The Guns of Navarone (1961)

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  • THE GUNS OF NAVARONE


    DIRECTED BY J. LEE THOMPSON/ ALEXANDER MACKENDRICK (uncredited)
    COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION



    Information From IMDb


    Plot Summary
    Two powerful German guns control the seas past the Greek island of Navarone making the evacuation of endangered British troops on a neighboring island impossible. Air attack is useless so a team of six Allied and Greek soldiers is put ashore to meet up with partisans to try and dynamite the guns. The mission is perilous enough anyway but are the Germans on the island getting further help too?.
    Written by Jeremy Perkins


    Cast
    Gregory Peck ... Capt. Keith Mallory
    David Niven ... Cpl. Miller
    Anthony Quinn ... Col. Andrea Stavros
    Stanley Baker ... Pvt. 'Butcher' Brown
    Anthony Quayle ... Maj. Roy Franklin
    James Darren ... Pvt. Spyros Pappadimos
    Irene Papas ... Maria Pappadimos
    Gia Scala ... Anna
    James Robertson Justice ... Commodore Jensen / Prologue Narrator
    Richard Harris ... Squadron Leader Howard Barnsby RAAF
    Bryan Forbes ... Cohn
    Allan Cuthbertson ... Maj. Baker
    Michael Trubshawe ... Weaver
    Percy Herbert ... Sgt. Grogan
    George Mikell ... Sessler
    Walter Gotell ... Muesel
    Tutte Lemkow ... Nikolai, the laundry boy
    Albert Lieven ... The Commandant
    Norman Wooland ... Group Captain
    Cleo Scouloudi ... Bride
    Nicholas Papakonstantinou ... Patrol Boat Captain
    Christopher Rhodes ... German Master Gunner
    Victor Beaumont ... German officer in gun cave (uncredited)
    Jack Cooper ... German Soldier on Patrol Boat (uncredited)
    Carl Duering ... German radar operator (uncredited)
    Wolf Frees ... Radio operator (uncredited)
    Peter Grant ... British commando (uncredited)
    Rosemary Nicols ... (uncredited)
    Michael Sarne ... Extra (uncredited)
    Bob Simmons ... German Soldier on Navarone (uncredited)


    Writing credits
    Alistair MacLean (novel) (as Alistair Maclean)
    Carl Foreman (written by)


    Produced by
    Leon Becker .... associate producer
    Cecil F. Ford .... associate producer
    Carl Foreman .... producer


    Original Music
    Dimitri Tiomkin


    Trivia
    * Anthony Quayle spent part of WWII in Albania organizing guerilla forces.


    * William Holden asked for $750,000 plus 10% of the gross to play Mallory. He was turned down and Gregory Peck was cast.


    * One of the Rhodian locations used in the film has been renamed "Anthony Quinn Bay" after the actor was reported to have bought property nearby.


    * The plot went through so many twists that Gregory Peck finally submitted his own version to 'Carl Foreman' : "David Niven really loves Anthony Quayle and Gregory Peck loves Anthony Quinn. Tony Quayle breaks a leg and is sent off to hospital. Tony Quinn falls in love with Irene Papas, and Niven and Peck catch each other on the rebound and live happily ever after."


    * The only time David Niven ever smoked cigarettes on screen.


    * Original director was Alexander Mackendrick, but he was fired by 'Carl Foreman' due to "creative differences".


    * David Niven wears a Light Infantry cap badge on his beret. This was the regiment he was commissioned into in WW2.


    * David Niven replaced Kenneth More.


    * Dean Martin and Alec Guinness were considered for David Niven's role.


    * Despite the narrated prologue (see Memorable Quotes) setting the "historical background", this is a work of fiction. There was no such mission, because there never were any guns of Navarone.


    * Rock Hudson was considered for Gregory Peck's role. Cary Grant was also briefly considered, but was rejected as being too old at 56.


    * Gregory Peck often said he was disappointed that so many viewers had missed how anti-war the film was intended to be.


    * "Yialo Yialo" ("Seashore, Seashore"), heard sung at a wedding celebration, is a Greek folk song about love and the sea. As with many provincial folk songs, verses are often improvised as it's sung. The first verse heard in the film (asking the sea not to wake the singer's beloved) is standard, while the second verse, sung by actor/singer James Darren, is ostensibly improvised. The verse asks the mountains to bow down so that he can see his dearest love, "Anoula", and far-away home, "Rahoula".


