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Oh, are they still run by Germany?Originally Posted by Rui
Steve
Hello. I�d like to know the title of a WWII period war film which is set in some occupied small British territory (Jersey?). I only remember clearly the final, when British troops are finishing conquering the place: the German commander, which is a likable chap, is seated in his desk, writing a good bye letter (to his family?); then he graps his Luger, shots twice Hitler�s portrait hanging in the wall in front of him, then shots himself in his head, just before the first British soldier storms in the room. In the very last scene we see a British officer, seated over the desk and playing with the Luger, dictating some kind of report to another British soldier.
I know the Channel Islands weren�t actually reconquered by the Allies, but the film was probably made before the end of the war, so I assume it carried a bit of wishful thinking. Or perhaps it wasn�t set in the Channel Islands at all?
Oh, are they still run by Germany?
Steve
Rui probably means, quite correctly, that no liberation force ever re-took the Islands. The Islands changed hands peacefully after the German surrender.Oh, are they still run by Germany?
Steve
You're right Graeme, thank you. I thought using the word "reconquered" was explicit enough, perhaps I was wrong. About the film, any ideas?
Actually I saw a lot of British war films from the WWII period in my early childhood which now I vaguely remember, so I have a few more threads to add during the next weeks.
From memory the only British WWII film set in the Channel Islands that I can recall is Appointment with Venus but it's probably a bit too lighthearted to be the one you describe:
Appointment with Venus (1951) - IMDb
And there's no mention of a cow by the original poster, which forms a large part of the plot! No-one gets shot in Appointment with Venus, either.
The only TV series' I can think of are: Enemy at the Door (Enemy at the Door (TV Series 1978–1980) - IMDb) from the 1970s, and that finishes well before the end of the war and the German surrender (LWT didn't produce any more); and Island at War (IMDb - Island at War (TV mini-series 2004)) from the early 2000s, and this didn't continue due to the untimely death of the author, Stephen Malatratt, who also played the vicar. Both series' were in colour, and whilst there were some good (Alfred Burke in EatD) and bad Germans (Conor Mullen as Leutnant Walker in IaW) in both, there was no suicide of a senior officer and no surrender to the Allies.
Nick
Can you remember if the film was b/w? There aren't actually many films that cover the end of the war or any liberation so it should be possible to track down though it doesn't sound like it was actually about the Channel Islands.
First of all, many thanks to all of you answering.
I had to see it b/w because it was the late 1970's, and we only started having TV transmissions in colour, here in Portugal, in 1980. But I'm quite certain it was a 1940's or 1950's film. I'm not certain if it was set in the Channel Islands, it's even possible the occupied territory wasn't British at all - I carried all my life a strong impression it was, but I might be wrong. I was mostly watching the images, as I couldn't read at all, or just barely, at that early age (about 5/6 years old). That's why I haven't many clues about the plot and location.
About the "Appointment in Venus" connection, I could have missed the cow, as important as it was to the film's plot, for just the same reason. Yet if the German commander doesn't kill himself in the end, it's not it.
"The Young Lions" .
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