"Operation Amsterdam" is an excellent movie about a little known espionage mission and rescue raid early in World War II. The movie is based on true events from a novel by David E. Walker. Walker was a war correspondent and was connected with British military intelligence. After the war, he wrote 10 novels. Most were war-related. The most famous of his works was "Adventure in Diamonds," on which this movie is based. It went through 30 printings in four languages from 1955 to 1980.
The story is about a special mission put together hastily to get the industrial diamonds out of Amsterdam after the Germans invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940. Amsterdam then was the diamond capital of the world – handling the bulk of the world's uncut diamonds. Today, that distinction goes to nearby Antwerp, Belgium.
One wonders if author Walker had something to do with the operation, or if he just learned of it in his intelligence and journalist functions. Anyway, it's a nice plot with excellent technical production and other values. At least one other reviewer commented about the starkness of the street scenes and reality of the scenes around the harbor. I agree. This movies was made within 14 years after the end of the war, when it was possible to stage such scenes, and when the lay of the land hadn't changed so much form the war years. There were yet no modern buildings, ships and other things that one would see today.
One or two people found it a slow-moving film. Well, if one expects lots of war action, that's true. But that's not what the story was about. I think the director and others did an admirable job in portraying the sense of uneasiness mixed with fear, confusion and worry among the people in Amsterdam as they awaited the German occupation.
The cast are all very good. The leads especially are excellent. Peter Finch is Jan Smit, Eva Bartok is Anna, Tony Britton is Major Dillon Alexander Knox is Walter Keyster, Malcolm Keen is Johan Smit and Christopher Rhodes is Alex. I think the film showed very well what we learned in history – how many of the Jews were conflicted about giving up their wealth which might be used for bargaining chips later on. At that time, the Holocaust was just beginning and there was little knowledge of what would happen. To most people then, it probably seemed so heinous as to be unbelievable. But for our hindsight today, most people living now may have felt and believed as they did then. Even with the warnings of the persecution and oppression of Jews since Kirstallnact of 1933, many people couldn't fathom the depths of depravity to which the human race could fall in the ensuring Nazi pogrom.
One other aspect of this movie is noteworthy. This film, made in 1959, depicts an ugly side of some of the Dutch population at the outbreak of the war. A significant number of people were sympathizers with Germany, if not with the Nazi party. And, there were quite a few collaborators. A couple of other later movies about the Dutch Resistance during the war bring that point home. It was in Amsterdam that a family hid Anne Frank's family, but a suspicious neighbor eventually betrayed the Franks and their protectors. In this film, a sizable number of the Dutch military in Amsterdam seem to have been won over to the German cause. German paratroopers were used to take some key places and foment disorder, but it's not likely that they replaced so many Dutch soldiers in uniform.
While not a film with lots of action, there is considerable suspense and intrigue in "Operation Amsterdam" to keep viewers on the edge of our seats. It's historical value make it an important film to include in any serious World War II film collection.
The story is about a special mission put together hastily to get the industrial diamonds out of Amsterdam after the Germans invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940. Amsterdam then was the diamond capital of the world – handling the bulk of the world's uncut diamonds. Today, that distinction goes to nearby Antwerp, Belgium.
One wonders if author Walker had something to do with the operation, or if he just learned of it in his intelligence and journalist functions. Anyway, it's a nice plot with excellent technical production and other values. At least one other reviewer commented about the starkness of the street scenes and reality of the scenes around the harbor. I agree. This movies was made within 14 years after the end of the war, when it was possible to stage such scenes, and when the lay of the land hadn't changed so much form the war years. There were yet no modern buildings, ships and other things that one would see today.
One or two people found it a slow-moving film. Well, if one expects lots of war action, that's true. But that's not what the story was about. I think the director and others did an admirable job in portraying the sense of uneasiness mixed with fear, confusion and worry among the people in Amsterdam as they awaited the German occupation.
The cast are all very good. The leads especially are excellent. Peter Finch is Jan Smit, Eva Bartok is Anna, Tony Britton is Major Dillon Alexander Knox is Walter Keyster, Malcolm Keen is Johan Smit and Christopher Rhodes is Alex. I think the film showed very well what we learned in history – how many of the Jews were conflicted about giving up their wealth which might be used for bargaining chips later on. At that time, the Holocaust was just beginning and there was little knowledge of what would happen. To most people then, it probably seemed so heinous as to be unbelievable. But for our hindsight today, most people living now may have felt and believed as they did then. Even with the warnings of the persecution and oppression of Jews since Kirstallnact of 1933, many people couldn't fathom the depths of depravity to which the human race could fall in the ensuring Nazi pogrom.
One other aspect of this movie is noteworthy. This film, made in 1959, depicts an ugly side of some of the Dutch population at the outbreak of the war. A significant number of people were sympathizers with Germany, if not with the Nazi party. And, there were quite a few collaborators. A couple of other later movies about the Dutch Resistance during the war bring that point home. It was in Amsterdam that a family hid Anne Frank's family, but a suspicious neighbor eventually betrayed the Franks and their protectors. In this film, a sizable number of the Dutch military in Amsterdam seem to have been won over to the German cause. German paratroopers were used to take some key places and foment disorder, but it's not likely that they replaced so many Dutch soldiers in uniform.
While not a film with lots of action, there is considerable suspense and intrigue in "Operation Amsterdam" to keep viewers on the edge of our seats. It's historical value make it an important film to include in any serious World War II film collection.