    * Stanley Baker's character, Pvt. Brown is referred to as "The Butcher of Barcelona" by Capt Mallory, as a reference to his service with the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War. In the 1930s, Carl Foreman, the producer and screenwriter of the film, had been a member of the Communist Party, many of whose members fought for the Republic during the Civil War. Foreman was blacklisted during the early 1950s and moved to England, where he continued to work in the film industry. During the period of the blacklist, left-wing supporters of the Spanish Republic often were denounced for being "premature anti-fascists" for having fought against Franco, Hitler and Mussolini before the U.S. went to war against the Axis two years after the collapse of the Spanish Republic.


    Goofs
    * Revealing mistakes: When Mallory and Miller are sitting in the truck below the guns, they use a small flashlight to illuminate the map. As they move the flashlight across the map, the circle of light stops but the flashlight continues to move for a moment after the circle of light stops moving; Mallory quickly moves it back. This shows the flashlight is not the light source on the map.


    * Continuity: When Stavros rips open Anna's dress to look for the scars on her back, medal ribbons appear and disappear on his uniform between shots.


    * Revealing mistakes: At the start of the film, we see a plane coming in for a crash-landing on an air strip. As the plane heads in, we see another plane, which looks like a bomber, defying gravity and quite clearly suspending itself in mid air. A few moments later, as the plane lands, a second bomber is seen clearly suspended in mid-air.


    * Continuity: In the shot establishing the outdoor cafe, a waiter is seen serving two men at a table. This exact shot is used again later to establish that the action has returned here. Other shots a re-used as well.


    * Crew or equipment visible: When the Germans finally cut through the big doors and rush down the tunnel, two large production lights are clearly visible in the background.


    * Continuity: When Miller puts on his German uniform, the sleeves are too short. As the group leaves the German headquarters, his uniform fits perfectly.


    * Revealing mistakes: When the saboteurs push the captured German truck off the mountain road, a retrieval cable attached to the rear of the truck can be seen dragging across the road surface.


    * Factual errors: Oberleutnant Muesel calls SS officer Sessler by the rank of "Hauptmann". This is a German Army rank, equal to Captain, but was not used by the SS. The equivalent SS rank was "Hauptsturmführer," or "head storm leader". Sessler's collar insignia is that of an SS Hauptsturmführer.


    * Revealing mistakes: On SS officer Sessler's uniform, shoulder boards, as well as the "German Eagle" emblem on upper left arm, are missing.


    * Audio/visual unsynchronized: Aboard the motorboat, Maria makes a statement directly to Andrea, leaving him room to answer her. In the audio, he answers, "Yes." In the video, he nods, and his mouth stays shut, lips not moving.


    * Anachronisms: In the opening sequence at the airfield, Mallory looks out toward smoke rising from a crashed plane. The film takes place in 1943, but on the right side of the shot a c.1960 pick-up truck is clearly visible.


    * Continuity: The steering wheel on the second truck the saboteurs hijack and use throughout the remainder of the film, is on the right, indicating it is a British, not German, vehicle. But in the scene immediately following their taking the truck, as Maria, Mallory and Andrea watch the bombing of the nearby town from the truck's cab, the steering wheel is suddenly back on the left.


    * Continuity: When James Darren has his final showdown with the German officer, there is a brief shot of the officer walking towards Darren prior to either firing. In this scene the officer's uniform already shows the bullet wounds which he has yet to receive.


    * Factual errors: When the Germans are searching the gun positions for explosives, German soldiers are using mine detection equipment and 'sweeping' the tracks leading up to the guns. This is a useless activity since the detection equipment is a metal detector and would give off a signal due to the steel rails.


    * Continuity: Toward the end of the film, when the big guns are firing at the British convoy, the two guns fire consecutively, not simultaneously. However, after the second firing, the camera cuts to the convoy, and we see two splashes in the water, one on each side of the ship.


    * Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Anna regains consciousness at the ruins and sits up in fear, Maria grabs her and tells her, "They're friends - our friends." She then repeats the phrase "Our friends" in Greek, dubbed in on the soundtrack, while her lips clearly form the words "Our friends" in English.


