Tonight's Movie: Operation Crossbow (1965) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

OPERATION CROSSBOW (1965) is an espionage film set during World War II which was just released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive.

The film's title comes from the actual Allied code name for the German long-range rocket program. The story of Allied agents sneaking behind enemy lines to gather intelligence and disrupt the Germans' ability to launch the rockets has a deep cast and a fairly interesting story, though it's ultimately bittersweet.

As the film begins, British intelligence recruits men who have both engineering and foreign language skills. They're looking for men willing to go behind enemy lines and pose as Dutch or German engineers in order to apply to work on the German V-1 and V-2 rocket program.

George Peppard plays an Army Air Force pilot who is one of the recruits thanks to his degree from MIT and his ability to speak German. Engineers played by Jeremy Kemp and Tom Courtenay also join the program. The men adopt cover stories using the names and histories of recently deceased men, but just after two of the newly minted spies have parachuted in behind enemy lines, British headquarters learns the mission may be compromised.

All three spies deal with a wide range of problems on their mission, including the wife (Sophia Loren) of Peppard's cover identity showing up at the hotel where he's staying, not realizing her real husband is actually dead. There's also the matter of a double agent (Anthony Quayle) who puts all the men's lives at risk.

The Crossbow mission reaches a crisis point shortly after V-1 rockets start raining down on London.

The procedural aspects early on were what interested me the most about the movie. I enjoyed watching intelligence officers studying photos and trying to figure out what the Germans were doing, then putting together a daring plan to deal with it.

I also especially liked these scenes as one of the officers is played by dashing Richard Todd, a real-life war hero who was one of the first men to parachute into France on D-Day.

The spies' experiences behind enemy lines are interesting but ultimately brutal and a bit hard to watch. Ultimately I enjoyed the first part of the film much more than the scenes depicting the actual mission, as a great many characters die in order to help save the Allies from the devastating German rocket attacks. I mention this not to be spoilerish but because I think some viewers will wish to be forewarned, at least in vague terms; also, the danger of the mission is telegraphed fairly early on.

The movie runs 116 minutes. It was directed by Michael Anderson and filmed by Erwin Hillier. The three screenwriters included Emeric Pressburger, using a pen name.

The supporting cast includes John Mills, Trevor Howard, Lilli Palmer, Richard Johnson, Helmut Dantine, Patrick Wymark, Sylvia Syms, and Paul Henreid. It's a bit disconcerting seeing Henreid, famed as CASABLANCA's Resistance leader "Victor Laszlo," as a German general!

The Warner Archive Blu-ray is a very nice widescreen print with good sound. The disc includes the trailer and a ten-minute archival featurette, "A Look Back at Crossbow."

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from the WBShop or from any online retailers where DVDs and Blu-rays are sold.