Guns of Navarone watchalong Thursday 18th 9pm GMT

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Comments

  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Number24 wrote:
    80% of all German soldiers in movies carry Schmeisers :D

    I bow to your superior knowledge.
  • Charmed & DangerousCharmed & Dangerous Posts: 7,358MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    80% of all German soldiers in movies carry Schmeisers :D

    The other 20% wish they did but were only given Lugers. :#
    "How was your lamb?" "Skewered. One sympathises."
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Gymkata wrote:
    Number24 wrote:
    80% of all German soldiers in movies carry Schmeisers :D

    Gay Schmeisers?

    I bow to your superior knowledge.
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    There's an implication that the keen German mechanic and his comrade were executed 'off camera' before the truck was sent over the hill.
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    Number24 wrote:
    80% of all German soldiers in movies carry Schmeisers :D

    I bow to your superior knowledge.
    In Where Eagles Dare the number is 98.5% :D
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Shady Tree wrote:
    I don't wish to trivialise Anna and her role, but her apparently mute condition reminds me of Aqua Marina in Gerry Anderson's marionette series 'Stingray' - and the scene where Anna silently cries, turning to Peck for comfort, is like some of Marina's scenes with Troy Tempest. (Now, that really was a 'wooden' hero!)

    Another series I loved as a kid.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Number24 wrote:
    Barbel wrote:
    Number24 wrote:
    80% of all German soldiers in movies carry Schmeisers :D

    I bow to your superior knowledge.
    In Where Eagles Dare the number is 98.5% :D

    We must all watch that soon, and count.
  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,418Quartermasters
    Number24 wrote:
    Barbel wrote:
    Number24 wrote:
    80% of all German soldiers in movies carry Schmeisers :D

    I bow to your superior knowledge.
    In Where Eagles Dare the number is 98.5% :D

    It's a pity for them that theirs weren't equipped with the 1,000 round magazine that Eastwood had.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    Timestamp?
  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,418Quartermasters
    Number24 wrote:
    Timestamp?

    Niven's just said "Party's over" on my screen.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Shady, I ask again- is this scene (the fuses) what you mean about Niven going theatrical?

    (In his book he claims to have been ill at this point and had to force himself to do the scene.)
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    Niven is like a Poirot character going through his exhibits... except angry...
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    Number24 wrote:
    Barbel wrote:

    I bow to your superior knowledge.
    In Where Eagles Dare the number is 98.5% :D

    We must all watch that soon, and count.
    I plan a WED watchalong next month.
  • superadosuperado Regent's Park West (CaliforniaPosts: 2,651MI6 Agent
    "No, I'm not that crazy" -Miller :))
    "...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.....
  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,418Quartermasters
    Shady Tree wrote:
    Niven is like a Poirot character going through his exhibits... except angry...

    and with a more subtle moustache
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    Shady, I ask again- is this scene (the fuses) what you mean about Niven going theatrical?

    (In his book he claims to have been ill at this point and had to force himself to do the scene.)

    Yes absolutely... brilliantly theatrical (and all the more impressive if he was ill)
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Personally, I find Niven magnetic in this scene.

    (And once again, a hint of what his Bond might have been)
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    Shady, I ask again- is this scene (the fuses) what you mean about Niven going theatrical?

    (In his book he claims to have been ill at this point and had to force himself to do the scene.)

    In the commentary the director says Niven nearly died from illness. They nearly had to re-shoot most of the movie with a new actor, but Niven got well enough to do the remaining scene in the cave with the cannons.
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    edited February 2021
    The stuff with Anna here is borderline unsavoury. The various male characters are sort of squaring up to be the guy who's 'man enough' to do what needs to be done... while Papas is all along screwing on her silencer in the background. There's a really interesting character point with Niven... after goading Peck, to rub it in, he makes a last second attempt to stop Peck from actually shooting Anna...

    The 'surprise' that it's the woman who shoots the girl is nominally re-played in FRWL (when it's Tania, not Bond, who kills Klebb).
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    edited February 2021
    The Greek army must have inhereted lots of stuff from the Nazi occupiers....
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    Stavros is arguably the coolest character in the movie. Partly it's down to his silence.
  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,418Quartermasters
    Gymkata wrote:
    Peck's final dialog with Niven here is kinda a mistep. 'By God, you got me in the mood to use this thing!' Beyond being overacting, it doesn't ring true. Peck is a pro here and he's allowing himself to lose his cool.

    Agreed...I've always thought its a bit off. But I'm happy to accept it.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    Gymkata wrote:
    Peck's final dialog with Niven here is kinda a mistep. 'By God, you got me in the mood to use this thing!' Beyond being overacting, it doesn't ring true. Peck is a pro here and he's allowing himself to lose his cool.

    Also: just noticed that Peck and Niven aren't wearing Nazi military boots like everyone else. They're wearing standard shoes. A goof?
    They carry British submachine guns too. There is no need to since their silencers never work.

    Many good tense scenes in this movie, BTW.
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    I wasn't intending 'theatrical' as in any way a criticism of Niven btw... he's Priestley's Inspector Goole, Christie's Poirot and Tarantino's Mr White all rolled into one... at exactly the point that the screenplay gets Brechtian! A high point of the movie!
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,418Quartermasters
    Gymkata wrote:
    Number24 wrote:
    Stavros is arguably the coolest character in the movie. Partly it's down to his silence.

    He's the expert swordsman in THE SEVEN SAMURAI.
    He's the knife expert in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (and yes, I know this is a remake of the prior film).

    He's the uber competent person who gets all of the cool moments. Usually this character dies in the third act so it's kinda surprising that he makes it until the end.

    My memory is that he comes across as almost superhuman in Maclean's books.
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    Peck, here, as the quiet assassin of the German guards... he's sufficiently coldblooded to stand ground alongside Richard Burton in WED, or Connery's early Bond, despite his overriding moral complexion.
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Golrush007 wrote:
    Gymkata wrote:
    Number24 wrote:
    Stavros is arguably the coolest character in the movie. Partly it's down to his silence.

    He's the expert swordsman in THE SEVEN SAMURAI.
    He's the knife expert in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (and yes, I know this is a remake of the prior film).

    He's the uber competent person who gets all of the cool moments. Usually this character dies in the third act so it's kinda surprising that he makes it until the end.

    My memory is that he comes across as almost superhuman in Maclean's books.

    Yup.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,699MI6 Agent
    The cannons were made at Pinewood by enginners who constructed artillery for real.
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    The guns of Navarone! Phallic symbolism, if ever there was any!
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
  • Shady TreeShady Tree London, UKPosts: 2,965MI6 Agent
    The sailor who stabs 'The Butcher of Barcelona' looks too avuncular to be messing about on gun boats!
    Critics and material I don't need. I haven't changed my act in 53 years.
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