    * Revealing mistakes: When a German truck is driven to a spot where there is an ambush waiting, a grenade is thrown and the truck blows up. However, you can see the truck move slightly, where the film crew have moved the original truck, and then put in a dummy or mock-up truck which can be blown up.


    * Continuity: When the Mallory team arrives by boat at the British Army post at 1600 hours on the first day, Mallory clearly has his briefcase handcuffed to his right armed as it had been at the Middle East airfield office. A few minutes later, while walking around on the dock, waiting for Major Baker to arrive, the briefcase is clearly no longer on his right arm, but then reappears again on his right arm just a few seconds later.


    * Anachronisms: After the team has scaled the cliff the Germans respond to an alarm jumping on trucks and driving towards the mountain. When driving off the you can clearly see printed Dodge on the back latch of one truck. Germans did not drive Dodge trucks in the second world war.


    * Revealing mistakes: After the boat sinks and the unit is stranded on the island, Mallory begins to climb the cliff face. As the camera pans to the top, we see stars in the night sky above, even though it is raining profusely.


    * Factual errors: In the opening moments, the guns of Navarone are shown firing interspersed with footage of ships sinking. One of the ships shown exploding is the British battleship HMS Barham, which was not hit by coastal artillery but was sunk after being torpedoed by a German U-boat.


    * Factual errors: Most of the light cargo/utility vehicles (including the one dropped off the cliff) are not German in origin. The majority of the vehicles appear to be Dodge T214 and T215 series vehicles, manufactured in the USA, and passed on to the Allies through the Lend-Lease act - but not the Germans.


    * Factual errors: The 6x6 armored cars which appear repeatedly throughout the movie are not German SDKfZ series vehicles, but rather, American Ford M8 'Greyhound' armored cars, which were used by the Allies, but not the Germans. In addition, the tanks featured in the film appear to be American M24 Chaffee light tanks, which not only weren't in service in Germany, but did not enter production until 1944.


    * Factual errors: On the "2nd day, 07.30 hours" there is a scene on the boat at harbor in which Col. Stavros' shadow is directly beneath him, not off to the side as it would be at 7:30 am.


    * When Miller is slapping the grease on the pole, his hands are covered with a very thick layer of it, but when he puts the rat on the cannon supposedly a few minutes later, his hands are completely clean. There was not time to clean his hands so thoroughly.


    *Franklin is tortured by the Germans and then injected with the truth drug scopolamine, giving up the false "information" regarding the objective of the operation. However, there was no need for the Germans to torture Franklin in the beginning since they already "knew" what the team's objective was. Supposedly the Kurdish laundry boy, Anna, or both had already had the opportunity to inform the Germans of the operation and its objective. That is why the German officers Poesel and Sessler interrogated them as to the whereabouts of the explosives only, not what the explosives were to be used for, when the team was captured in Mandrakos.


    Filming Locations
    Associated British Elstree Studios, Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK
    (studio)
    Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA
    Rhodes, Greece
    (exteriors)
    Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 2 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • The Guns of Navarone is a 1961 British-American epic adventure war film
    directed by J. Lee Thompson. The screenplay by producer Carl Foreman
    was based on Alistair MacLean's 1957 novel The Guns of Navarone,
    which was inspired by the Battle of Leros during the Dodecanese Campaign of World War II.
    The film stars Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn, along with
    Stanley Baker and Anthony Quayle.
    The book and the film share the same basic plot: the efforts of an Allied commando team
    to destroy a seemingly impregnable German fortress that threatens Allied naval ships
    in the Aegean Sea, and prevents 2,000 isolated British troops from being rescued.


    I thought Guns was a great war movie, full of adventure and daring.
    A geat classic
    Although , it would appear Gregory Peck, was not the director's first choice,
    he turned in a magnificent performance,
    ably supported by David Niven, the Anthony's Quinn and Quale,
    and Stanley Baker.


    It's getting noticeable, when compiling these reviews,
    as to how many these movies were filmed in parts
    at the Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth,LA.
    This is where some of Duke films were shot,
    including Sands Of Iwo Jima, and The Fighting Seebees


    Another movie with rousing memorable theme music,
    this time written by Dimitri 'Red River' Tiomkin.

