The Guns of Navarone (1961)

The beginning of The Guns of Navarone will seem a little complicated, but for your own sake, keep watching. It'll be one of the most riveting war classics you'll ever watch.I'll help you out: In the thick of WWII, the British triy to rescue 2,000 troops on an island, but they're shot to pieces by automatic machine guns on the neighboring island of Navarone. Naturally, their next mission is to sneak onto Navarone and shut off the motion-detecting guns. It sounds a lot more complicated the way the plot is described in the exposition of the movie, but basically that's the gist of it. Six men are given the assignment, and not only is it a virtually impossible mission, but not everyone in the group gets along. Anthony Quayle and David Niven are best buds, but Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn are long-standing enemies who are one argument away from killing each other. Based on Alistair MacLean's bestselling novel, Carl Foreman wrote and directed an intense, suspenseful, and exciting film. As soon as the group is gathered together and start the mission, you're in for a non-stop, edge-of-your-seat, fantastic war thriller. Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn show off their acting chops early on, and I won't blame you if you wonder halfway through the film, "Why is David Niven in this movie?" After all, he has a significantly smaller role than the other leads and isn't given anything to do besides make sarcastic comments. You'll be happy to hear that in the second half of the movie, he's given plenty to do. You'll be hard-pressed to find a bigger Niven fan than I, but even if you're not utterly in love with him, I'm sure you'll agree he gives a fantastic performance alongside Greg, the Anthonys, Gia Scala, Richard Harris, Stanley Baker, James Darren, and Irene Papas. The Guns of Navarone won the 1962 Oscar for Best Special Effects, and was nominated for six additional Oscars: Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Sound, Editing, and Music. As you might recall, West Side Story swept the awards that season, but after you watch The Guns of Navarone, you might think the Academy misgave a few awards. I highly recommend you rent it the next time you're in the mood to watch an actually good movie. It'll stand out among so many mediocre ones.

Released in 1961 and directed by J. Lee Thompson from Alistair MacLean's novel, "The Guns of Navarone" is a war/drama/thriller about an Allied team who go undercover to take out two gigantic German antiship batteries deployed in a massive cliffside bunker on the island of Navarone, Greece. Gregory Peck stars as the leader of the team with David Niven co-starring as a demolitions expert. Anthony Quinn is on hand as a grim, embittered Greek. Irene Papas and Gia Scala are two locals who join up with the group at the midway point. This is a very good World War II adventure more akin to the undercover spy mission of "The Eagle Has Landed" (1977) than conventional WWII flicks, like "Battle of the Bulge" (1965). While watching, I couldn't help discerning similarities to MacLean's superior "Where Eagles Dare," which came out less than eight years later. "Where Eagles Dare" (WED) is outstanding whereas "The Guns of Navarone" (TGON) is solid. For instance, the score of WED is one of cinema's all-time best; not to mention the entire opening sequence; and the action-packed finale as well. Moreover, TGON has some blatant flaws, like the dated score, lame miniatures, obvious indoor sets and two dubious fight scenes (the knife fight in the boat and the "duel" with the German officer); and the final act is decidedly low-key compared to the ultra-thrilling WED. Nonetheless, "The Guns of Navarone" is a must-see early 60's war adventure.The movie runs 158 minutes and was shot in Greece with interiors shot in England. Additional scenes were shot in Dakar, Senegal (cliffs), Zacatecas, Mexico, and Iversion Ranch, California.GRADE: B

"The Guns of Navarone" from 1961 has an all-star cast including Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, David Niven, Stanley Baker, Anthony Quayle, Irene Papas, and James Darren. It's 1943, and the Germans want Turkey on their side. They have trapped 2000 British soldiers on an island in the Aegean, Kiros. The only way the men can evacuate is by sea, but there are two massive radar-directed superguns on a treacherous cliffside bunker on the island of Navarone. The British bring in Keith Mallory (Peck), a commando officer and expert mountaineer to bring a team of British commandos to the only part of Navarone not monitored by the Germans, a 400-foot cliff. Greek resistance will meet the team guide them to the German guns.During this difficult mission, the men, disguised as fisherman, manage to kill a German patrol but are then shipwrecked on Navarone. Then, while climbing the cliff, Franklin (Quayle) breaks his leg in two places and gangrene sets in. Then Miller's explosives are destroyed, and the men realize they have a traitor.Very exciting and absorbing film, and the biggest money-maker of 1961, deservedly. The acting is very good, but the actors, with the exception of James Darren, are probably ten years too old for their roles. And Gregory Peck is miscast as a British athletic mountain climber. He does not attempt a British accent, and his German and Greek are dubbed.It always cracks me up that whomever writes scripts constantly use German in the formal tense, even when talking to subordinates or prisoners, when they more than likely said "du" instead of "Sie." It was fun to hear the German anyway.As an aside, there is a trivia note that Harrison Ford is the soldier who looks out of the back of a truck during one scene. It's not Harrison Ford, who at the time was living in the midwest and in school. There is a very slight resemblance around the eyes but the shape of the face is all wrong. Though this movie runs long, you won't notice it.

Based on Alistair MacLean's novel, film details a group of Allied soldiers on a secret mission to destroy two massive German guns outside the sea of a Greek Island, in order to make an Allied troop evacuation possible, and also freeing up those waters to further the Allied war effort. Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, and James Darren among others round out the cast.Grand adventure film takes many interesting twists and turns, and also becomes philosophical at times(Peck has a memorable speech to Niven about responsibility, for one.) Director J. Lee Thompson stages the action scenes impressively, leading to an exciting climax in the gun's fortress. Pace occasionally slackens, but overall a solid and entertaining film.