Operation Crossbow (1965)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Michael Anderson

Writers:

Duilio Coletti (story) &
Vittoriano Petrilli (story) ...

Release Date:

1 April 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Plot:

Allied agents attempt to infiltrate the Nazis' rocket research site.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Rocket | V1 | Bomb | Test Pilot

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Sophia Loren	...	Nora
George Peppard	...	Lt. John Curtis
Trevor Howard	...	Professor Lindemann
John Mills	...	General Boyd
Richard Johnson	...	Duncan Sandys
Tom Courtenay	...	Robert Henshaw
Jeremy Kemp	...	Phil Bradley
Anthony Quayle	...	Bamford
Lilli Palmer	...	Frieda
Paul Henreid	...	General Ziemann
Helmut Dantine	...	General Linz
Barbara Rütting	...	Hannah Reitsch (as Barbara Rueting)
Richard Todd	...	Wing Cmdr. Kendall
Sylvia Syms	...	Constance Babington Smith
John Fraser	...	Flight Lt. Kenny

Also Known As:

The Great Spy Mission (UK) (USA) (reissue title)
Code Name: Operation Crossbow

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some war violence.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (35 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16 | USA:PG-13 | UK:PG (video rating) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Holkham Beach and Estate, Norfolk, England, UK

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios

Trivia:

Average Shot Length = ~6.7 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~6.3 seconds.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the aerial shots of London as V-1s approach, 1960s era communications towers and power station cooling towers can be seen.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Undergrunnen (1966)

It Goes from Very Good to Less Than Average

"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. But nothing more than that. A pity.