    User Review


    Outstanding war drama
    2 April 2003 | by perfectbond


    Quote

    Being a big Gregory Peck fan, I was expecting great things from The Guns of Navarone, and in one of those rare instances, I was not disappointed. Mr. Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn et al. are in top form, each of them bringing their respective characters to life and the story likewise. The action scenes are impressive even by today's standards but in my opinion they are only a secondary pleasure. The main pleasure is watching the divergent and forceful personalities cooperate, conflict, confound and finally triumph. Suspense is maintained throughout. I also liked the way complex moral issues were addressed. Another bonus is the portrayal of the Germans. Here they are not all depicted as impersonal inhuman cruel monsters. The full mosaic of human personalities is shown on their side too. But don't get me wrong, they are still a formidable enemy who keep the outcome in doubt. Strongly recommended, 8/10.

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 2 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Interesting to read about the possible cast choices. I think Gregory Peck was spot on. It would have been fascinating to see Dean Martin or Alec Guinness in the Niven role. I remember reading that there was allegedly some anti war sentiment attached to the movie but it is well buried.

    Michael Trubshawe who's role was handing over the boat to the team was Niven's old army buddy from 1930s. He turns up in a number of small roles in films during the 1950s & 1960s.


    Mike

  • Jim, I liked his books too!


    When you look at this list, he sure did OK,
    Spot the movies amongst them!!!


    List of works


    1955 HMS Ulysses
    1957 The Guns of Navarone
    1957 South by Java Head
    1959 The Last Frontier in the USA The Secret Ways
    1959 Night Without End
    1961 Fear is the Key
    1961 The Dark Crusader in the USA The Black Shrike (as Ian Stuart)
    1962 The Golden Rendezvous
    1962 The Satan Bug as Ian Stuart
    1962 All about Lawrence of Arabia Non-fiction
    1963 Ice Station Zebra
    1966 When Eight Bells Toll
    1967 Where Eagles Dare
    1968 Force 10 From Navarone
    1969 Puppet on a Chain
    1970 Caravan to Vaccarès
    1971 Bear Island
    1972 Alistair MacLean Introduces Scotland Non-fiction, edited by Alastair Dunnett
    1972 Captain Cook Non-fiction
    1973 The Way to Dusty Death
    1974 Breakheart Pass
    1975 Circus
    1976 The Golden Gate
    1977 Seawitch
    1978 Goodbye California
    1980 Athabasca
    1981 River of Death
    1982 Partisans
    1983 Floodgate
    1984 San Andreas
    1985 The Lonely Sea Collection of Short Stories
    1986 Santorini

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

  • I count 12 films from the direct book titles and I know some have been remade under other titles. Satan Bug could be remade with success today with the right director.


    MIke

  • Hi Mike ,
    you got me thinking about that list,
    apparently there was 17


    Filmography


    1. Night Watch (1995) (TV) (story)
    2. The Way to Dusty Death (1995) (TV) (novel)
    3. River of Death (1989) (novel)
    4. The Hostage Tower (1980) (TV) (novel) (story)
    5. Bear Island (1979) (novel)
    6. Force 10 from Navarone (1978) (novel)
    7. Golden Rendezvous (1977) (novel)
    8. Breakheart Pass (1975) (novel) (screenplay)
    9. Caravan to Vaccares (1974) (novel)
    10. Fear Is the Key (1972) (novel)
    11. Puppet on a Chain (1971) (novel) (screenplay)
    12. When Eight Bells Toll (1971) (novel) (uncredited) (screenplay)
    13. Where Eagles Dare (1968) (novel) (uncredited) (story and screenplay)
    14. Ice Station Zebra (1968) (novel)
    15. The Satan Bug (1965) (novel) (as Ian Stuart)
    16. The Secret Ways (1961) (novel "The Secret Ways")
    17. The Guns of Navarone (1961) (novel) (as Alistair Maclean)

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England



  • I haven't seen but about 6 of those movies.

    De gustibus non est disputandum

  • I wasnt aware of Night Watch (1995) (TV) (story), The Way to Dusty Death (1995) (TV) (novel) River of Death (1989) (novel) The Hostage Tower (1980) (TV) (novel) (story)
    or Fear is the Key (1972).

