Guns of Navarone watchalong Thursday 18th 9pm GMT

1246710

Comments

  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,418Quartermasters
    Gorgeous PBY Catalina...one of my favourite aircraft.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Percy Herbert- I believe it was illegal to make a British war movie without him in it.
  • superadosuperado Regent's Park West (CaliforniaPosts: 2,651MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    There was a battle on Leros that involved the elite on both sides: German fallshirmjäger and Brandenburger, British commandoes, SAS, SBS.

    Ooooo, nice! I have a book that includes the accounts of that battle, which I have not read yet!
    "...the purposeful slant of his striding figure looked dangerous, as if he was making quickly for something bad that was happening further down the street." -SMERSH on 007 dossier photo, Ch. 6 FRWL.....
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    The animosity between Quinn & Peck was created for the film- in the book they're best buds from the off.

    Their first tense scene in the hotel room (with Quinn waiting, lounging with a gun) is a bit like the Bond/Dent scene in DN, though obviously not as hostile.
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,704MI6 Agent
    Antony Quayle was SOE agent, running guns to Tito in Yogoslavia. I think he even used civilian fishing boats like later in the movie. (another obvious paralell was the Shetland Gang).
    David Niven was commando officer and Phantom Unit sqadron commander. It's funny how the two members of the group who looks the least tough were the ones who were closest to the real thing...
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Gymkata wrote:
    Hey, this is actually good timing on another front. On another website I'm on (a movie related one), we occasionally have fun doing drafts for movies using specific time periods. Next week, we're doing a re-draft of the the LORD OF THE RINGS movies set in the 1960s. The rule is that you have to cast the roles using actors/actresses who were active in the 1960s (had to have at least one movie credit in the 60s). It's ok if they died in the 60s.

    Why concept: WHERE HOBBITS DARE.

    My tentative list:
    Gandalf: Richard Burton, Patrick McGoohan, Lee Marvin
    Aragorn/Strider: Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Robert Shaw
    Frodo: David Bowie
    Samwise: Davy Jones
    Merry: Peter Noone
    Pippin: Ringo Starr
    Boromir: James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin
    Gimli: Oliver Reed, Don Rickles, Telly Savalas, Ernest Borgnine
    Legolas: Donald Sutherland
    Gollum: John Casavetes
    Arwen: Katherine Ross, Charlotte Rampling
    Galadriel: Claudia Cardinale
    Eowyn: Julie Christie
    Faramir: Richard Jaeckel, Clint Walker, Montgomery Clift
    Grima Wormtongue: Edward G. Robinson


    I'd appreciate any input that anyone has! I have additional actors from the period lined up as backups if my first, second, or third choices get yanked, but I'm curious if there are any better ones that I can put in there.

    Lovely stuff- might come back to that later.
  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,418Quartermasters
    A line I tend to use in my daily life: "I thought my ears were playing me tricks."
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    Is the laundry man the same 'Nicolai' who becomes Franco Nero in 'Force 10'?
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • Charmed & DangerousCharmed & Dangerous Posts: 7,358MI6 Agent
    Gymkata wrote:
    WHERE HOBBITS DARE.

    My tentative list:
    Gandalf: Richard Burton, Patrick McGoohan, Lee Marvin
    Aragorn/Strider: Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Robert Shaw
    Frodo: David Bowie
    ...

    Great cast! Patrick McGoohan might have been a bit too young for Gandalf; maybe Boris Karloff or Vincent Price, both of whom were still imposing but a little more grey-haired?
    "How was your lamb?" "Skewered. One sympathises."
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,704MI6 Agent
    Charles Bronson was mentioned in your (great) list. The director of Navarone made almost exclusively Bronson movies later in his career.
  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,418Quartermasters
    Shady Tree wrote:
    Is the laundry man the same 'Nicolai' who becomes Franco Nero in 'Force 10'?

