Operation Crossbow (1965)
Grade: 76
There's no shortage of spy or action movies based on WWII, but "Operation Crossbow" is separated from the pack by a good script and a tense story.
The Nazis are developing winged bombs and rockets with which they are devastating London. British Intelligence, led by limping Richard Johnson, sends agents with both German language and technical skills to the German plant that is producing the rockets. George Peppard, Tom Courtenay, and Jeremy Kemp are the agents, whose assignment is to somehow sabotage the factory.
Sophia Loren has top billing, but her role is a small one. She plays the wife of the man Peppard is impersonating. Loren's character was inserted late in production by her husband, Producer Carlo Ponti, to improve box office appeal, but her scenes are among the best in the film. She has a screen charisma that Peppard lacks, but give Peppard his due: he looks Aryan, making him a more plausible agent.
There is much tension and suspense in the story. Since it is a British production, it is inevitable that British cleverness will triumph over German villainy, but the Nazis have the upper hand for much of the film. The special effects are generally good, although the firestorm at the end appears to have been superimposed onto the frames.
One supporting character I didn't much care for is a British intelligence officer who opposes bombings of the German rocket plant. His constant but ineffective opposition to Johnson only serves to build up Johnson as all-knowing.
Still, "Operation Crossbow" is an under-rated, if minor, spy drama. I certainly prefer it to "Torn Curtain", the Hitchcock spy drama from the following year.
kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html
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