Killing Hitler (2003) (TV)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Jeremy Lovering

Writer:

Jeremy Lovering (written by)

Release Date:

30 March 2003 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary | Drama | War

Tagline:

Mission impossible or the plan that could have changed history?

Plot:

A drama-documentary about Operation Foxley, a 1944 British plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler. |

Plot Keywords:

WWII | Docu Drama

Cast

Peter McDonald	...	MI Staff Officer L / BX
Kate Ashfield	...	Rachel
Kenneth Cranham	...	Brigadier Sir Stewart Menzies
Keith Allen	...	Major General Colin Gubbins
Andrew Scott	...	Sniper
Bohdan Poraj	...	Polish SOE Agent
Lara Belmont	...	Sandra
Vincent Regan	...	Major General Gerald Templar
Carsten Voigt	...	Dieser
Robert Goodale	...	Air Vice Marshall Alan Ritchie
Matilda Ziegler	...	Mrs. Holmes
Rupert Wickham	...	SS Officer
Scott Parker	...	SS Wachkompanie
Bruce Mackinnon	...	Scientist (as Bruce MacKinnon)
Robert Hands	...	Lieutenant Col. Ronald H. Thornley

Runtime:

120 min (2 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Netherlands:12

Company:

Diverse Productions

A real plot to kill Hitler, told BBC-style

Part documentary and part movie, this joint BBC/History Channel Mini-Series examines "Operation Foxley", a real SOE (Special Operations Executive) plot to kill Adolph Hitler in World War II that was never carried out. This 2 part mini-series uses actors and narration, mixed with archival footage, to tell the story of the development of the plan in November of 1944. It also utilizes a modern panel of experts who hash over the entire plan, dissecting and discussing the whys and wherefores and ultimately come to their own personal decisions as to whether or not the plan should have been carried out, and why. Additionally the program draws on some personal recollections of people who were alive at the time, both British and German. The film also touches on the cross-agency conflicts between the SOE and the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service - aka MI6). The entire story is told from the point of view of "LB/X", the code name for the British Staff Officer responsible for developing "Foxley".

The production is up to the usual BBC standards with accurate costuming and sets for the recreation of past events. For Americans the British documentary style can be occasionally jarring as the production switches from the modern panel of experts to the recreations and back again. Once you get used to it, though, the transitions are easy to take.

If you're looking for spies and war-time shootouts this is not the program for you. If you're interested in the historical facts, and educated "what-ifs", then this is for you and will keep your interest for the approximately 90 minute running time.