War Films

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The One That Got Away (1957)

A terrific British prisoner of war film with a difference. This features a German fighter pilot shot down during the Battle of Britain and put in custody at a Lancashire POW camp.

Based on the true story of the only German captured in Britain who managed to escape and return to his homeland. Although he never actually escaped from Britain it was following being sent to Canada that he escaped to the then neutral United States. It should be noted that in two escape attempts in Britain he was thwarted first by the atrocious Lancashire weather and secondly by an officer as he attempted to steal a Spitfire.

Hammer's Roy Ward Baker directs this at a cracking pace. It's near two hour run time positively flies by helped by a charismatic turn from Hardy Kruger as the escapee.

Although not particularly a funny film one scene made me genuinely laugh out loud. As the German POW's were readying to leave for Canada John Van Eyssen leads a rallying cry in German full of Seig Heil's and so on, a lowly British Tommy enters and in a broad Lancashire / Peak District accent says "Collect your sandwiches on the way out, lads". It totally kills the celebratory German vibe in one simple sentence.

The One That Got Away is a thoroughly entertaining film and the Network Blu-ray looks and sounds splendid.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Eagles Over London (1969)

During the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940, a team of German saboteurs assume the identities of dead British soldiers and are transported to England. Their aim to cripple British air defences by destroying radar stations and finally RAF Fighter Command in London enabling German planes to commence the bombing of London unseen and unheard. An English captain cottons onto the plan and sets out with his unit to track them down.

A fantastic dollop of 'macaroni combat' from the great Enzo G Castellari. What the film lacks in cohesion is easily made up for with fantastic action sequences and probably the greatest special effects work in any Castellari, nay Italian movie. The model and green screen sequences of the air battles are superb and the Dunkirk evacuation is huge in scale. I'm not kidding when i say i was shocked that this was all newly filmed footage and not ripped off from any more famous WWII movies.

In fact it was this film that ended up getting ripped off by hack director Umberto Lenzi for his 1979 film From Hell to Victory which pissed Castellari off no end.

Now here's the fun. Castellari's film is a co production from Italy, France and Spain and it shows because we have Italians playing Germans playing British.

Confused? You will be!

Especially when you realise leading actor Frederick Stafford playing an English captain is a Czech and sounds German whilst the lead German is played by Spaniard Francisco Rabal and looks and sounds like American actor Cliff Robertson. Meanwhile Italian Luigi Pistilli also playing a German saboteur has the best English dubbed voice of the lot. Oh yeah, i don't think there's a Brit in the whole cast.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I expect Eagles Over London to get the Blu-ray treatment from StudioCanal as part of their Cult Classic range sooner rather than later as the dvd i watched was released by them and features half an hour of Castellari and Quentin Tarantino interviews.