues his development of the bomb but has problems, such as the bomb breaking apart upon hitting the water. This requires the drop altitude to be reduced to 60 feet. With only a few weeks to go, he succeeds in fixing the problems and the mission can go ahead.

The bombers attack the dams. Several Lancasters and their crews are lost, but the overall mission succeeds and two dams are breached. The film's reflective last minutes convey the poignant mix of emotions felt by the characters – triumph over striking a successful blow against the enemy's industrial base is greatly tempered by the sobering knowledge that many died in the process of 




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ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT  1979

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The film follows young Paul Baumer, who enlists with many of his school friends. After surviving training camp under the sadistic Corporal Himmelstoss (Ian Holm), the young men are shipped to the front lines and placed under the supervision of a pragmatic, yet good-natured older soldier, Stanislaus Katzinsky, or Kat (Ernest Borgnine).

The film focuses on the suffering and tragedy caused by war, particularly the horrors endured by the young men serving in it. At the beginning, the French and German armies are shown attacking each other repeatedly over a few hundred yards of torn, corpse-strewn land. Paul's weak friend Franz Kemmerich is wounded, and soon dies in an army hospital. In spite of being distraught by his friend's death, Paul returns to the trenches with his troop.

Although at one point, Paul and two of his friends do have their first experience of sex (with some accommodating French peasant girls), the vast majority of all the young men's experiences are horrific. One by one, practically all of Paul's other schoolmate friends die, one way or another. When home on furlough, Paul is told by his sister that their bedridden mother (movingly played byPatricia Neal), is dying of cancer. Just before the end of the film, Kat is wounded and Paul carries his larger, heavier, older friend many miles to a field hospital (in a bomb-shattered, very small, derelict church). There he is informed that Kat is dead, and has been for some time. The film ends with Paul writing a letter to the single other survivor of his class, who is now an amputee. When he finishes, he goes to check on the drastically underage replacements (none of whom look older than fifteen), guarding the trench. He spots a bird and begins to sketch it, and when the bird starts to fly away Paul stands up to see where it went. A lone rifle shot strikes him in the back of the head, killing him. Not long after, the Armistice is declared and the War is over.




Directed byDelbert MannProduced byNorman RosemontWritten byPaul MonashStarringRichard Thomas
Ernest BorgnineMusic byAllyn FergusonCinematographyJohn CoquillonEditing byAlan Pattillo
Bill BlundenRelease date(s)November 14, 1979Running time150 minutesCountryUSA / UKLanguageEnglish




AT DAWN WE DIVE  1943

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When the British submarine Sea Tiger docks after an unsuccessful patrol, the skipper, Lieutenant Taylor (John Mills), and his crew are given a week's leave. Hobson (Eric Portman) goes home to try to save his troubled marriage, while a reluctant Corrigan (Niall MacGinnis) heads off to his wedding. However, all arrangements are cancelled as a recall order is issued to return to duty, much to Corrigan's relief (though he later has second thoughts).

Back at sea, the crew find out that the Sea Tiger is on a top secret mission to sink Nazi Germany's newest battleship, the Brandenburg. They are to intercept her before she enters the Kiel Canal for the Baltic Sea to begin sea trials.

On their way to the German Bight, the sub picks up three shot-down Luftwaffe pilots from a rescue buoy. When the submarine enters a minefield, one of the airmen panics and reveals that theBrandenburg is much further ahead than anticipated, before another prisoner beats him nearly to death. Taylor takes a desperate gamble and enters the Baltic in pursuit.

When the Brandenburg is spotted, the Sea Tiger fires all its torpedoes, then dives to evade German destroyers dropping depth charges. As the attacks intensify, Taylor convinces the hunters that the submarine has sunk with all hands. The surface ships leave, but the Sea Tiger is left desperately low on fuel.

Taylor decides to have his crew abandon ship near a Danish island. However, Hobson is fluent in German and is familiar with the port on the island. He persuades Taylor to let him go ashore dressed in one of the airmen's uniforms to see if he can find oil. He succeeds. The Sea Tiger refuels while Hobson and some of the other men hold off the German garrison. Upon returning to base, the crew are informed that they sank the Brandenburg. Waiting for them at the dock are Corrigan's would-be bride and Hobson's wife and son.

