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Operation Crossbow

Operation Crossbow

  • Status: Released
  • 01-04-1965
  • Runtime: 115 min
  • Score: 6.8
  • Vote count: 109

Allied agents infiltrate the Nazi rocket complex at Peenemunde in order to obtain their secrets and sabotage the plant. The film alternates between German developments of the V-1 missile and V-2 rocket (with a German cast speaking their own language) and discovery by British Intelligence of the weapon.

Sophia Loren

Nora Van Ostamgen

George Peppard

Lt. John Curtis

Trevor Howard

Professor Lindemann

John Mills

General Boyd

Richard Johnson

Duncan Sandys

Tom Courtenay

Robert Henshaw

Jeremy Kemp

Captain Phil Bradley

Anthony Quayle

Bamford

Lilli Palmer

Frieda

Paul Henreid

General Ziemann

Helmut Dantine

General Linz

Barbara Rütting

Hannah Reitsch

Richard Todd

Wing Cmdr. Kendall

Sylvia Syms

Constance Babington Smith

John Fraser

Flight Lt. Kenny

Maurice Denham

RAF Officer

Patrick Wymark

Prime Minister Winston Churchill

Wolf Frees

German Police Inspector

Moray Watson

Col. Kenneth Post

Richard Wattis

Sir Charles Sims

Allan Cuthbertson

German Technical Examiner

Karl Stepanek

Prof. Hoffer

William Mervyn

Dutch Technical Examiner

Milo Sperber

German Hotel Porter

George Mikell

German Officer

Ferdy Mayne

German Officer

Robert Brown

Air Commodore

Anton Diffring

SS Sturmbannfuhrer

Philip Madoc

German Police Officer

John Abineri

German Policeman

Charles Lloyd Pack

Technical Examiner

Gertan Klauber

Soldier at Rocket Plant

Jeremy Spenser

SS Officer at Rocket Plant

John Ronane

RAF Dakota Pilot

John Chard

If you're chute doesn't open, change it for a harp! A passable WWII movie boosted by star casting and a grand finale. Plot essentially is about some Allied agents planning to infiltrate the Nazis' secretive rocket factory in Holland and destroy their deadly V rockets. Much of the pic is given to character forming and painting political, army and human passion based groundwork. Unfortunately the narrative often sags and has some uneven patches that can take one out of the story line. On the plus side the finale is worth waiting for, full of suspense and heroics, while the espionage angle holds interest throughout. 6/10

JPV852

Engaging war-thriller doesn't always hit on all cylinders but the finale was suspense-filled and I do appreciate how the filmmakers handled the deaths, not at all sensationalized. No real standout performances but the cast did a fine job, though a bit surprising to see Sophie Loren got top-billing but only in it for maybe 15-minutes. **3.5/5**

CinemaSerf

There is something a little bit reminiscent of "The Adventures of Tartu" (1943) about this film. The Nazis are using ever increasingly effective missiles to bombard South East England and when the boffins discover their new, portable, V1 and V2 rockets then a team is assembled to go into the heart of the Reich to carry out some dangerous sabotage. George Peppard, Jeremy Kemp and Tom Courtenay are the three despatched and these characters alongside an interestingly, but effectively, cast Anthony Quayle as their Nazi antagonist work well building a sense of peril as they set about their tasks. It's a little bit cluttered by a bit of a contrived sub-plot with Sophia Loren, but for the most part it is an efficient drama that has just about every British actor you can shake a stick at appearing somewhere - John Mills; Trevor Howard; Richard Johnson; Richard Todd et al. Of course it uses a little cinematic licence - Peppard's Dutch accent (via Detroit) is a bit of a stretch at times - but it's still an engaging piece of wartime adventure cinema with quite an exciting climax.