OPERATION CROSSBOW

U.K. | 1965 Directed by Michael Anderson Starring George Peppard Richard Johnson Sophia Loren Color | 115 Minutes | PG-13 Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC) Warner Home Video

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Read the real V-weapon story

		Review by Brian Lindsey

6     5   10 = Highest Rating

An uneven mixture of fact and fiction, Operation Crossbow is part historical technothriller, part espionage drama and part adventure flick, with each element effectively compartmentalized within the film's three acts. This tiered approach to storytelling isn't entirely successful, resulting in sketchy characterizations and a fluctuating tone, but the stellar cast and impressive production values make the film a worthwhile experience — especially for the World War II and/or spy movie buff.     1943: British Intelligence picks up vague whispers of Nazi secret weapons research involving rocket technology but U.K. scientists are split on whether the Germans possess the wherewithal to mount an operational program. Taking no chances, Winston Churchill tasks trusted government troubleshooter Duncan Sandys (Zombie's Richard Johnson) to form a study group of scientific and military experts to analyze the situation and determine the extent of the threat. To this end, assets of the secret service and air force — spies working in Nazi-occupied Europe, photo-reconnaissance units — are placed at the group's disposal. Early data indicates that the enemy is definitely working on something... but just what that 'something' is remains frustratingly elusive. One of Sandys' top scientific advisors (an especially crotchety Trevor Howard) argues strenuously against any possibility of the Germans developing guided missiles able to hit England. Could it all just be a big bluff to trick the Brits into wasting precious time and resources?     Not hardly. At the Peenemünde research complex on Germany's Baltic coast, scientists and engineers are working feverishly on the dual-tracked Vergeltungswaffen ("vengeance weapon") program. Tests of the V-1 "Flying Bomb", an unmanned, explosives-packed aircraft powered by a pulse-jet engine and guided by gyroscope, are nearing completion, while progress on the more technologically complex V-2 rocket advances at a slower pace. A stabilization problem with the V-1 is corrected through the intervention of famed Nazi aviatrix Hannah Reitsch (Barbara Rütting), who volunteers to test-fly the primitive cruise missile (once a small cockpit is installed in a prototype model). The V-1 is already being geared up for production when Sandys — against the advice of some in the study group — recommends to Churchill that Peenemünde be bombed by the RAF with a massive 600-plane raid. This is approved and carried out in August 1943, severely damaging the German research center and further delaying work on the V-2. Thus the British score a success in the 'Missile War' but still don't have the critical intel to know what, if anything, they've accomplished.     1944: As the Germans ready the first of their V-weapons and the Allies prepare for the cross-channel invasion, Sandys remains determined to thwart the Nazi rocket program, which he firmly believes is nearing fruition. To this end he initiates an espionage operation involving deep cover agents — spies and saboteurs who'll pose as engineers from occupied countries working willingly for the Germans. Very special men are needed for this mission, as they must possess significant technical knowledge and language skills in addition to military training. Three volunteers emerge as the best candidates: Anglo-Dutch naval officer Robert Henshaw (Tom Courtenay), with a background in munitions and ballistics; Lt. John Curtis (George Peppard) of the American air corps, who studied physics at MIT before the war; and Cpt. Phil Bradley (Jeremy Kemp), a British army engineer. Provided their covers hold, it's hoped that the men will be taken to a huge underground rocket factory secretly constructed in southern Germany. Once inside, they're to collect data on the extent of the German V-2 program and, if possible, pinpoint the site's location for destruction by bunker-busting aircraft.     Not long after the team parachutes into Europe to begin their mission, the V-1 bombardment of London begins in earnest. As Sandys works to devise countermeasures against the flying "Buzz Bombs", things begin to go very wrong for the secret agents...     Operation Crossbow wants to have its cake and eat it, too. The first two-thirds of the film pretty much adhere to the basic facts; while the story is propelled by fictional characters (composites of real people), it can't resist dropping actual historical figures into the mix, notably Churchill (played by The Skull's Patrick Wymark, photographed in shadow) and Reitsch. For the third act, however, the real-life outcome apparently wasn't exciting enough, so the screenwriters whip up a third V-weapon, an ICBM capable of crossing the Atlantic and hitting the United States. Curtis and Bradley discover its existence when they penetrate the secret base, which is an operational launch site as well as a missile factory — quite a snazzy layout, in fact; it'd do a Dr. No or Blofeld proud. (Just replace the matching jumpsuited technicians with Nazis.). This "New York Rocket" is almost ready to fire — in reality it never got beyond the blueprint stage — and the agents have mere hours to sabotage the launch. Just enough time for some climactic heroics and king-size explosions.     Director Michael Anderson (Doc Savage, Logan's Run) gives many of the scenes an epic feel, making good use of sets and authentic-looking technical mockups. Ron Goodwin's score sounds similar in many respects to the one he'd compose for another WWII espionage-adventure, Where Eagles Dare, a few years later. The special effects often look terribly antiquated but there are some nice V-weapon replicas on display. The cast is populated by familiar (and first-rate) British and European actors, most of them in minor supporting roles and even very small walk-ons. In addition to the aforementioned Johnson, Wymark and Howard, there's Anthony Quayle as an efficient, sharp-witted Gestapo officer, Lili Palmer as member of the anti-Nazi Underground, John Mills as a general of British intelligence, Ferdy Mayne (The Vampire Lovers) and Paul Henreid as German generals, Richard Todd (The Love-ins) as a photo-recon expert, Robert Brown ("M" in four of the James Bond films) as an RAF commodore, and Anton Diffring (Circus of Horrors) as an SS security colonel, among others. (I'm sure I'm leaving somebody out.) Peppard, Kemp (The Blue Max) and Courtenay — who speak a sizable portion of the dialog in subtitled German — are solid in their roles as the Allied agents, giving each a distinct personality to supplement the sketchy characters.     Much of the ink devoted to this film dwells on the blatant stunt casting of gorgeous Sophia Loren, then married to Crossbow producer Carlo Ponti, as the wife of the man Peppard's character is impersonating. It's strictly a supporting role (she's in the film for maybe 20 minutes), yet Loren received top billing and is featured very prominently on the poster. The important thing is that she's actually good in the part. (Had she been given a "guest starring" or "and with" billing there wouldn't have been a stink.)

For a movie over forty years old (no restoration was done), Operation Crossbow fares quite well on DVD. Print damage is negligible, colors look fine and I detected no issues with artifacting or edge enhancement in the anamorphic 2.35 transfer. A 70mm 'event' film with 6-track stereo sound back in the day, it gets a 5.1 audio mix here — pretty weak by modern standards, with only the slightest bit of oomph in the bigger explosions, but clean and clear nonetheless. Apart from the original theatrical trailer the only extra is a vintage promotional featurette made during the film's production. It's a completely useless puff piece insinuating that the heavily fictionalized story is actually true. Still, had the disc been a few bucks cheaper I'd have given it a DVD Rating of "6". 1/27/09

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