Operation Crossbow (1965)

Redundant and unnecessary.

Excellent adaptation.

Beautiful, moving film.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

It's 1943 Nazi Germany. The movie is split between the Germans working to built rockets and the British trying to stop them. First the Brits launch a massive bombing raid on Peenemünde. Then they send spies to infiltrate a secret rocket factory. Robert Henshaw (Tom Courtenay), John Curtis (George Peppard) and Phil Bradley (Jeremy Kemp) are parachuted into Germany given the identities of dead Dutch engineers. Bamford (Anthony Quayle) is an undercover German agent who returns to become a German security officer. 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. There are limited scenes of the bombings. This is mostly a scheme to infiltrate the German base. The foreign characters speak non-English with subtitles. That accounts for large chunks of the movie. Sophia Loren's role is only a supporting one. Peppard isn't introduced until after 30 minutes. It's not a tightly written movie. There is some good tension. There is a giant set of the underground rocket base. This is more functional than anything terribly exciting.

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. The fact the Germans really do speak German does help it to carry more wait rather than a load of actors talking with a silly accent. Keeps the tension going well for the most part and you do feel quite sorry for George Peppard and Jeremy Kemps characters as it dawns on them they will forfeit their lives for the mission.The Bad: Sophia Loren flouncing about with 60's hair and make up,she was added just to get a bigger audience. The scenes with her in are not needed and slow things down. Cheap editing trick of pasting in real war footage of aerial bombings and AA guns! Why do they do it? it never works and looks naff when you go from film quality to grainy footage some of it not even colour!One or two less than convincing models but we are talking early/mid 60's here so fares fare. 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.

Operation Crossbow was a film I enjoyed a lot. I didn't think it was perfect, some scenes drag and you can tell that Trevor Howard is not entirely interested in his role. That aside, it is very well directed, is well made with great cinematography and editing and has a brooding Ron Goodwin score. 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. The acting is fine, George Peppard is likable, and while Sophia Loren's appearance is brief it is one along with her shocking death that is memorable. Tom Courtenay and John Mills are also well cast. Overall, an impressive film. 8/10 Bethany Cox

A good line-up of actors from the '60s makes OPERATION CROSSBOW worth your time and attention--although it has plenty of moments when certain scenes seem to drag. 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. LILI PALMER makes the most of a small role, as do most of the performers in the cast under Michael Anderson's direction.