They Raid by Night (1942)

A couple of twists make it worth watching; The Quisling surprisingly - unpredictably - Gives his life for Norway, and not, so typical of Hollywood, when the situation is forced on him.and- As mentioned by truerock74 , the Nazi isn't predictable. He totally disses the fiancé after she turns on her former- It doesn't conform the 'evil to the core' Nazi's of most films.There's also good humor with what makes humor good: timing.True, sets are almost funny in their crudeness, there's scenes that totally shoulda been re-shot, I can't imagine what some of the accents are supposed to be, and everyone good gets shot in the arm.But it's likable as your grandfather's mutt.

They Raid By Night is a wartime propaganda film on the cheap side from PRC Pictures. It follows the Hollywood's first rule about casting American actors in the lead, make them Canadian.Lyle Talbot plays a Canadian leading a British commando raid into Norway to rescue a Norwegian army general who presumably will lead a Norwegian liberation army, possibly become a Scandinavian DeGaulle. As we know that never happened.They sneak in and get to the camp to rescue Paul Baratoff playing the general. Along the way they are betrayed twice. One of the members of Talbot's team is George Neisse who is Norwegian who left a girl behind played by June Duprez. She's made herself quite comfortable with the new rulers and twice she betrays them. That's something that someone there should have figured out.Victor Varconi plays the German colonel who just can't seem to get good help among his troops from the Fatherland.All and all They Raid By Night strained credulity in 1942. I doubt we'll see a remake demanded.

The picture is set during German invasion of Norway, the historical events are the following : The invasion began on April 9, 1940. The German Navy and Airforce led the operation . The Hitler plan relied on surprise to avoid interception by the British and to prevent Norwegian forces from mobilizing. The sudden appearance of naval task forces took Norwegian defenders by surprise and allowed airfields around Oslo , Tondheim and Stevenager to be captured by the German intact. German forces at Trondheim advanced and linked up with forces in Oslo. Norwegian forces in central and southern began to surrender. In northern Norway British and French troops fighting against Germans in Narvik. But the Allied decided to pull out of Norway , evacuating forces from Narvik. Norway's royal family and government fled to Britain. Then the British staff assigns a dangerous mission to Canadian officer Owen (Lyle Talbot) to Norway to prepare for a ride to be executed by Allied and especially by the British Royal Navy. His aim also includes freeing a General who is being prisoned by the Nazis at a concentration camp. He's accompanied by Lieutenant Eric(George Neise) and sergeant Harry ( Charles Rogers). In Norway contact a waif-blind man. But Inga (Jane Duprez ) a Norwegian gorgeous girl to whom Eric was once betrothed is now a collaborationist of Nazis and she betrays them.This is average and low-budgeted movie full of stock-shots of explosions and documentary footage from ships and cruisers. The director is genuinely skillful in the hectically edited cutting room and smartness from pressure exerted by the minimum budget, using even photographs as backgrounds.The movie is starred by B-series actors as Lyle Talbot who terminated his career working for Edward Wood Jr in 'Plan 9 from outer space' and 'Glen and Glenda' ; Charles Rogers , a secondary actor and director of films for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. And Jane Duprez who had a successful beginning with 'Four feathers' and 'Thief of Bagdag' but finished doing smallest pictures, here she plays a collaborationist or ¨Quisling¨ who was a Norwegian prime minister whose collaboration with the Nazis meant his name became a term meaning traitor.The film is regularly directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet. Spencer Gordon along with George B Seitz were the fathers of the American serial. Bennet' first was a stunt-men in the Seitz's serials. Later on, he struck out on the serial world and went on making serial until 1956, the last year of serial production by American Company. Bennet co-directed exciting serials as ¨Zorro, Superman, Captain Video, Bat man and Robin, Brick Bradford¨ and several others. Bennet's reputation for getting surprising reactions from his actors at the appropriate time was partly explained by his habit of creeping up behind his players and firing blanks. His Westerns with Tim McCoy, Will Bill Elliott, Buck Jones and Ken Maynard are all imaginative, fast- movement and with rattling scenes. Right at the end of his career he directed Sci-Fi as ¨submarine Seahawk¨ and ¨Atomic Submarine¨and again Westerns as ¨The bounty killer'and ¨Requiem for a gunfighter¨.

Lyle Talbot (as Robert "Bob" Owen) fights Nazis in Norway, during World War II. Helping him out are native son George N. Neise (as Erik Falken) and British wisecracker Charley Rogers (as Harry Hall). Mr. Neise's old acquaintance June Duprez (as Inga Beckering) adds femininity and intrigue to the cast. Once engaged to Neise, Ms. Duprez has hooked up with properly accented Victor Varconi (as Otto von Ritter). Mr. Varconi gets the line, "My men have vays of making you talk." Spencer Gordon Bennet's "They Raid by Night", subtitled "A Story of the Commandos", features a very catchy theme song, and is good for a few unexpectedly good laughs. ** They Raid by Night (6/19/42) Spencer Gordon Bennet ~ Lyle Talbot, June Duprez, Victor Varconi, George N. Neise