Operation Crossbow (1965)

Director:

Michael Anderson

Writers:

Duilio Coletti (original story) and
Vittoriano Petrilli (original story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1 April 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

Sabotage of Hitler's ingenious weapons of mass destruction...the V1 and V2 rockets!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Rocket | German | V1 | V2

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Sophia Loren	...	Nora
George Peppard	...	Lt. John Curtis
Trevor Howard	...	Prof. Lindemann
John Mills	...	Gen. Boyd
Richard Johnson	...	Duncan Sandys
Tom Courtenay	...	Robert Henshaw
Jeremy Kemp	...	Phil Bradley
Anthony Quayle	...	Bamford
Lilli Palmer	...	Frieda
Paul Henreid	...	Gen. Ziemann
Helmut Dantine	...	Gen. Linz
Barbara Rütting	...	Hannah Reitsch (as Barbara Rueting)
Richard Todd	...	Wing Cmdr. Kendall
Sylvia Syms	...	Constance Babington Smith
John Fraser	...	Flight Lt. Kenny
Maurice Denham	...	RAF Officer
Patrick Wymark	...	Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Wolf Frees	...	German Police Inspector
Moray Watson	...	Col. Kenneth Post
Richard Wattis	...	Sir Charles Sims
Allan Cuthbertson	...	German Technical Examiner
Karel Stepanek	...	Prof. Hoffer
William Mervyn
Milo Sperber	...	German Hotel Porter
George Mikell
Ferdy Mayne	...	German Officer at rocket plant
Robert Brown	...	Air Commodore
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gordon Jackson	...	R.A.F. Pilot (scenes deleted)
John Le Mesurier	...	British Army Officer (scenes deleted)
John Abineri	...	German Policeman (uncredited)
John Alderton	...	RAF 'Dakota' Navigator (uncredited)
Guy Deghy	...	Dutch Barge Skipper (uncredited)
Anton Diffring	...	German Soldier (uncredited)
Carl Duering	...	German Officer Arriving at Rocket Plant (uncredited)
Frank Foley	...	Parachute Instructor (uncredited)
John G. Heller	...	German Officer in Charge of V2 Launch (uncredited)
Drewe Henley	...	(uncredited)
Gertan Klauber	...	Security Guard at Rocket Plant (uncredited)
Charles Lloyd Pack	...	Technical Examiner (uncredited)
Philip Madoc	...	German Police Officer (uncredited)
James Payne	...	Lorry Driver in Airfield (uncredited)
John Ronane	...	RAF 'Dakota' Pilot (uncredited)
Jeremy Spenser	...	SS Officer at Rocket Plant (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Anderson

Writing credits
Duilio Coletti		(original story) and
Vittoriano Petrilli		(original story)
Emeric Pressburger		(screenplay) (as Richard Imrie) &
Derry Quinn		(screenplay) and
Ray Rigby		(screenplay)

Produced by
Carlo Ponti	....	producer

Original Music by
Ron Goodwin

Cinematography by
Erwin Hillier		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ernest Walter

Art Direction by
Elliot Scott

Makeup Department
George Blackler	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Sydney Streeter	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Basil Rayburn	....	assistant director
Stuart Black	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Willem Mooijman	....	props language advisor (uncredited)

Sound Department
J.B. Smith	....	dubbing mixer
Allan Sones	....	sound editor
Gerry Turner	....	sound recordist
A.W. Watkins	....	recording supervisor

Special Effects by
Tom Howard	....	special effects
Martin Gutteridge	....	special effects (uncredited)
Jimmy Harris	....	special effects (uncredited)
Garth Inns	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Kindred	....	camera operator (as Robert Kindred)
Wally Fairweather	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Martyn K.E. Green	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Ron Goodwin	....	conductor

Transportation Department
Eddie Frewin	....	transportation chief (uncredited)

Other crew
Bernard Doret	....	subtitles

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios (presents) (as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) (as A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture also)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (France) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1970) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• Indies Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• 905 Entertainment

Other Companies

• MGM/UA Home Video  VHS package design
• Turner Entertainment  VHS package design

Also Known As:

"The Great Spy Mission" - UK (alternative title), USA (reissue title)

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:

Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16 | USA:PG-13 | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | UK:A (original rating) | Iceland:12 | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:PG | UK:PG (tv rating)

Filming Locations:

Holkham Beach and Estate, Norfolk, England, UK

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios

Trivia:

The character of Constance Babington Smith in this movie, played by Sylvia Syms, was a real-life person. She was a British military officer who in 1957 after the Second World War wrote the book, 'Air Spy: the Story of Photo Intelligence in World War II'.

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:

Featured in "Galactica 1980: Galactica Discovers Earth: Part 2 (#1.2)" (1980)

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.