Battle of the V-1 (1958)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Vernon Sewell

Writers:

Jack Hanley (screenplay) and
Eryk Wlodek (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 August 1958 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot Keywords:

WWII | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Michael Rennie	...	Stefan
Patricia Medina	...	Zofia
Milly Vitale	...	Anna
David Knight	...	Tadek
Esmond Knight	...	Stricker
Christopher Lee	...	Brunner - Labor Camp Captain
John G. Heller	...	Fritz
Carl Jaffe	...	General
Peter Madden	...	Stanislaw
George Pravda	...	Karewski
Gordon Sterne	...	Margraaf
Carl Duering	...	Scientist
Harold Siddons	...	Master Bomber - W / Com. Searby
George Pastell	...	Eryk
Henri Vidon	...	Konim (as Henry Vidon)

Also Known As:

Missiles from Hell (USA)
Missiles from Hell: The Story of the V-1 (USA)
Unseen Heroes

Runtime:

UK:104 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (re-rating) (2005) | UK:A (original rating)

Company:

Criterion Films

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ken Adam: Designing Bond (2000) (V)

A rigidly stiff cast make this tough going.

Michael Rennie stars as a block of wood...er as a stoic member of the Polish Resistance who along with a compatriot get themselves captured with the hopes of getting sent to a German labor camp where they can spy on the new wonder weapon the V-1. Based on a true story and supposedly close to what actually happened,which usually keeps things lively, this was a tough go through for me. The problem was that the performances are very stiff. Michael Rennie's performance seemed to consist of standing rigidly and looking something like concerned. Most of his fellow actors were similar in what I can only describe as statue like performances. I'm forced to wonder if the stiffness was due to a limited wardrobe budget since no one seems to get dirty or change their clothes. Its all very serious in life or death way, but at the same time some of the deep pronouncements sound very silly in a "we must soldier on" sort of way.

Christopher Lee, despite having a relatively high billing, is in a couple of scenes as a Nazi camp officer. His performance is as animated as Rennie's is rigid making me wonder if he either thought this was a comedy, or was angry with the director and gave a bizarre reading of the role.(Of course it could be simply that he had some life while the rest of the cast was blocks of wood.) The story is a good one, but as told here its a long 80 minutes that makes you wonder why they bothered. Recommended for those times when you are in a forgiving mood and want a WW2 drama you haven't seen before.