[talking about reports from intelligence)
Professor Lindemann: Well these are wrong.
Duncan Sandys: What makes you think that?
Professor Lindemann: If you were a scientist you’d know you cannot get reliable results without solid propellants, such as cordite. With a cordite propelled rocket carrying a worthwhile warhead you would need no less than 50 tonnes of it, 50 tonnes. Our biggest rocket has only 50 pounds. Now I ask you a question gentleman. If we here admitted, which we do not, the possibility of a rocket project in Germany, what would you do?
You may be surprised to know that during WW2 Germany was somewhat further advanced when it came to the quality of some of their equipment (Tiger and Panther tanks for example were superior to the American and British offerings, only the Russian T34 came close) and technology. They were the first in the world to have Jet Fighter plane (though thankfully they could only make just over 1400 of them in mid/late 1944) which were more heavily armed and faster than any allied plane meaning the only real way for the allies to destroy the plane was when it was on the ground, taking off or landing. But what they also had was the world’s first ballistic missile.
In June 1944 the first V-1 was fired at London and during their peak up to about 100 a day were being fired toward south-east England, a total of over 9000. The V-2 rocket was also the world’s first long range missile and was first fired at London in September 1944. Interestingly, in the 1950 American film Destination Moon they talk of a V2 type rocket being used to go to the moon (now I wonder…who got Germany’s rocket technology after the war?? ☺). Crossbow was the name given to the operation to intercept these long range missiles (V-1 and V-2) before they hit London and also to conduct strategic bombing to disrupt and hopefully destroy the manufacturing plants.
What we have a very interesting film here that should be seen by everyone interested in WW2 history and/or movies. Naturally we need to keep in mind that the movies, especially Hollywood, can twist the truth a little from time to time and this is no exception. Whilst the movie does portray some of the real-life characters quite well and the facts surrounding the film are accurate (the bombs, where they experimented and where they hit), liberty taken in regard to how the story is told.
Characters like Prof. Lindemann (played by Trevor Howard) who doubted the German’s V weapon program is realistic as is Duncan Sandys (Richard Johnson) who had a limp in real life from an earlier war injury, was in charge of a war committee for defence against these bombs and was Winston Churchill’s son in law. Hanna Reitsch (Barbara Rütting) was also a well-known aviator and test pilot so her involvement here is not too far from her role in real life, and finally Constance Babington Smith (Sylvia Syms) also interpreted aerial photographs of Peenemünde in north Germany.
On top of all this we have the Germans speaking German! When the spies enter Germany they also speak German. Its things like this that gives the movie a realistic feel even though the story of the spies in this case is fictional. I have to confess it does bug me a bit when foreign characters speak English when in reality they never spoke English. Take the 2001 film Enemy at the Gates which starred Jude Law, Ed Harris and Rachel Weisz for example. Jude and Rachel play Russian characters but they have a very prominent British accent! At least Ed had a German accent. It was a really good film, but it lost some of its authentic feel due to the accents. Anyway, rant over ☺
The movie begins with Winston Churchill giving Duncan Sandys a mission to investigate the reports that the Germans are developing long-range rockets to bombard Britain. We are then taken to Germany where one of the V-1 rockets, also named in real life as the “Buzz Bomb” due to the sound the rocket made whilst flying, are being tested. Hanna Reitsch comes on board to help diagnose the outstanding problem being experienced with the V1. In the meantime, England starts looking for engineers who can speak German or Dutch in order to send them into Germany as spies. They find three characters, Lt. John Curtis (George Peppard), Robert Henshaw (Tom Courtenay) and Phil Bradley (Jeremy Kemp) who are parachuted into the heart of Germany with alternate identities that are required by the Germans (Germany was desperately seeking engineers and scientists from countries they had taken over) to work on the missiles. However, things do not all go as planned.
This is one of those war movies that rarely get a mention yet it dealt with a critical time of the war that threatened to end Britain as we know it. It is well acted both on both sides, the story is compelling though the final act seems a bit rushed. The use of the V1 and V2 rockets are not common at all in the movies so this is one of the very few that show them and for that reason alone it’s well worth watching.
The only physical media at the moment is the DVD which is quite good, though the Digital HD copy reviewed here was purchased through Google Play (iTunes are likely to have the same available) and clearly shows better image quality than the DVD and both are in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The audio is quite standard 2 channel stereo on the digital copy and Dolby 5.1 on the DVD, though don’t expect a modern surround mix as it was recorded in mono. The DVD contains no extras and naturally no form of extras come with the digital copy
Overall the movie is a little known gem and contains some great images of the rockets along with the unusual sound of V-1’s that give you a sense of how fearful they would have been back during the war. The film comes highly recommended for WW2 film buffs.
Movie 
Digital Image
DVD Image
DVD Disc 
No comments:
Post a Comment