The Heroes of Telemark (1965)

Approved   |    |  Action, Drama, History

The Heroes of Telemark (1965) Poster

Norwegian resistance tries to stop German efforts to produce an atomic bomb component during World War II.

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  • Jennifer Hilary in The Heroes of Telemark (1965)
  • Ulla Jacobsson in The Heroes of Telemark (1965)
  • Kirk Douglas in The Heroes of Telemark (1965)
  • Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris in The Heroes of Telemark (1965)
  • Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris in The Heroes of Telemark (1965)
  • Kirk Douglas in The Heroes of Telemark (1965)

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User Reviews
24 January 2007 | Doylenf
6
| Norwegian resistance against Nazi Germany in World War II...
THE HEROES OF TELEMARK is an espionage yarn involving a daring plan to prevent the Nazis from advancing plans to create atomic bomb components during the height of WWII, resulting in the sinking of a German ship.

Directed by Anthony Mann (his last film) with a mostly British cast, and starring KIRK DOUGLAS and RICHARD HARRIS, it's based on a little known true-life episode. Their mission: to return to Telemark from England and see whether ground invasion is possible--rather than bombing, because the village nearby is heavily populated. As someone else observed, Kirk and Richard spend more time fighting each other than the Nazis. Whatever animosity lies beneath the surface of these two stars, it shows on the screen.

Douglas reluctantly joins a group of nine men who go on the ground mission after a bombing raid wipes out some of the resistance fighters. Director Mann gets every bit of suspense out of the perilous mission...and the aftermath when the men are hunted by the Gestapo and wanted dead or alive.

Some of the derring-do has been fictionalized, I'm sure. Douglas manages a narrow escape on skis even though he's been wounded with a gunshot to his ankle. Several other aspects of the story have the ring of dramatic license.

It's tense and taut with remarkably good performances from KIRK DOUGLAS and RICHARD HARRIS especially. Well worth seeing and enjoying as a World War II adventure yarn based on a true incident.

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Did You Know?

Trivia

In early 1940, the Allies approved a Naval campaign designed to seize the northern part of Norway, a neutral country, including the key port of Narvik, and possibly also to seize the iron mines at Gällivare in northern Sweden, from which Germany obtained much of its iron ore. The British planned to invade Norway in March 1940 to use the ports as bases for the Royal Navy in order to encircle Germany, but the operation (codenamed Plan R 4) was postponed. The British and French had previously planned to invade Sweden, in order to assist Finland during the Winter War against the Soviet Union. Adolf Hitler found out about Plan R 4, and militarily intervened as the British began Operation Wilfred by laying mines in neutral Norwegian waters.

Quotes

Knut: You know what to do? Press this little thing here and the bullets come out there.

Goofs

Character Anna Pedersen in a couple of scenes is wearing a knitted sweater known as Mariusgenser with characteristic pattern (made for brothers Marius and Stein Eriksen). This pattern was introduced for 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, and did not exist at the time of the war.

Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: GERMAN-OCCUPIED NORWAY 1942

Soundtracks

Wir fahren gegen Engeland
(uncredited)
Music by Herms Niel

Storyline

Plot Summary

Genres

Action | Drama | History | War

Details

Release Date:

26 November 1965

Language

English, German, Norwegian

Country of Origin

UK

Filming Locations

Gausta, Telemark, Norway

Box Office

Budget:

$5,600,000 (estimated)

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