After a string of films that under-performed at the box office, Powell and Pressburger finally had a big hit with an old fashioned war movie. It’s not a favourite with their big fans (although Powell devotes pages upon pages to it in his second volume of memoirs), but I enjoyed it.
There are occasional flashes of the old style – the opening sequence where captured British sailors enter the Graf Spee and there are these massive hangers. And the sympathetic treatment of the Germans is very Archers: when Bernard Lee is brought on board complaining about being captured in Portugese waters, Peter Finch advises him to fill out a complaint form and offers him a drink; the British prisoners are visited by singing Germans at Christmas; the Germans seem really glad that their prisoners are being released; Lee seems to have a man crush on Peter Finch. They really lay it on with a trowel.
There are three distinct acts – capture of British sailors, the battle, diplomatic intrigue. It’s not a hero's journey film at all – heroes come and go. Peter Finch isn’t in it that much – neither is Anthony Quayle or John Gregson.
It looks terrific – white uniforms, blue skies and oceans; there was co operation from the British navy which serves to provide tremendous production value It also feels real – the way the battle is fought, the diplomatic intrigues, etc.
Maybe I’m making it sound better than it is – the British characters are very bland, rather like the airmen in One of Our Aircraft is Missing. The battle scene was curiously unexciting - lots of stiff upper lips and being cool under pressure. It character of the German captain was under-developed. Still, it's not a traditional John Mills 50s war film, and is worth checking out.
NB The cast also includes Christopher Lee as a Uruguay cafe owner, Anthony Newley and John Schlesinger (apparently) as sailors.
No comments:
Post a Comment