When people discuss the history of the James Bond movies they rarely seem to go into Warwick Productions with much detail – which is a shame since that’s the production company from whence Albert Broccoli, Richard Maibaum and Terence Young first all worked together. They all teamed on this war film, an above-average look at a number of paratroopers from just after Dunkirk to the North African campaign.
The main strengths of the film are the performances of Leo Genn (stiff upper lip officer) and Harry Andrews (the archetypal RSM), plus the semi-documentary look at like in a paratroop regiment. It’s well directed by Young and the support cast is strong.
Alan Ladd’s performance in the lead is a debit, though – not only does he come across as not that keen to be in the film, he has little chemistry with his female co star (though am I right in thinking it’s heavily implied that they root during the blackout?) and the whole thing of people referring to him constantly as “Canada” is irritating (it’s like they went “hey let’s all try to fit in our US star” but they go on and on and on about it).
The first bit is the best: basic training and learning to deal with death; there are also two impressive action set pieces: a raid on France and one on North Africa (where they get out of trouble by using a blow-up-things-in-order bazooka, a device similar to From Russia With Love). Outstays its welcome eventually.
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