[edit]Cast
  • Eric Portman as L/S (Leading Seaman) Hobson, on hydrophones
  • John Mills as Lieutenant Taylor, Captain
  • Louis Bradfield as Lieutenant Brace, First Officer
  • Ronald Millar as Lieutenant Johnson, Third Officer
  • Jack Watling as Lieutenant Gordon, Navigating Officer
  • Reginald Purdell as C/P.O. (Chief Petty Officer) Dabbs, Coxswain
  • Caven Watson as C/P.O. Duncan, Chief Engine Room Artificer
  • Niall MacGinnis as C/P.O. Mike Corrigan, Torpedo Gunner's Mate
  • Leslie Weston as L/S Tug Wilson, Leading Torpedo Operator
  • Norman Williams as "Canada", Periscope Operator
  • Lionel Grose as "Spud", Torpedo Operator
  • David Peel as "Oxford", Helmsman
  • Philip Godfrey as "Flunkey", Steward
  • Robb Wilton as "Pincher", Cook
  • Walter Gotell as the ardent Nazi pilot, uncredited


A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH 1946+ THE HEROES OF TELEMARK

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Returning to England from a bombing run in May 1945, flyer Peter Carter's plane is damaged and his parachute ripped to shreds. He has his crew bail out safely, but figures it is curtains for himself. He gets on the radio, and talks to June, a young American woman working for the USAAF, and they are quite moved by each other's voices. Then he jumps, preferring this to burning up with his plane. He wakes up in the surf. It was his time to die, but there was a mixup in heaven. They couldn't find him in all that fog. By the time his "Conductor" catches up with him 20 hours later, Peter and June have met and fallen in love. This changes everything, and since it happened through no fault of his own, Peter figures that heaven owes him a second chance. Heaven agrees to a trial to decide his fate.

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THE HEROES OF TELEMARK 1965+ A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

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Set in German-occupied Norway, this is an embellished account of the remarkable efforts of the Norwegian resistance to sabotage the German development of the atomic bomb. Resistance fighter Knut Straud enlists the reluctant physicist Rolf Pedersen in an effort to destroy the German heavy water production plant near the village of Rjukan in rural Telemark. In the process, Pedersen discovers that his ex-wife Anna and her uncle have also joined the resistance. British commandos dispatched to destroy the plant are killed when their glider hits the mountainside at night. An improvised raid by the resistance ends in the partial destruction of the heavy water canisters, but the contingency plans of Reichskommissar Terboven enable the Germans to resume production quickly. Pedersen wants to recommend to London that the Allies bomb the plant. Straud opposes him because of the potential death toll on Norwegian civilians and a fight ensues. They send in separate recommendations, and the air raid takes place, but it fails to destroy the heavy water. A Norwegian traitor gives away the resistance hideout, and Anna's uncle is killed. The Germans load the canisters onto a ferry for shipment to Germany, and the resistance rig explosives to sink the ferry in the fjord. As the ferry is about to leave, it is boarded by the widow and baby of one of Pedersen's and Straud's colleagues. Pedersen boards the ferry and organizes a children's game of "lifejacket" in order to minimize civilian deaths. The film closes with resistance members rescuing passengers as the ferry sinks.



CastActorRoleKirk DouglasDr Rolf PedersenRichard HarrisKnut StraudUlla JacobssonAnna PedersenMichael RedgraveUncle

THE LONG AND THE SHORT AND THE TALL  1961

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During the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1942, a seven-strong British sonic warfare patrol beds down in a dilapidated store-hut in the Burmese jungle. Tension rises as Private Sam Whitaker fails to repair the malfunctioning radio, the rest of the men cannot guess whether or when to move on. The plot thickens when a lone Japanese scout stumbles across the hut and his fate becomes the squad's second dilemma. Sergeant Mitchem, the man in command of the Patrol wants to take the prisoner back to headquarters for interrogation but as they try to decide his fate, tempers flare amid the high tension as the men begin to fall out among themselves. The incompetent Sergeant Mitchum clashes with his contemptuous second in command Corporal Johnstone and struggles to maintain discipline amongst his mutinous young charges. Chief culprit is the gruff Cockney Private Bamforth, a man who dislikes both authority and the army but gradually becomes the conscience of the platoon.
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ABOVE US THE WAVES  1955

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The greatest threat to the British navy is the German battleship Tirpitz. Being anchored in a Norwegian fjord, it is impossible to attack it with any chance of success. But the navy trains a special commando to attack it, using little submarines to plant underwater explosives under it

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THE BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE 1955 + THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONAL BLIMP  1943

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In the early months of the Second World War, the German Navy sent out various surface raiders to attack Allied merchant shipping. The Royal Navy sent out various hunting groups to find them. The group that found Admiral Graf Spee was very lightly armed in comparison, but went straight to the attack.