    The Force 10 film does imply that, but Nero doesn't seem like the same character.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    The officer with the reddish moustache is Michael Trubshawe, a pal of Niven's and Niven usually got him a small part in his movies. (This is from "The Moon's A Balloon", Niven's highly recommended autobiography- though don't go looking for accuracy).
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    David Niven has a light, genial persona in this... his usual likeable hero performance.
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    edited February 2021
    Barbel wrote:
    The officer with the reddish moustache is Michael Trubshawe, a pal of Niven's and Niven usually got him a small part in his movies. (This is from "The Moon's A Balloon", Niven's highly recommended autobiography- though don't go looking for accuracy).

    Trubshawe was perfect as this 'Captain Sender' type of foil (to use a Fleming reference).

    Edit - Sorry, I meant Allan Cuthbertson here, not Trubshawe!
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    With Niven being a bit younger here than in CR67, we get a vague look at what his 007 might have been if things had been different.
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    Our first look at the enemy. Germans played by Greek naval ratings and actors...
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,704MI6 Agent
    Thankfully the up coming scene was shot near the end of the shoot. They really did blow up that MTB and the Greek navy pulled all support :))
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    The violence in this scene is sudden, brutal and quickly over. Probably like actual wartime violence, in a way.
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,704MI6 Agent
    Handgrenades with a gallon of petrol inside! Still a war movie tradition :D
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    Thankfully the up coming scene was shot near the end of the shoot. They really did blow up that MTB and the Greek navy pulled all support :))

    It beats the FRWL and TB boat explosions, and that's saying something.
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,418Quartermasters
    This storm scene is very well done - Believable despite being filmed in a studio set. They didn't hold back on the water!

    Some good light comic acting as well by Niven. Especially when he is hit by the wave and spits out a stream of water.
  • Charmed & DangerousCharmed & Dangerous Posts: 7,358MI6 Agent
    Gymkata wrote:
    Also, I was going to try and get Burton, Reed, Peter Finch, Richard Harris, and Peter O'Toole in there. However, if I got all of them, the films would simply never get made as the actors would be perpetually hammered.

    :)) :)) :))
    "How was your lamb?" "Skewered. One sympathises."
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,704MI6 Agent
    Great mix of water tank work and model work.
    Niven gives us just the right amount of humor.
    All the diologue scenes were practiced for at least a day, not common in this kind of movies. I think it shows in this scene.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Gymkata wrote:
    Also, I was going to try and get Burton, Reed, Peter Finch, Richard Harris, and Peter O'Toole in there. However, if I got all of them, the films would simply never get made as the actors would be perpetually hammered.

    :)) :)) :))

    +1 :)) :)) :))
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    What we learn here about the Quinn/ Peck antagonism is distantly echoed by Barbara Bach deciding she's going to kill Bond "when the mission's over" in TSWLM... though obviously here it's heavier-duty stuff. And "He's from Crete... those people don't make idle threats" is echoed, vaguely, by Melina in FYEO being "half-Greek" and vengeful...
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Barbel wrote:
    Gymkata wrote:
    Also, I was going to try and get Burton, Reed, Peter Finch, Richard Harris, and Peter O'Toole in there. However, if I got all of them, the films would simply never get made as the actors would be perpetually hammered.

    :)) :)) :))

    +1 :)) :)) :))

    On this subject- a film called "The Klansman" starring Burton + Lee Marvin. Ex-Bond director Terence Young had his work cut out trying to have one, other, or both of them sober long enough to do their scenes.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,704MI6 Agent
    One way this is better than Where Eagles Dare is how they give the leads personalities with tension between them.
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    Gymkata wrote:
    I love the pacing of this movie. It's just slow enough that you get in plenty of character moment without causing the audience to disengage.

    Very true. The dialogue-free storm and shipwreck action does go on for a bit too long, though, at least by today's standards.
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Some fantastic photography here.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,704MI6 Agent
    Especially Peck wanted to ned down and natural acting in the movie. BTW the director worked with many of the cast before and after Navarone. I guess they got along well.
Sign In or Register to comment.