Operation Crossbow

Plot synopsis:
From 1943, Nazi Germany started working on terror weapons, the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket while British Intelligence learns about a new secret weapon. Technical problems with the V-1 lead the Germans to create a manned version to ascertain the flight problems of the rocket but all the test pilots are killed flying it. Aviator Hanna Reitsch (Barbara Rütting) successfully flies and lands the V-1 prototype, discovering the problem (mechanical shifting of the rocket's weight and change of speed) and how to solve it, which leads to the mass production of the V-1.
Winston Churchill (Patrick Wymark) is concerned about rumours of a German flying bomb and orders Duncan Sandys, his son-in-law (Richard Johnson), one of his ministers, to investigate. Sandys is convinced by intelligence and photo-reconnaissance reports that the weapons exist, but sceptical scientific advisor Professor Lindemann (Trevor Howard) dismisses the reports as extremely fanciful (ultimately he is proved wrong when V-1s start falling on London a year later in June 1944). Bomber Command launches a raid on Peenemünde on 17/18 August 1943 to destroy the factory producing them.
The Germans move their factory underground in Southern Germany 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 across occupied Europe for the new weapon and decides to infiltrate the factory. He finds three qualified volunteers, one an American, all experienced engineers who speak fluent German and Dutch. They are hastily trained and sent to Germany via the Netherlands. Amongst the volunteers interviewed but not selected is a British officer named Bamford (Anthony Quayle), who is actually a German undercover agent.
Just after the Allied agents are parachuted into occupied Europe, British Intelligence learns that one of them, Robert Henshaw (Tom Courtenay), has been given the cover identity of a Dutch sailor wanted by the police for murder. He is arrested but agrees to becoming an engineer to act as an informer for the Germans. However, he is recognised by Bamford, who has returned to Germany as a security officer. Refusing to reveal his mission, he is tortured by the Gestapo and then shot when he refuses to co-operate.
A further complication occurs when Nora (Sophia Loren), the wife of the man whom USAAF Lieutenant John Curtis (George Peppard) is impersonating, comes to visit her husband to obtain custody of their children. Although innocent, the wife can compromise the mission. Curtis assures Nora that she will be allowed to rejoin her children, but, to maintain the mission's secrecy, after Curtis leaves, the German contact, Frieda (Lilli Palmer) who runs the hotel where Curtis is staying, kills Nora.
Curtis and Phil Bradley (Jeremy Kemp) manage to infiltrate the underground factory. Bradley is only able to 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 Royal Air Force is mounting a nighttime bombing raid on the facility, but the protective doors on the ceiling, that cover the ready-to-launch large A9/A10 "New York Rocket", must be opened to expose the plant and provide a landmark for the bombers. The controls are in the powerhouse; Bradley is killed by Bamford, but Curtis is able to shoot his way in. As the Germans frantically try to stop him, the fatally wounded Curtis opens the doors before he dies. The raid succeeds in obliterating the factory.

Tags: suspenseful, violence

Review:
Masterpiece WW 2 film.Excellent production and attention to detail.Good spy story with great cinematography and cast performances.Good visuals on the German V-1/V-2 efforts.Not too much Holywood watering down of storyline.Nice short performance by Loren.One of the top 50 best WW 2 movies ever.One of the top 250 best movies ever.Only for WW 2 spy movie fans who don't mind seeing London get blasted a bit and for big fans of the lead actors.......
Innically, the secret operation was called 'Operation Bodyline' but changed for the movie under " Operation Crossbow." The idea was to select allied officers, trained and educated as engineers, fly them to Germany, have them infiltrate the German War Machine and sabotage the entire V-rocket plant.
It deals with a trio (George Peppard , Tom Courtneay, Jeremy Kemp) of Allied agents are assigned by high command (John Mills , Richard Johnson , Trevor Howard , Richard Todd , Maurice Denham) to destroy a Nazi munitions installation .
Thrilling war film in which there are nail-biting action scenes , drama , intrigue , explosion , suspenseful set pieces and almost overloaded with stars .
Excellent production design and nice special effects , for the section of the film where RAF Bomber Command raid the Peenemunde rocket research site the producers used the Avro Lancaster PA474 used by the Cranfield institute of technology .
For the scene in which a street is wiped out by a V-2, the filmmakers actually destroyed a row of flats which were slated for demolition , the shot was, necessarily, done in one take.This movie is based on historical events , as there appears the character of Hannah Reitsch, played by Barbara Rütting , was a real-life person .
