Operation Crossbow (film)
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| Operation Crossbow | |
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| Directed by | Michael Anderson |
| Produced by | Carlo Ponti |
| Written by | Emeric Pressburger, Derry Quinn & Ray Rigby (screenplay) Duilio Coletti and Vittoriano Petrilli (story) |
| Starring | George Peppard Sophia Loren Trevor Howard John Mills |
| Music by | Ron Goodwin |
| Cinematography | Erwin Hillier |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | March 1965 |
| Running time | 115 mins |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Operation Crossbow (later re-released as The Great Spy Mission) is a 1965 spy thriller and World War II film, made from a story from Duilio Coletti and Vittoriano Petrilli. It is a highly fictionalized account of the real-life Operation Crossbow, but it does touch on the main aspects of the operation.
[edit] Plot summary
As D-Day approaches, Winston Churchill is concerned about rumours of a German flying bomb, and orders Duncan Sandys (Richard Johnson), one of his ministers, to investigate. Sandys is convinced by intelligence and photo-reconnaissance reports that the weapons exist, but scientific advisor Professor Lindemann (Trevor Howard) dismisses the reports as extremely fanciful. He is proved wrong when V-1's start falling on London. Bomber Command launches a raid to destroy the factory producing them.
The Germans move their factory underground for protection and rush ahead with the development and production of the larger, more deadly V-2. The head of British intelligence (John Mills) learns that engineers are actively being recruited for the new weapon and decides to infiltrate the factory. He finds three qualified volunteers, all experienced engineers who speak German. They are hastily trained and sent to Germany via Holland.
Too late, they learn that one of them, Robert Henshaw (Tom Courtenay), has been given the cover identity of a man wanted by the police for murder. Sure enough, he is arrested, but released after being blackmailed into becoming an informer. But he is recognised by a security officer (Anthony Quayle) and interrogated. Refusing to reveal his mission, he is tortured by the Gestapo and then shot.
The other two, Lieutenant John Curtis (George Peppard) and Phil Bradley (Jeremy Kemp), manage to infiltrate the underground factory. Bradley is only able to get work as a porter/cleaner, but Curtis manages to work his way into the heart of the project, where he is assigned to fix the problem of engine vibration that is holding up the V-2's development.
The two agents send back information and learn that the RAF is mounting a nighttime bombing raid on the facility - but the protective doors on the ceiling must be opened to expose the plant and provide a landmark for the bombers. The controls are in the powerhouse; Bradley is shot, but Curtis is able to get in. As the Germans frantically try to break in, the fatally wounded man manages to open the doors before he dies. The raid succeeds in obliterating the factory.
[edit] Notes
To help the box office, Sophia Loren appears, courtesy of her husband and producer of the film Carlo Ponti, in a cameo role. Despite getting lead billing, she has only a small role in one scene. She plays the Italian wife of 'Erik van Ostamgen', a dead man whose identity has been appropriated by Curtis, Peppard's character, and is murdered to maintain secrecy.
[edit] External links
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