    I have the feeling that Death Train starring a young Pierce Brosnan is loosely based on
    a Maclean book as well.

    I remember being told that the quality of his books went down after his first books were made into movies as he started writing the books as potential screenplays.


    Mike

  • I remember being told that the quality of his books went down after his first books were made into movies as he started writing the books as potential screenplays.



    Yep - I read only the occasional book after "Ice Station Zebra".

    De gustibus non est disputandum



  • I remember being told that the quality of his books went down after his first books were made into movies as he started writing the books as potential screenplays.


    Mike


    Hi Jim and Mike,
    that appears to be exactly what he did,
    Force 10 From Navarone, for example.


    Here's a quote from Wikipedia


    Quote

    Many of MacLean's novels were made into films, but none completely captured the level of detail and the intensity of his writing style as exemplified in classics such as Fear is the Key; the two most artistically and commercially successful film adaptations were The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare.


    After his death, the popularity of his work saw a decline, and, as per Amazon.com, as of 2006 none of his novels are in print in the U.S. However, most are currently still in print in paperback in the UK.

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

  • Guns of Navarone is tops all around. I never tire watching it. I never read any of McClaines (SP?) books except for Where Eagles Dare. I thought he was a good enough author.

    Es Ist Verboten Mit Gefangenen In Einzelhaft Zu Sprechen..

  • every time the guns of navarone is on tv i have to watch it its a classic war film

    " I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man " True Grit

  • [extendedmedia]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rvM4q0Vbsy0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rvM4q0Vbsy0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/extendedmedia]

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

  • Nice scenes in that utube clip. thanks for posting it. Is there anything on utube that shows the "interrorgaton" scenes with Walter Gotell & Georg Mikell? Gotel is the Wehrmacht Captain and Mikell is the SS Haupsturmfuhrer mistakenly called a Hauptmann as the name Hauptmann was not used as a Waffen SS rank title.

    Es Ist Verboten Mit Gefangenen In Einzelhaft Zu Sprechen..

  • One of the best war adventure movies ever made.
    I have the US one sheet displayed in the home theater in my basement. It was the first poster I ever got.
    On the dvd extras, Gregory Peck points out how Anthony Quinn quietly and cleverly revealed bits and pieces of his red undershirt during the course of the movie (which was filmed out of sequence) until he's the only character who isn't dressed in a drab uniform at the end of the film. Peck considered this to be genius scene stealing.
    Remember, I speak German. Perfect!




    We deal in lead, friend.

  • I love this movie. great score by Dimtri Tiomkin great action and acting by all.My dad took me to see this film as a young teen. We did this alot together maybe thats why I,am a big movie buff. My dad passed away this summer at a ripe old age of 82 but my memorys of our times together live on.:angel:

    ''baby sister i was born game and intend to go out that way.''

  • As a WWII German Mil Collector, I had noticed Quinns little "isms" of his uniform-or rather out of uniform appearances. I'd always wondered why they had him wear a red shirt-but thanks to this-and as Paul Harvey used to say: "And that's the rest of the story".

    Es Ist Verboten Mit Gefangenen In Einzelhaft Zu Sprechen..

  • I'm going against the tide of popularity on this one. Eagles is an excellent movie and I saw it three times upon its initial release, however, I have to defend "The Guns of Navarone" as a better war movie.
    Both are authored by the same person, yet there's really no suspense in Eagles about the survival of the heroes. Granted, both films are similar in that a group of infiltrators/experts go behind enemy lines on hopeless tasks, but somehow you just know that Burton and Eastwood will triumph.
    Navarone also leads you to believe that the mission will be a success, but you don't know who is going to survive. The characters all seem vulnerable.
    Eagles has over the top action - jumping from frozen cable cars, Clint firing two machine guns at once, fat old Burton climbing up a rope. Navarone has Quinn sniping at Alpine Corps and scrambling, Baker bungling a knife stabbing and Darren losing focus resulting in his death. Much more realistic.
    The prelude to Navarone is also more probable. Kheros and newly designed radar controlled guns blocking a sea rescue are much more believable than the Cartwright Jones/invasion plans premise.
    Thanks for indulging my screed.



    We deal in lead, friend.