The British were led by Commodore Harwood (Anthony Quayle), with Captain Woodhouse (Ian Hunter) commanding the Ajax, Captain Bell (John Gregson) the Exeter and Captain Parry (Jack Gwillim) the Achilles. Captain Hans Langsdorff's (Peter Finch) Graf Spee was much better armed than the three cruisers and inflicted a lot of damage but was fooled by the tactics of the British. TheGraf Spee sustained damage itself and took refuge in a neutral port, but according to international law, had to leave by a specified time. Falsely believing that an overwhelming British force was lying in wait, Langsdorff took his ship out with a skeleton crew and scuttled her




Cast[edit]

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONAL BLIMP 1943 + THE BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE 1955

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PlotThe film begins in 1943, the middle of the Second World War. The leader of the defenders in a Home Guard training exercise, Major General Clive Wynne-Candy (Roger Livesey) is "captured" in aTurkish bath by soldiers led by a young lieutenant who has decided to strike preemptively, in contravention of antiquated conventions of war, as he believes this is how the Germans fight. Candy protests in vain that "War starts at midnight!" They scuffle and fall into a bathing pool. This segues back forty years to when Clive was a young lieutenant, an extended flashback which begins with his days as a young and impetuous officer and leads back to the present day




Cast
  • Ursula Jeans as Frau von Kalteneck
  • James McKechnie as Spud Wilson
  • David Hutcheson as Hoppy
  • Frith Banbury as Baby-Face Fitzroy
  • Muriel Aked as Aunt Margaret
  • John Laurie as Murdoch
  • Neville Mapp as Stuffy Graves
  • Vincent Holman as Club porter (1942)
  • Spencer Trevor as Period Blimp
  • Roland Culver as Colonel Betteridge
  • James Knight as Club porter (1902)
  • Dennis Arundell as Café orchestra leader
  • David Ward as Kaunitz
  • Valentine Dyall as von Schönborn


TOO LATE THE HERO 1970

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PlotIn the 1942 Pacific War part of World War II, Lieutenant Sam Lawson, U.S.N. (Robertson), is a Japanese language interpreter who — so far — has avoided combat. Although Lawson is slated forshore leave in forty-eight hours, his commanding officer (Henry Fonda in a cameo role) unexpectedly cancels his leave and informs Lawson that he is to be assigned to a British infantry commandounit in the New Hebrides Islands for a combat mission.

The British base is situated in the middle of a large open field, several hundred yards from the edge of the jungle; on the other side of the jungle is an observation and communications post controlled by the Japanese. Shortly after Lawson's arrival at the British base, there is a commotion as a patrol of British soldiers sprint out of the jungle and across the open field, pursued by the Japanese. The base commander, Col. Thompson (Harry Andrews), instructs his men to keep well back, out of enemy range; they watch as the patrol are cut down by Japanese machine-gun fire.

Lawson's commando group is instructed to reach the Japanese post and destroy their radio transmitter, to prevent their relaying the existence of an American naval convoy which is scheduled to appear on the horizon in three days. The post's radio operator transmits an "all's well" signal every night at midnight; it will be Lawson's job to transmit a fake signal (in Japanese) to buy the Allies another 24 hours before the attack is discovered.

Starring

Michael Caine
Cliff Robertson
Henry Fonda
Ken Takakura
Denholm Elliott
Lance Percival
Ronald Fraser
Harry Andrews
Percy Herbert




ICE COLD IN ALEX 1958

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Plot

Tobruk, a British base, is attacked by the German Afrika Korps in the Western Desert Campaign of World War II. During the resulting evacuation, MSM Tom Pugh (Harry Andrews) and nurses Diana Murdoch (Sylvia Syms) and Denise Norton (Diane Clare) — the crew of an Austin K2 ambulance, which was named 'Katy' by its original driver — become separated from their unit and are forced to flee cross-country. With them are Captain Anson (John Mills), suffering from battle fatigue and almost an alcoholic, and an Afrikaans-speaking South African officer Captain van der Poel (Anthony Quayle), who carries a large pack he seems very attached to.

