Watched this again yesterday. I always feel that the whole thing was ruined by the sub Carry-on element. Anyone agree ? (or not)
No I thought the humorous touches worked quite well. Read Bryan Forbes bio to discover the battle that went on between the producer and Jose Ferrer (who had no sense of humour).Originally Posted by Tony Pendrey
Watched this again yesterday. I always feel that the whole thing was ruined by the sub Carry-on element. Anyone agree ? (or not)
Maybe it's because I dislike Anthony Newley....
He isn't an easy actor to like
And over fifty years later it still looks good and stands up well. Thoroughly enjoyed it, probably for about the tenth time, those 1950's war films really had something about them.
Good script, good cast, good pace and I always remember Anthony Newley in it, I liked him a lot. Warwick Films, who made CH, had him under contract and made him a star soon after.
I'm not a great fan of war films (with a few exceptions) so I'm ashamed to say that I saw this film for the very first time the other day () and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
DS x.
Also, it featured the actor David Lodge as one of the team; a man who, years later would appear alongside Spike Milligan in various 'Q' programmes, and I never forget that sometimes,Spike would wander 'off script' for no reason, Put his arm ariound David Lodge's shoulders,look into camera and announce 'This man was a Cockleshell Hero You Know?' Priceless. And Personally I found Anthony Newley okay in that film, as with most of the cast.It was an ensemble piece, in some ways, aside from the competing 'lead' stars!
A truly great movie! I never detected any "Carry-On" element... just fine mid-50s British film making!
The fact that it was based on actual events is a real bonus and cements this movie's place in my classic archive!
P.S. my copy was stolen by a collector here in the USA!
Lovely thread, good film, a really interesting read thank you. Why do I always think of the Irish Salvation Army, the whole film was good.
When the Marines were dropped off in Scotland and had to make their own way back to Portsmouth as an initiative test - they were dressed in German uniforms. I think it was the red-headed Irish Marine Cooney (John Fabian) who told someone who gave him a lift that it was the uniform of the Irish Salvation Army
Steve
Wasn't Sydney Tafler on the right side of the law, for a change, playing a policeman - though IIRC he okayed a cuckolded husband to do over his wife's lover (and throws him through the front room window) so you know, not quite on the straight and narrow...
I've just watched this on Channel 5. Great film, and I haven't been able to watch it in its entirety before now.
I find it quite sad that none of the real Cockleshell Heroes are mentioned by name in this film, either as characters or in the closing credits (as far as I could see).
Who is the blonde lady who sings the song about London in the pub scene (just before the scrap) ? Was she an actress or a singer?
Just watched this film for the first time, great film. I do like the war films from that period, though I have to admit I do like a number of B&W films from that period too - perhaps I was born into the wrong generation.
The singer was Yana.
Colonel H.G. Hasler D.S.O., O.B.E., R.M. (Retd) & Ex-Marine W. E. Sparks, D.S.M. (the only two survivors) were credited as technical advisors.
But beyond that, they leave it to individual viewers to look up the details.
Did the contemporary advertising stress that it was a true story? Or was it presented as a fictional drama?
Steve
Tried to post the UK Quad poster, but it didn't appear !
My mum told me about it years ago when it was on. She lived through the war and knew it to be a true story, although I don't think she knew the real heroes' names.
I know of Hasler and Sparks because my bloke used to be a competitive canoeist. He and his friends used to compete for the Hasler trophy each year (they never won it though).
"Blondie" Hasler was a keen long distance canoeist before (and after) the war. He was a reservist and only joined up for the war. That was one of the reasons why Captain Thompson (Trevor Howard) disliked him and his methods - in the film at least. I don't know if he had any such problems with the real Marine officer that joined them - Lieutenant John MacKinnon.
Hasler was also a keen long distance solo sailor and invented (or at least developed) the self steering gear now used by most single-handed sailors
Steve
Some background information from Wikipedia
Steve
Operation Frankton was a World War II British Combined Operations military commando raid on Nazi German shipping in Bordeaux harbour, France, in December, 1942, by 12 men of the Royal Marines Boom Patrol Detachment using small two-man Cockle MK II Canoes. A fictionalised version of the story was later told in the film The Cockleshell Heroes made by Warwick Films.
Mission
The headquarters of Operation Frankton was MV Celtic, based at Portsmouth at the time. Led by Major Herbert "Blondie" Hasler, the men launched their six canoes from the British Royal Navy submarine HMS Tuna on 7 December, some 10 miles (16 km) from the mouth of the Gironde Estuary, near Montalivet. One canoe was damaged while being passed out of the submarine, leaving ten men in five canoes to attempt a 70-mile (110 km) paddle up river (against the winter current) to their targets.
