Operation Crossbow (1965)

Director:

Michael Anderson

Writers:

Duilio Coletti (story) &
Vittoriano Petrilli (story) ...

Release Date:

1 April 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Plot:

Allied agents attempt to infiltrate the Nazis' rocket research site.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Rocket | V1 | Bomb | Test Pilot

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Sophia Loren	...	Nora
George Peppard	...	Lt. John Curtis
Trevor Howard	...	Professor Lindemann
John Mills	...	General Boyd
Richard Johnson	...	Duncan Sandys
Tom Courtenay	...	Robert Henshaw
Jeremy Kemp	...	Phil Bradley
Anthony Quayle	...	Bamford
Lilli Palmer	...	Frieda
Paul Henreid	...	General Ziemann
Helmut Dantine	...	General Linz
Barbara Rütting	...	Hannah Reitsch (as Barbara Rueting)
Richard Todd	...	Wing Cmdr. Kendall
Sylvia Syms	...	Constance Babington Smith
John Fraser	...	Flight Lt. Kenny

Also Known As:

The Great Spy Mission (UK) (USA) (reissue title)
Code Name: Operation Crossbow

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some war violence.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Color:

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

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (35 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16 | USA:PG-13 | UK:PG (video rating) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Holkham Beach and Estate, Norfolk, England, UK

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios

Trivia:

Despite receiving top billing, Sophia Loren only appears in a extended cameo role. Producer Carlo Ponti, Loren's husband, believed his wife's popularity in the United States would boost the film's chances at the box office and had her billed accordingly.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Phil Bradley is interviewed for undercover work, he shows off his fluent German. Then, he is given a phony French identity and assigned to Belgium.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Damnation Alley (1977)

How the German V1 & 2 rockets where dealt with.

Excellent suspense movie. This one probably "disappeared among the "Guns of Navarone" imitators during the 60's. A pity, since it is worth having a look at. Some points in its favour: "Unpredictable" - characters who usually don't die in movies like this dies unexpectedly and in unexpected order (it doesn't follow the clichés). The spies sent on undercover missions into Germany are actually forced to speak German, and various ruses to cover up the accents have to be made. One negative aside though. At times it seems that two movies are being shown at the same time, a docu-drama about the actual bombings of England and a totally fictitious (albeit exciting) spy drama.