Film Review
One of the more remarkable exploits of the Second World War is
skilfully portrayed in this feel-good war film, the second directorial
offering from actor José Ferrer, who also stars in the
film.
The Cockleshell Heroes was one of the first British war films to be shot in
CinemaScope and consequently has a much greater sense of realism than many previous
British wartime dramas. Ferrer, who had previously won acclaim for his stage and
screen portrayal of Cyrano de Bergerac, makes a decent fist of
directing the film, in spite of clashing with producer Irving Allen,
who insisted on injecting more humour into the film than Ferrer
wanted. Allen's co-producer on the film was Albert R. Broccoli,
who would go on to produce the James Bond films.
As two officers with wildly differing views on how to
make a good soldier, José Ferrer and Trevor Howard complement
one another perfectly, although Howard's character, a man desperate to
prove himself after years of desk-bound inaction, is the more
interesting of the two.
The film is typical of its era, glossing over the unpleasant realties
of war and resorting to the familiar tried and trusted
stereotypes. However, it is interesting for two reasons.
Firstly, it offers an accurate and fascinating portrayal of a real-life
military operation, the success of which did have a significant impact
on the British war effort. Secondly, it uses comedy to a much
greater extent than many war films, and does so without detracting from
the seriousness of the subject or the heroic contribution of the
protagonists. The first half of the film, which depicts the
training and preparation for the mission, can almost be mistaken for an
early
Carry On film, an
impression that is reinforced by the presence of such stalwarts of
British film comedy as Dora Bryan, Victor Maddern and David
Lodge. The mood changes dramatically when the film moves on to
recount the mission itself. At this point,
The Cockleshell Heroes resembles a
far more conventional war film, dispensing with the light-hearted
whimsy and embracing a more realistic narrative style which manages to
evoke the danger and tragic reality of warfare. With its stiff
upper lip mentality and wry humour, this is a quintessentially British
take on war and a worthy tribute to the real Cockleshell heroes.
© James Travers 2010
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Film Synopsis
During WWII, Major Stringer, an American officer recently assigned to
the Royal Marines, devises a daring plan that will help to break
Germany's blockade of Britain's sea lanes. The plan involves a
party of marines rowing up the Gironde estuary in collapsible
submarines to enter the harbour at Bordeaux. Here, under the
cover of darkness, the marines will attach limpet bombs to the hulls of
German battleships and escape into the surrounding countryside before
the bombs explode. Stringer runs into immediate conflict
with his second-in-command, Captain Hugh Thompson, who believes
Stringer's plan is ill-conceived and disapproves of the major's
training methods, which fail to instil discipline into the men he has
selected for the mission. When a training exercise goes
disastrously wrong, Stringer allows Thompson to take charge and put the
marines through their paces. After months of preparation,
Operation Cockleshell is given the all-clear. Only two of the ten
marines who set out will return...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.