Himmelfahrtskommando (1955)

Himmelfahrtskommando: Directed by José Ferrer. With José Ferrer, Trevor Howard, Dora Bryan, Christopher Lee. During World War II, German ships are “safely” docked upriver at Bordeaux, but the British send a team of kayakers to attack them.

“This is in fact a true story. It was a raid that was authorised byu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMountbatten in 1942. The names of the characters are changed. There was such a raid called operation Frankton that was executed in winter months. The movie is no doubt an exaggeration in many parts but certainly creates a lot of suspense. Of all the performances the only strong one is that of Trevor Howard who delivers his character extremely well on screen. His relationship with his commanding officer is in many ways the centre piece of the film. I can understand why people unaware of the raid would find this film implausible. But I can assure this was a real episode brought to the big screen. The raiders in real life did endure extreme hardship.”