Anson motivates himself by thinking of the ice cold lager he will order when they finally reach the safety of Alexandria, Egypt — the 'Alex' of the title. En route, the group meets with various obstacles including a minefield, a broken suspension spring (during its replacement, van der Poel's great strength saves the group when he supports 'Katy' when the jack collapses), and the dangerous terrain of the Qattara Depression. Twice the group encounters parties of Afrika Korps soldiers; in one encounter they are fired upon, and Norton is fatally wounded. Van der Poel, who speaks German, is able to talk the Germans into allowing them to go on their way. The second time, however, they seem reluctant, until he shows them the contents of his pack.

This pack becomes the focus of suspicion. Pugh, already troubled by van der Poel's lack of knowledge of the South African Army's tea-brewing technique, follows him when he heads off into the desert with his pack and a spade (supposedly to dig a latrine). Pugh thinks he sees an antenna. Later, at night, they decide to use the ambulance headlights to see what van de Poel is really up to. He panics, blunders into some quicksand, and buries his pack, though not before Anson and Murdoch see that it contains a radio set. They drag him to safety and, while he recovers, decide not to tell him of their knowledge. During the final leg of the journey, Katy must be hand-cranked in reverse up an escarpment, and van der Poel's strength is again crucial to achieving this.

When they reach Alexandria, they make their way to a bar, where Anson orders a beer. But before they have drunk their first round, a Royal Military Police officer arrives to arrest van der Poel. Anson, who had prearranged this at a checkpoint as they entered the city, orders him to wait. Having become friends with van der Poel and indebted to him for saving the group's lives, Anson tells him that if he gives his real name, he will be treated as a prisoner of war, rather than as a spy (which would mean he would be executed by firing squad). Van der Poel admits to being Otto Lutz, an engineering officer with the 21st Panzer Division. Pugh notices that Lutz is still wearing fake South African dog tags and rips them off before the police see them. Lutz, after saying his farewells and concluding that "the desert was the greater enemy", is driven away.


Cast

MALTA STORY  1953

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PlotIn 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 planes 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 anair 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. Many civilians are buried daily under the rubble, and famine is threatening their survival, as relief convoys become easy prey to the numerous attacks by air. Peter proposes marriage to Maria although they realise that wartime is not favourable to love affairs, as her mother suggests. Nevertheless the young couple remain hopeful of the future. In the meantime, Maria’s brother is arrested while trying to infiltrate the island from Italy, obviously on a spying mission, for which he will be executed (which is based on the real story ofCarmelo Borg Pisani). Maria’s mother lives a double drama.

The island relies on the last few ships of a convoy for supplies. The scene of the heroic tanker SS Ohio (real footage) arriving half sunk in Valletta harbour is the apex of glory for the defenders and the island of Malta collectively receives the George Cross from Britain's King George VI.

The RAF holds on, and is eventually able to take the offensive, targeting enemy shipping on its way to Rommel in Libya. Many air raids take place either to defend the island with Spitfires or a number of torpedo planes, like the Beauforts, which succeed in sinking Italian tankers. There comes the moment when the most important enemy convoy is on its way to Libya under cover of poor visibility. Peter's commanding officer (Jack Hawkins) needs desperately to locate this target and orders him to find it at any cost. Peter, flying in his Spitfire, finally finds it, but has to stay close to keep contact. He is attacked by six Messerschmitt Bf 109Fs. Peter stays calm, but cannot escape his fate; he is shot down and killed, while Maria in the operations room listens helplessly to his radio broadcasts.

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THE WOODEN HORSE  1950

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PlotThis true story is set in Stalag Luft III—the same POW camp where the real events depicted in the film The Great Escape took place—and involved Williams, Michael Codner and Oliver Philpot, all inmates of the camp.

The prisoners were faced with the problem of digging an escape tunnel despite the accommodation huts, within which the tunnel entrance could be concealed, being a considerable distance from the perimeter fence. They came up with an ingenious way of digging the tunnel with its entrance located in the middle of an open area relatively near the perimeter fence and using a vaulting horse (constructed largely from plywood from Canadian Red Cross parcels) to cover the entrance.