Of those ten, only four reached their objective. Shortly after launching, one canoe became separated from the others and capsized in the surf. The men made it ashore, but were captured by the Germans and executed (shot) in accordance with Hitler�s Commando Order of October of that year.
Two men drowned after their canoe capsized and they fell prey to the cold water and currents. Two more became separated and days later, shortly before the Bordeaux quays, hit an underwater obstruction and sank. They made their way ashore and south towards Spain and were in a civilian hospital at La R�ole when they were betrayed to the Gestapo and eventually taken to Paris.
The four remaining men reached their targets after four days, lying low during daylight and paddling only by night.
Though not all limpet mines attached to targets detonated, four cargo ships were flooded and a "Sperrbrecher" (minesweeper) was damaged. The raiders then made their way over land 90 miles (145 km) northeast to Ruffec, where they stopped at the H�tel Restaurant la Toque Blanche to contact the French Resistance and utilise the �pipeline� for their escape to Gibraltar and Britain. Only Blondie Hasler and partner Bill Sparks made it; the other two were betrayed by locals and captured at Montlieu. They too ended up in Paris with the men captured at La R�ole. All four are believed to have been shot by firing squad on or around 23 March 1943.
Men
Canoes and their crews were as follows:
* Catfish: Major Hasler, Marine William E. Sparks.
* Cuttlefish: Lieutenant John MacKinnon, Marine James Conway.
* Crayfish : Corporal A. F. Laver, Marine W.H. Mills.
* Cachalot: Marine Ellery, Marine Fisher.
* Coalfish: Sergeant Samuel Wallace, Marine Robert Ewart.
* Conger : Corporal George Sheard, Marine David Moffatt
Herbert Hasler
Lt. Col. Herbert George "Blondie" Hasler DSO OBE (27 February 1914 � 5 May 1987) was a distinguished Royal Marines officer in World War II, responsible for many of the concepts which ultimately led to the post-war formation of the Special Boat Service. After the war he became a notable yachtsman, contributing especially to developments in single-handed sailing.
In 1940 Hasler served as fleet landing officer in Scapa Flow, and was then sent to Narvik in support of the French Foreign Legion in the Norwegian campaign, for which duties he was appointed OBE, Mentioned in Despatches, and awarded the Croix de Guerre. At the age of 28 in 1942, Major Hasler planned and personally led Operation Frankton, for which he was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He was also recommended for the Victoria Cross, but was not eligible, because his actions were not "in the face of the enemy" as required for that decoration. There are conflicting opinions about the impact of this costly operation on the war effort, but the courage and enterprise of the participants is not in doubt.
Hasler is known as one of the fathers of single-handed sailing, owing to his invention of the first practical wind-powered self-steering gear for yachts. This device enabled the skipper to set a course fixed in relation to the angle of the prevailing wind, and then steered the boat on that course automatically. No longer required to steer continuously, a single-handed sailor could sleep and carry out other activities such as navigation, cooking, repairs and sail handling. The device consists of a wind vane secured at the stern of the yacht, which is connected to the rudder via a system of ropes, pulleys and servos. If the wind changes direction, the self-steering must be adjusted in order to maintain a constant compass heading. In recent decades electronically-controlled and electrically-powered self-steering gear, which can follow a compass heading directly, has grown in popularity, but it requires a constant electrical power supply, and many sailing vessels continue to rely on wind-powered self-steering systems still substantially based on Hasler's work.
In 1960 Hasler competed in the first Observer Single-handed Transatlantic Race (OSTAR), from Plymouth to New York. The race in fact originated in discussions between Hasler and Sir Francis Chichester, and their famous "half a crown" bet on which of them would win such a contest. Of the fifty yachtsmen who sent letters of intent to compete, only five eventually started, and all their vessels were equipped with Hasler's self-steering. Hasler himself sailed one of the smallest boats in the race, his heavily-modified Nordic Folkboat Jester, and finished second in 48 days to Chichester's much larger Gipsy Moth III.
Hasler bought Jester some years prior to the first trans-Atlantic race, specifying that a fully enclosed deck, with two circular hatches in the cabin top rather than a conventional cockpit, be built on the standard hull. He used the boat as a floating laboratory to develop his self-steering system, and also pioneered the use of a Chinese-style junk rig on a western yacht, to avoid the physical effort and potentially dangerous deck-work, required to handle a conventional rig single-handed. The junk rig allowed all sail handling to be done from the safety of the central control hatch, and Hasler claimed he could sail Jester across the Atlantic without ever leaving the cabin.
Hasler and Jester returned for the 1964 OSTAR, finishing fifth in 37 days, 22 hours. On his return Hasler, who was becoming disenchanted with what he perceived as the race's commercialisation, and the increasing size, complexity and expense of the yachts brought about by sponsorship, sold Jester to Mike Richey. Richey continued to race the boat until she was lost in an Atlantic storm during the 1988 OSTAR.
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