The Heroes of Telemark (1965)

Director:

Anthony Mann

Writers:

Ben Barzman (screenplay)
Ivan Moffat (screenplay)

Release Date:

November 1965 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

COME FROZEN HELL OR HIGH ADVENTURE...Their Mission: Stop the Nazis from developing the atom bomb!

Plot:

Norwegian resistance tries to stop German troops to produce an atomic bomb component during WW2. Based on a true story.

Plot Keywords:

Heavy Water | Norwegian Resistance | Commando | Norway | Traitor

Cast

Kirk Douglas	...	Dr. Rolf Pedersen
Richard Harris	...	Knut Straud
Ulla Jacobsson	...	Anna Pedersen
Michael Redgrave	...	Uncle
David Weston	...	Arne
Sebastian Breaks	...	Gunnar
John Golightly	...	Freddy
Alan Howard	...	Oli
Patrick Jordan	...	Henrik
William Marlowe	...	Claus
Brook Williams	...	Einar
Roy Dotrice	...	Jensen
Anton Diffring	...	Maj. Frick
Ralph Michael	...	Nilssen
Eric Porter	...	Terboven

Also Known As:

Anthony Mann's The Heroes of Telemark (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

131 min | Germany:108 min | West Germany:123 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German | Norwegian

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:11 | UK:U | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Gausta, Telemark, Norway

Company:

Benton Film Productions

Trivia:

In the ski-ing chase where the black-clad Jensen (Roy Dotrice) is pursuing Pedersen (Kirk Douglas), Dotrice's stand-in double was one of the original saboteur heroes of the WWII Telemark operation.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Dr. Pedersen is a professor at the University of Oslo, and we see Mr Straudt entering the old university building in downtown Oslo. However, the Department of Physics, moved to a new suburbian campus in 1935 (8 years before the events in the movie).

Quotes:

Nilssen: That is... I must say that is fantastic efficiency!
Sturmfuhrer: Don't you ever make the mistake by underrating the Germans. By any means.
Sturmfuhrer: By Easter we will not have merely 10000 pounds of heavy water, but 12000 pounds of heavy water.

Movie Connections:

Featured in War Stories (2006) (TV)

See it for the action, not the history.

This is a British Movie that received the Hollywierd treatment.One of my many peeves is "historical " movies that hoke things up, make things up, change things around. The real story is far more exciting and dramatic, why fictionalize it. The first attempt at attacking the Norsk Hydro plant, "Operation Freshman", a British glider commando raid, ended in disaster, one tow plane crashed killing its crew and commandos, the other glider crashed, those who weren't killed in the crash were captured and shot by the Gestapo under Hitler's "Commando Order" which authorized the execution of Allied commandos even when they were in uniform. An attempt by the USAAF to destroy the Norsk Hydro plant from the air failed, the British then turned to the Norwegian section of SOE. eight of them attacked the plant, did tremendous damage, escaped without loss. The Germans then decided to move the heavy water and its production equipment to Germany, it was American born Knut Haukelid and an another Norwegian who planted the charges than sank the ferry Hydro and defeated the Germans' attempt to build an atom bomb. I am not sure why the Norsk Hydro plant made heavy water, there were no Norwegian atomic scientists at the time. Nuclear physics was still a very theoretical subject. As with so many movies, see it for the action, then read the history. Best part of the movie is the portrayal of the sinking of the Hydro.