Furthermore , appears Duncan Sandys, a character in this movie played by Richard Johnson, was a real-life person ; Sandys was Chairman of the British War Cabinet Committee for the Defence against German rockets and flying bombs , he was the son-in-law of British wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill and was wounded during the Second World War in Norway in 1941 which resulted in him having a permanent limp .
MGM wanted to cash in on the worldwide Peppard super stardom for a movie at his home studio and before his contract elapsed MGM and Peppard agreed to "Operation Crossbow" produced by Carlo Ponti and filmed at MGM's London Studio.
MGM gave this film the highest of production values and the presence of Mrs. Ponti aka Sophia Loren first billed as box office insurance as Mr Peppard's co star in a small cameo.
Operation Crossbow is a rousing story of the allied commandos set out to destroy the Nazi rockets and the Action is non stop at a high pulse.
As this is a British movie, it was a very smart marketing idea to have a famous American actor, George Peppard, and a famous Italian actress, Sophia Loren, co-star in it.
George Peppard and Sophia Loren have significant roles, but are not the stars of the movie.
Details like portraying Hanna Reitsch and having accurate, and very good special effects make this far better than most World War II movies.
Robert Henshaw (Tom Courtenay), John Curtis (George Peppard) and Phil Bradley (Jeremy Kemp) are parachuted into Germany given the identities of dead Dutch engineers.
Nora Van Ostamgen (Sophia Loren) is the wife of Curtis' dead Dutch identity and she wants him to sign some papers.It's a fictional accounting of the real Allied operations against the German rocket weapons program.
The film is talky, that I agree, but the dialogue is very good and the story compelling with on the whole with tense suspense and atmosphere, intriguing subplots and a thrilling action-packed finale.
Above average spy film covering English attempts at foiling German plans for creation of "flying bomb" in midst of World War II.
This World War II movie starts off strong with an interesting story about the Nazis experimenting with rockets and showing some of the problems they had in getting them to work.
Sophia Loren and George Peppard in Great World War II Movie.
Starring Sophia Loren, George Peppard, Richard Johnson, Tom Courtenay, and cameos by Lili Palmer et al, this is an exciting and well directed Film.Some may carp that Sophia Loren who has a cameo but is top billed.
MGM cast George Peppard in this great film detailing the commandos who destroy a Nazi rocket factory to get one more Peppard film before George Peppard left MGM.I liked Richard Johnson a lot in this film as well as the veteran star Lili Palmer.Excellent World War II film as good as The Great Escape..
"Operation Crossbow" is a fictional movie based on historical events of World War II.
Fourth, it uses some actual war film footage sparingly.During World War II, Operation Crossbow was the code name for the overall Allied effort to destroy the German rocket and long-range bombing projects.
It features a pretty strong cast, headed by George Peppard as Lt. John Curtis, an American serviceman who helps to infiltrate the German plant producing the V-weapons.The movie held my attention throughout, although it's not really taut with either suspense or action until the last 20 minutes or so, which do get quite suspenseful.
"Operation Crossbow" is a World War II film that deals with the German's developing and launching of the V-1 and V-2 bombs over London.This movie starts as a very good project.
The fist part shows in one side the German's efforts to perfect the flying bombs and start to use them (they succeed) and on the other the British intelligence work to detect where the construction plant is in order to destroy it.
The plannig of the mission that will infiltrate men under false identities in the place and mark it for bombardiers to do the job is also entertaining.But somehow as soon as the guys succeed in entering the underground protected place the film just drops and turns into a cheap an less than average product with action scenes with no imagination at all and a total lack of impact and thrill.Another major flaw is George Peppard's casting in the leading role; he looks dull and doesn't show the presence and charisma the character requires.
Even worse, he is surrounded by excellent European supporting performers that remark his limited acting, such as Anthony Quayle, Trevor Howard, John Mills and an excellent Lilli Palmer, just to name a few.If you like World War II based stories you'll probably find this film interesting and perhaps enjoyable.
In order to get the most enjoyment out of OPERATION CROSSBOW it's necessary to view it as a tense espionage thriller rather than a flat out war film .
There's little in the way of battle sequences and what we have instead is something along the lines of a John Le Carre or Frederick Forsyth bestseller where a bunch of secret agents are sent to infiltrate the Nazi V weapon project and right away anything that can go wrong will go wrong I admit that this movie isn't entirely credible and we see a female Nazi test pilot .
We have an all star cast and despite some of the roles ( I'm thinking of the top billed Sophia Loren and Tom Courtenay ) being superfluous to the plot everyone gives a good performance .
