Starring: Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Baker, Anthony Quayle, James Darren, Irene Papas and Gia Scala. Directed by J. Lee Thompson.
I must confess, I'm not much one for war movies. I watched this one in the first place because I wanted to see James Darren. Having seen a library copy, I went out and bought the DVD. It's a marvelous movie--very exciting, very tense, and, in spite of the violence, not gory.
2,000 British soldiers are trapped and doomed to die in 6 days unless they can be rescued--but the huges guns on the strategically placed island of Navarone are preventing anyone from doing so. One attempt has already failed miserably. The Powers That Be decide to send in a team of saboteurs to destroy the guns--a mission that they honestly feel has no chance of sucess, but they have to try something.
Stanley Baker's character was the actual leader of the mission--chosen largely because he was "lucky", which was an important characteristic to have. Gregory Peck's charactor, Mallory, was selected because he was considered a top expert in mountain climbing--and they would have to ascend an almost sheer rock face when they reached Navarone. Also, he could speak Greek and German like a native. Anthony Quinn--Stavros--was a high-ranking Greek commando with knowlege of the area. David Niven's character, Miller, was a professor who specialized in demolitions. He refused to accept promotions because he didn't want the responsibilities. Anthony Quayle was an expert with a knife--who turned out to have grown sick of killing. James Darren's character, Pappadimos, on the other hand, was a stone killer who reveled in opportunities for mayhem.
Previously, Mallory's misplaced compassion had resulted in the deaths of Stavros' wife and children. Stavros plans to kill Mallory when the war is over, and Mallory is fully aware of his intentions.
To add to the movie's box-office appeal, it was decided--with the permission of the novel's author, Allistair Maclean--to add two female characters, members of the Greek resistance. One of them was Pappadimo's sister. I loved the scene where they met, when she hauled off and slapped him. ("What did you do that for?" "To remind you to write letters occasionally!") There is a still shot in the bonus section of Pappadimos reacting to a Nazi manhandling his sister, that apparently was cut for the movie.
Their journey to reach the guns is full of barriers and pitfalls. The ending is very exciting and satisfying.
David Niven was a joy to watch, with his droll humor. At one point, on a ship during a storm, he comes up through a hatch to see what's going on. Hit by a heavy deluge of water, he simply drops back down and covers the hatch. A little later, he staggers along the deck, bringing hot coffee to the men piloting the ship. Just as he reaches the pilot's cabin, he's hit with water again and nonchalantly empties out the tin cup before stepping inside.
The commentary by the director was very informative, and the reminiscing (sp) by Peck, Quinn, and Darren was lots of fun. During the storm scenes (shot in a huge tank) the crew apparently did not warn the actors when or where the heavy deluges of water would come, so that they would react to them more naturally. They had all been given their full directions before the shooting started, because the noise of the wind and water was too loud for the director to shout last minute directions. James Darren related that, at one point, the water knocked him off his feet and he went cascading down the deck. David Niven, clinging to a barrel, let go with one hand to wave bye-bye to him as he went past! Anthony Quinn told of how Niven nearly was killed during the storm scenes. He was suddenly missing. Gregory Peck dove down one side of the ship, Quinn the other. Quinn found Niven caught by his clothing on a piece of the machinery and hauled him to the surface.
The cliff-climbing scenes were mainly shot horizontally, to make maximum use of the actors and minimum use of stunt doubles.
Apparently Gia Scala was extremely annoyed when the director insisted that she cut her hair to look boyish, rather than simply wearing it up. She offered at some point to trim Thompson's hair for him. James Darren came by and realized that she had shaved a strip down the back of his head! For a while thereafter, Darren made up the back of Thompson's head for him, so that it wouldn't look quite so bad.
Anthony Quinn was a chess fiend, and everyone else caught it from him. Thompson said that it looked more like a chess tournament than a movie location, with everyone paired up and crouching over chess boards. Anthony Quinn was the undisputed master--at least until David Niven's fourteen year old son showed up for a visit and beat him.
For the second time, David Niven nearly died during the making of the film. Near the end, when he and Peck had arrived at the fortress, he is shown standing up to his hips in stagnant water, setting one of his bombs. Apparently he caught something from that stagnant water. Doctors feared for his life, and stated that, even if he survived, he probably would not be able to return to the movie set, leaving them with the dismal prospect of either scrapping the film, or reshooting all of Niven's scenes with a different actor. They must have been overjoyed when he made a good recovery and came back.
James Darren stated that everyone he knows personally has seen this movie, and they've all told him that it's the best they've seen. I don't know about that, but it really is an excellent film.
A nitpick--for Pappadimos' last shootout, the German officer facing him suddenly has a bunch of bloody bullet holes in his jacket--before the shooting starts!
Oh yeah definately one of the "classic" war movies for a reason. I have this one as well as quite a few more. And I love Niven's facial reactions to getting dunked. Especially going to the bridge sort of a oh well.
A couple other war movies I'd recommend would be "A bridge too far" and "The Longest Day". Both with some excellent acting and actors and not too much gore if you are ocncerned about that.
If you arn't concerned about language George C Scott as "Patton" is one I enjoy repeatedly.
Patton is a brilliant film.
Yes definately. Not to take away from this one as well. It was done incredibly well too.
I have actually encountered people (younger people) who where not aware of the book and thought it was based on a real event during the war.
Another bit of trivia: during the scenes when the team is dressed in Nazi uniforms, Anthony Quinn chose to wear a red, long sleeved undershirt. No one understood why, since it was covered up. During the filming, Quinn slowly pushed up his sleeves, exposing just a bit of the undershirt, then just a bit more. He even carefully studied the shooting schedule (scenes are virtually always shot out of sequence) so that the increased exposure would be properly coordinated. Near the end, he casts off his outer jacket and takes to the water, where he is eventually hauled into the boat by Peck. (This, by the way, is a marvelous scene, with Stavros thinking that Mallory is trying to kill him with the grappling hook, until Mallory, exasperated, shouts at him to grab hold of it.) Safely on board, everyone suddenly realized what Quinn was trying to achieve (and did). A night shot, surrounded by actors dressed in drab clothing, and here is Quinn standing out like neon in his bright red undershirt!