Each day they carried the horse out to the same spot, with a man hidden inside. The prisoners would then begin a gymnastic exercise using the vaulting horse, while the concealed man dug down below the horse. At the finish of the exercises the digger would place a wooden board, cut to fit the aperture, in the hole and fill in the top with dry dirt kept for the purpose - dirt taken from anywhere else in the tunnel might be wetter and hence give away the activities.

Eventually, as the tunnel lengthened, two men were hidden inside the horse while a larger group of men exercised, the two men continuing the tunnel digging. At the end of the day they would again conceal the tunnel entrance and hide inside the horse while it was carried back to their hut. They also had to devise a method of disposing of the earth coming out of the tunnel. For the final breakout Codner hid in the tunnel during an Appel, before three men were carried over in the horse: the third to replace the tunnel trap.

All three made it to neutral Sweden. Williams and Codner travelled together, whilst Philpot travelled alone. Philpot, posing as a Norwegian margarine manufacturer and travelling by train via Danzig (now Gdansk), was the first to make it to neutral territory.

The film was shot in a low-key style, fairly soon after the war, with a limited budget and a cast including many amateur actors. It contributed to establishing the genre of British prisoner of war escape films. Some details from Williams's book were not used in the film, e.g. the escaped POWs discussing the possibility of visiting potentially neutral "whorehouses" in Germany. (The idea was abandoned because of fear that it might be a trap, not out of prudishness.)

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DUNKIRK 1958

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    t]Plot

    The film relates the story of Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of surrounded English and French troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. It does so principally from the viewpoints of two people: a newspaper reporter and a soldier.

    "Tubby" Bins, a British corporal (Mills) is trying to get his men to Dunkirk, where they, the rest of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and thousands of French soldiers hope to be evacuated. After their officer is killed in a bomber attack, it is up to Tubby to keep his demoralized charges motivated. They eventually get a lift in a RAF lorry and make it to the beaches.

    Parallel to this action is the story of Charles Foreman (Lee), a cynical journalist who is trying to raise morale amongst his depressed readers. When the Admiralty commandeers his motorboat to aid the evacuation from Dunkirk, Foreman is inspired to volunteer his services and take the boat across the Channel himself, despite warnings of the danger. A friend, Holden (Attenborough), a motor engineer and successful businessman does the same, albeit reluctantly. Taking part in the rescue are ships of the Royal Navy and hundreds of civilian vessels of all shapes and sizes - "The Little Ships".

    On the beaches of Dunkirk, Foreman and Tubby meet, but Foreman is fatally wounded in an attack by German aeroplanes. Although Foreman's boat is wrecked, Holden's Heron makes it safely to Britain
    Cast

    ANGELS ONE FIVE  1952

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    PlotThe film begins with a replacement, Pilot Officer T. B. "Septic" Baird (John Gregson), landing his Hawker Hurricane at "Pimpernel" Squadron's airfield. Just as he touches down however, a straggler from an earlier mission taxis across his path. Septic's quick reactions allow him to "leapfrog" the other Hurricane, averting a costly disaster. However, this causes him to crash his replacement plane into the bungalow of Squadron Leader Barry Clinton (Cyril Raymond) at the end of the runway.

    This earns Septic the wrath of his new squadron leader, Bill Ponsford (Andrew Osborn), because he damaged his plane. The crash also injures the ligaments in Septic's neck, which he is able to self diagnose, as he had been a medical student before the war. The next morning, Septic is told by Group Captain "Tiger" Small (Jack Hawkins) that he will not be able to fly until his neck is healed, so he will instead serve in the operations room for the time being.

    Several days later, with the risk of a bombing attack on the airfield, and all of Pimpernel Squadron's Hurricanes scrambled, Tiger orders all aircraft to take-off and fly out of harm's way until the raid is over. With Tiger quickly assembling all available pilots and finding aircraft to fly, Septic wins a foot race with Small to claim the last spare Hurricane for himself. He then proceeds to shoot down a Bf-110 from the attacking force. His delight is short lived however when he is admonished by Small and Sqn Ldr Peter Moon (Michael Denison) for leaving his radio set to transmit, preventing the returning Hurricanes from being diverted to an undamaged airfield. A crestfallen Septic returns to his ground duties.