This one is as Good as any.The Realistic Sets and Details are Convincing and it has a Big International Cast, mostly British except for Sophia Loren in a Small but Engaging Part and Headliner George Peppard.It's more of a Spy Movie than a Typical War Action and it Blends the Genres to make for a Gripping Real-Life Story about German Rocketry (Buzz Bombs and V1 & 2).
But GEORGE PEPPARD, SOPHIA LOREN, JEREMY KEMP, TOM COURTENAY, JOHN MILLS, RICHARD TODD, PAUL HENREID and HELMUT DANTINE all lend their presence to a tightly knit espionage yarn, handsomely photographed in vivid color.I'll have to watch this one on a repeat showing because of a conflict of schedule which didn't permit me to see the final scene, but I can tell you that it's done in the style of all those "mission" films from the '60s where it's necessary to assign spies to pose as Germans in order to infiltrate what's going on in a munitions factory where the latest weapons are being developed.Worthwhile if you enjoy WWII adventures done up in typical Hollywood style with a good cast.
They send American military engineer George Peppard (as John Curtis) along with Jeremy Kemp (as Phil Bradley) and Tom Courtenay (as Robert Henshaw) over to infiltrate and destroy the German underground factory from the inside.
His character often appears to be lacking in determination - this is somewhat remedied by the script and some closing action...Everyone else is the cast is supporting Peppard, including top-billed Sophia Loren (as Nora).
Of those orchestrating the mission, Richard Johnson (as Duncan Sandys) plays a good part.****** Operation Crossbow (4/1/65) Michael Anderson ~ George Peppard, Jeremy Kemp, Sophia Loren, Tom Courtenay.
Despite the nice production values this war movie doesn't rise above a pedestrian telling of some heroic mission 'round the end of WWII.Ah, and it happens to be about V1 and V2 German secret weapons.Ah, and there are mighty good actors scattered in it.The rest is a soulless movie with a big lousy procrastinating device: the extended cameo by Sophia Loren.
A great cast squandered in a ponderously directed and edited stagy production of how the Nazis built their rockets and the Allies got all upset about it.At least it's one of the few portrayals of the great pilot, Hannah Reitsch, as a V-1 test pilot.And you have to wonder how -- or why -- in a war film you find Sophia Loren at the top of the credit list..
Featured in this task marking mission are:Sophia Loren, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Lili Palmer, George Peppard, Richard Todd and Anthony Quayle..
3- We can pay their life without any personal gifts to save the country from bad destiny.The best quote in this film appeared by Churchill the British prime - minister after the success of this operation (we can build new England after this operation to re pure the loss of war in London by Terese,swallow and great effort)..
Elaborate underground German rocket base reminds me of a Ken Adem set.Sophia's early demise is a startling shock which adds credibility to the film as a thriller.
Movie's basic outline concerns the development of the German V-1 and V-2 weapons and the subsequent  allied attempt  to infiltrate the underground factories at  Peenemünde, where most of these these so-called `Vergeltungswaffen' ('revenge' weapons) were assembledRichard Anderson is the British government top official  who  puts  a team together- Peppard, Kemp and Courtenay- posing as Dutch engineers volunteering to work for the Reich.As the spystory itself is undoubtedly heavily fictionalised the rest is pretty  historically accurate.
Moviegoers were expecting some straightforward   war epic as "The battle of the Bulge", "The Heroes of Telemark" or "Von Ryan's Express", all released in 1965, with plenty of action but seriously lacking in the historic credibility department.(spoiler ahead) Actors are solid but watch out for Anthony Quayle as an unusually shrewd German counterintelligence officer and the fact that some of the main stars get killed halfway the movie.
Special effects in recreating the V-weapons  and their subsequent effect on London are, definitly for that time, very well executed.There are several subplots,  one involving Sophia Loren, but most interesting is the one with famous female  Nazi test-pilot Hannah Reitsch (Barbara Rütting), as what must be only time  she is personified on the big screen.
The later ICBM's carrying nuclear warheads are all  based on the V2.(major spoiler ahead) Finally the produces  must have realised they had tot put some action sequences in it to justify the star cast and budget resulting  in a  very Bondlike  action sequence trying to prevent, with the help of Bomber Command,  a test flight of an improved V2  capable of reaching New York (!).The British actually bombed Peenemunde several times, which seriously delayed construction time and was instrumental in moving  almost the whole plant  underground (as most German heavy industry after 1943).
British Director Michael Anderson  is best-known for another WWII tale `The Dam Busters', also  the SF-epic `Logan's Run' and the TV-series `The Martian Chronicles'  He was active until 2000,still turning out the occasional TV-movie.George Peppard and Jeremy Kemp would team up again next year in the spectacular `The Blue Max' this time not involving rockets  but WWI flying crates.
