Tonight We Raid Calais (1943)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

John Brahm

Writers:

Rohama Lee (story)
Waldo Salt (writer)

Release Date:

30 April 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

British Intellengence dispatches Commando Geoffrey Carter (John Sutton) on a one-man raid to destroy...

Plot Keywords:

British Agent | Nazi Occupation | Beautiful Woman | Occupied Nation | Place Name In Title

Cast

Annabella	...	Odette Bonnard
John Sutton	...	Geoffrey Carter
Lee J. Cobb	...	Bonnard
Beulah Bondi	...	Mme. Bonnard
Blanche Yurka	...	Widow Grelieu
Howard Da Silva	...	Sgt. Block
Marcel Dalio	...	Jaques Grandet
Ann Codee	...	Mme. Grandet

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Solo Commando raid on France with help of French farmers

Production values are very basic in this quickly made WW II soft-propaganda effort. The writing is wooden and predictable with the appropriate highs and lows considering the patriotic terrain of 1942-43. There were hundreds of these films made--inexpensive, short and fit right into the lower half of a double feature--the meat and potatoes of the time. There is a U.S. War Bonds logo at the end of the film, and as I remember it, they would actually go around in the movie house and collect for the war effort. John Sutton manages to make a payday with his acting, and a young Lee J. Cobb (made up to look older!) does show signs of his later greatness. Annabella's part is so contrived, that it would have challenged a far better actress to make it work. To the history of propaganda cinema buffs, "Calais" should hold one's interest.