    Eventually a reinstated Septic joins in Pimpernel's operations, but he is mortally wounded while shooting down another enemy aircraft. His last words are heard over the Sector control room tannoy(public-address system), when he tells Small that their planned return foot race will have to be "postponed indefinitely". Small replies "Your message received and understood. Out." Septic then passes out and crashes to his death.

    Cast  

    Jack Hawkins...Group Captain 'Tiger' SmallMichael Denison...Squadron Leader Peter MoonDulcie Gray...Nadine ClintonJohn Gregson...Pilot Officer 'Septic' BairdCyril Raymond...Squadron Leader Barry ClintonVeronica Hurst...Betty CarfaxHarold Goodwin...A.C. 2 WailesNorman Pierce...'Bonzo'Geoffrey Keen...Company Sergeant MajorHarry Locke...Look OutPhilip Stainton...Police ConstableVida Hope...W.A.A.F.Amy Veness...Aunt TabithaRonald Adam...Group ControllerHumphrey Lestocq...Flight Lieutenant 'Batchy' Salter








    I WAS MONTY'S DOUBLE  1958

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    PlotA few months before the D-Day landings during World War II, the British government decides to launch a campaign of disinformation; spreading a rumour that the landings just might take place at a location other than Normandy. The details of the operation (actually, there were several such operations) are handed to two intelligence officers, Colonel Logan (Cecil Parker) and Major Harvey (John Mills). They are initially unable to devise such a plan - but one night, Harvey sees an actor at a London theatre, who looks just like General Bernard Montgomery.

    Logan and Harvey discover that the actor is M. E. Clifton James (playing himself), a Lieutenant stationed in Leicester with the Royal Army Pay Corps and that he was a professional actor in peacetime. He is called to London, on the pretext that he is to make a test for an army film, and a plan is devised that he should tour North Africa, impersonating "Monty".

    "Jimmy" as Harvey calls him, is doubtful that he can carry off an impersonation of Montgomery, especially with his air of command, but with time running short and no options open to him, he agrees.

    Disguised as a corporal, he spends some days at Montgomery's headquarters and learns to copy the General's mannerisms and style. After an interview with the General himself, he is sent off to tour North Africa.

    Accompanied by Harvey, who's been "promoted" to a Brigadier's rank for his cover as Montgomery's ADC, "Jimmy" arrives at Gibraltar, where the Governor, who has known the General for years, can't get over the likeness. To further foster the deception, a local businessman and known German agent, Karl Nielson (Marius Goring), is invited to dinner; knowing that he will spread the information. This happens quickly and their aeroplane is (unsuccessfully) attacked on leaving Gibraltar.

    James and Harvey tour several places in North Africa and visit the troops. With only a few days to go before the landings, it is learned that the Germans have indeed been fooled and have transferred large numbers of troops away from Normandy. His job done, James is put into "cold storage" at a heavily-guarded villa on the coast.

    But the Germans have been fooled more than Harvey realises. A team of German commandos are landed by submarine to kidnap "Monty". They kill his guards and are ready to embark with James, but Harvey gets wind of the kidnap and foils it at the last moment. They return quietly to London.



    Starring

    M.E. Clifton-James
    John Mills
    Cecil Parker

    THAY WHO DARE 1954

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    Plot During World War II, a group of six SAS commandos, two Greek officers and two local guides, are sent on a mission to destroy two German airfields on Rhodes. Lead by Lieutenant Graham (Dirk Bogarde), the party are taken to Rhodes by submarine. They come ashore at night and have to traverse the mountains to reach their targets. At a pre-designated location, the party split and the two groups press on and succeed in their attack on the airfields. However, eight of the group are captured and only two, (Lieutenant Graham and Lieutenant Stevens) make it back to the pick-up point where they are rescued by the submarine.




    Cast

    TUNES OF GLORY  1960

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    This is the story of a conflict between two senior officers in the cloistered environment of a Scottish military regiment. Major Jock Sinclair has been the acting Colonel of the Regiment for a lengthy period of time. He is admired and respected by officers and men alike and there is a general assumption that he will be made their commanding officer. To everyone's surprise, they learn that Lt. Colonel Basil Barrow has been named to the post. Although a member of the Regiment, Barrow left as a young subaltern, made his career in staff functions and is basically unknown. Barrow is a strict disciplinarian compared to Sinclair's easygoing approach and as he tries to impose his own style of leadership on his command, he struggles to gain the loyalty of his officers, particularly that of Sinclair who bristles at being a second-in-command with little to do. A final confrontation between the two men leads to tragedy for both of them. 