The REAL story of Operation Crossbow, the bombing of Germany's rocket plants during WWII.Production values of the underground factory are first rate.
It still works just fine, but it's no more than an ordinary war-action film with a good Ron Goodwin music score and little else to offer of any interest.
The main three characters are played by the nervous Tom Courtenay, the heroic George Peppard, and the excellent Jeremy Kemp, all of whom are parachuted into occupied Holland and forced to undertake false identities in a bid to infiltrate the institution in which the rockets are being built.
She also surprisingly gets shot by Lilli Palmer because although Peppard thought he had found a way to save her Palmer knows that the mission is too important and too many peoples lives depend on it to be able to trust Loren.The final part of the film is tense where Peppard and Kemp have to open the doors to mark the position of the installation for the bombers.This has a star studded cast.
Here we have a war film dealing with Nazi Germanys attempts to build and launch the dreaded V1 and V2 rockets.Lots and lots of superb well known faces here and quite a few more that ended up on the cutting room floor by all accounts.The good: Tells the story from both perspectives on one hand we have the dying Nazi war machine trying to build wonder weapons to bomb its way to victory and then we have Richard Johnson and John Mills desperately trying to launch bombing raids and spying missions to foil them while getting little help from ignorant Trevor Howard.Some good little plot twists such as the identity of man Tom Courtney assumes being wanted by the police which seals his fate due to another bit of bad luck.
Gearge Peppard was OK but the part needed more,to me he was out shone by Jeremy Kemp when they had scenes together.All in all a good film with lots of fine actors telling the story of another dark chapter of world war two.A lot better war film than the over hyped Guns of Navarone..
Old hearthrob, Richard Johnson as Sandys (Pronounced 'Sands') the War minister, John Mills as intelligence chief, Boyd, Jeremy Kemp as Bradley (Who incidentally played alongside Peppard about a year later in 'The Blue Max')also, a young Tom Courtney as Henshaw and Anthony Quayle heads as the traitor, Bamford.Bamford is sitting talking to Henshaw in the interview room in London, gleaning what he can on the face of the intelligence services asking for 'engineers who speak German' when recruiting the agents.
In fact, Sandys is arguing the toss with Lindemann at the precise moment the first reports of a V-1 is spotted, shooting down Lindemann in flames!The film also shows the development of the 'V-Weapons', through Hanna Reitsch's involvement with the test-flying of the V-1, added suspense of the agents cover being blown and the first V-1 and V-2 attacks on London with great relish by the Nazis.
The on-location filming in Europe, in wide screen color, is another big plus.The story involves the German development of missile bombs as well as the V-2 rockets that devastated London in the early part of the war (before American involvement).
George Peppard was the Mel Gibson of his day, nice photography and a good story make this an underrated war movie.
At one point in the movie, right after Sophia Loren has shown up at the hotel she and George Peppard begin a conversation in German, but then she says,"my German is not very good" in German, then begins to speak to him in English because she had heard him speaking English to Tom Courtenay.
It's pretty dangerous, and in the end no one of import survives the requisite apocalyptic explosion as the Lancasters bomb hell out of the rocket factory.It has an all-star cast -- Paul Henreid, Sophia Loren, John Mills, and -- well, just about everybody you might imagine.
I expected a lot more from this action movie.Firstly, There is way too much talking and sophia lorens scene is completely irrelevant, i think that whole sequence was shot purely for the excuse of having a famous actress star in the picture.
All it showcases is British intelligence officers argue and debate while the Nazis take turns at flying a V1.During the long, boring intermission, sophia lorens character gets randomly drunk and flirts with George Peppard.
It's also confusing as the cast switch between English and German with no warning, Sophia Loren's appearance as George Peppard's love interest in a German hotel and her sudden execution seem pointless, and parts of the film are slow moving.However, this is compensated for by some excellent sets and action at the end.
This tense World War II thriller about the threat that the Nazi V-1 and V-2 rockets posed to the Allies after D-Day in 1944 does not surpass "The Dam Busters." Director Michael Anderson helmed both films, and producer Carlo Ponti blew major bucks on this large-scale saga about sabotage behind enemy lines in an underground German laboratory.
Nevertheless,this atmospheric, star-laden movie lacks the momentum and the charisma of "The Dam Busters." Aside from George Peppard and Sophia Loren, who appears in an cameo, a line-up of classic British actors, including John Mills, Richard Johnson, Tom Courtenay, Trevor Howard, Anthony Qayle, Richard Todd, Allan Cuthbertson and Patrick Wymark, dominate the cast.