Operation Crossbow

Another in the long string of '60s World War II commando flicks, Operation Crossbow (1965) is a middling entry in the subgenre. Working on a story by Emeric Pressburger, it shakily balances serious drama with Boy's Own adventure. The end result is entertaining enough despite some bloated passages.

Shortly before D-Day, British military intelligence gets word that Germany is working on a secret weapon to turn the tide of the war. Aerial reconassiance raises suspicions that the Germans are building rocket-propelled bombs, pilotless aircraft with seemingly infinite range, but rocket scientist Dr. Lindemann (Trevor Howard) is skeptical. Spymaster Boyd (John Mills) decides to send a trio of agents - American Curtis (George Peppard) and Brits Bradley (Jeremy Kemp) and Crenshaw (Tom Courtenay) - to infiltrate the German factory disguised as scientists and determine. They find the Germans are indeed working on a rocket system - not only the V-1 and V-2's, but the V-10, a truly monstrous weapon that could possibly reach America! As the first rockets begin reaching London, and German intelligence find out what's amiss, Curtis and Co. must act fast.

Like The Guns of Navarone, Operation Crossbow isn't content to be wall-to-wall action and wraps its heroics in a decidedly serious package. The first half hour of the film is exhaustive exposition, more befitting something like The Longest Day or A Bridge Too Far, with Winston Churchill himself (Patrick Wymark) demanding the Nazis be stopped. We don't even meet the protagonists until the forty-minute mark. The seriousness pays off with some genuinely dark moments: Henshaw is betrayed and left in the lurch, while Nora (Sophia Loren), the wife of the scientist Curtis is impersonating, is dealt a shocking fate. Even our protagonists aren't safe in a refreshing change of pace. It's also nice to see the commandos forced to speak German behind enemy lines, a touch that puts something like The Dirty Dozen to shame.

Mostly though, the film's serious veneer is undercut by its imaginative, fantastic action. Crossbow was released at the height of the James Bond craze, and the movie's "infiltrate the enemy's superfortress to save the world" sensibility is very much in the vein of 007. The efforts at serious "realism" are lost in the conventional second half, and go out the window when Curtis holds off seemingly the entire Wehrmacht with an MP-40 like so many screen commandos before him. This isn't a criticism per se, but the film is a mite schizophrenic. The actions our heroes undertake may well be a sacred patriotic duty (as the coda so earnestly insists), but the movie's best-viewed as light entertainment.

Journeyman Michael Anderson does a fine job handling the film. Despite a slow pace the movie retains a sense of urgency throughout, with the danger believably multiplying as the first rockets smash into London. The script does a decent job juggling its tone and story lines, even if the exposition goes on too long; some of its big plot twists are truly surprising and well-handled. The finale (with Curtis fighting off Nazi guards while the RAF shows up) is a grandly staged set-piece, aside from some poorly-matched stock footage. Ron Goodwin's rousing score is another highlight.

George Peppard gives his usual performance: handsome but wooden. He's perfectly adequate for his square-jawed hero role, though. Jeremy Kemp (A Bridge Too Far) and Tom Courtenay (Doctor Zhivago) come off better despite marginal screen time, with Courtenay getting the film's meatiest bits. Producer's wife Sophia Loren gets first billing for an extended cameo; despite little screen time and anachronistic makeup, she does well with a tragic character.

Our leads are backed by an astonishing supporting cast. The standouts are Lilli Palmer's underground contact and Anthony Quayle's (Lawrence of Arabia) turncoat spy. The lengthy exposition is made bearable by the presence of Britain's top character talent: Trevor Howard (Ryan's Daughter), John Mills (Tunes of Glory), Maurice Denham (The Day of the Jackal), Richard Johnson (Khartoum) and Alan Cuthbertson (The Guns of Navarone) all put in appearances. The line-up of Nazis is equally formidable: Paul Henreid (Casablanca), Anton Diffring and Ferdy Mayne (both of Where Eagles Dare) are the most recognizable. Barbara Rutting has a nice part as Hannah Reitsch, a real-life German pilot (see Downfall).

Operation Crossbow is a good war flick that achieves what it sets out to do. From a film like this, you can't ask for much more, though it's best to ignore its posturing as a "serious" film.