    CAST


    CARVE HER NAME WITH PRIDE  1958

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    PlotViolette Szabo is a young woman whose father is English and mother is French, living in London during World War II. She meets a French army officer, Etienne Szabo stationed in the city, and within three days they become engaged to be married. They have a daughter together; a young girl named Tania, but Etienne never sees her as he is killed fighting in north Africa.

    Because of her linguistic skills, the widowed Violette is employed as a spy by the British government. On her first mission, she travels to Rouen to discover how many of the French resistance movement have survived, but is forced to flee back to England when a Nazi officer discovers her identity.

    Violette later returns to France on a second mission

    Primary cast







    ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT  1957

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    PlotDuring World War II, the Greek Mediterranean island of Crete is occupied by the Nazis. A group of British officers led by Major Patrick Leigh Fermor (Dirk Bogarde) land on the island and, with the help of local resistance in April 1944, kidnap German General Heinrich Kreipe (Marius Goring), the commander of the island. They take Kreipe across very rough country to a secluded cove on the far side of the island, where they are picked up and taken to Cairo.


    Cast



    MURPHY'S WAR  1971

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    PlotIt is the closing days of World War II and Irishman Murphy is the sole survivor of the crew of a merchant ship, Mount Kyle, which has been sunk by a German U-Boat, which then machine-gunned the survivors in the water. Murphy makes it ashore (to a missionary settlement on the Orinoco in Venezuela) where he is treated by a pacifist Quaker doctor.

    When he discovers the U-Boat is hiding further up river, under the cover of the jungle, he sets about obsessively plotting his revenge to sink it by any means, including using the Grumman J2F Duck(a floatplane) from the Mount Kyle. The floatplane had been recovered, the wounded pilot later being shot dead in his hospital bed by the U-boat captain, in order to preserve the secret of its location and, presumably, its action in shooting survivors in the water.

    Murphy learns how to fly the plane in the most daring way, getting it out on the choppy waters of the river and discovering how the controls work by trial and error. This extensive flying scene involves lots of shots of the floatplane veering sharply to avoid buildings, the jungle and stalling.

    Starring

    Peter O'Toole
    Siân Phillips
    Philippe Noiret
    Horst Janson

    THE EAGLE  HAS LANDED 1976  (RATED 15) 130 mins  +  TO DIE FOR  1995 (RATED 15) 102 mins

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    Plot summaryInspired by the rescue of Hitler's ally Benito Mussolini by Otto Skorzeny, a similar idea is considered by Hitler, with the support of Himmler (Donald Pleasence). Admiral Canaris (Anthony Quayle), head of the Abwehr (German military intelligence), is ordered to make a feasibility study of the seemingly impossible task of capturing the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and bringing him to Germany.

    Canaris considers the idea a joke, but realizes that although Hitler will soon forget the matter, Himmler will not. Fearing Himmler may try to discredit him, Canaris orders one of his officers, OberstRadl (Robert Duvall) to undertake the study, despite feeling that it is a waste of time.

    An Unteroffizier on Radl's staff finds that one of their spies, code named Starling, has provided tantalizing intelligence - Winston Churchill is to visit an airfield near the village of Studley Constable inNorfolk, where Joanna Grey (Jean Marsh), a German sleeper agent lives. Radl comes up with a scheme that could work. Himmler summons Radl and unofficially tells him to proceed, without notifying Canaris. Radl recruits Liam Devlin (Donald Sutherland), a member of the IRA lecturing at a Berlin university, to the mission.

    Radl looks for a suitable officer to lead the mission and chances upon the highly decorated and experienced, but conflicted, Fallschirmjäger officer Oberst Kurt Steiner (Michael Caine). While returning from the Eastern Front, Steiner intervened when SS soldiers rounded up Jews at a railway station in Poland, and attempted to save the life of a teenage girl who was shot while trying to escape. For this, he was court-martialled, along with a platoon of his men. Rather than face the firing squad, the men were allowed to transfer to a penal unit on the Channel Island of Alderney, where they made high risk attacks with torpedo boats against British channel convoys.


    Cast