Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Heroes of Telemark (1965) - Excitement abounds in boy's dream K. Douglas war adventure

1/13/2022

The Heroes of Telemark (1965) - Excitement abounds in boy's dream K. Douglas war adventure

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A fabulous painted poster full of scenes of drama and action for Anthony Mann's The Heroes of Telemark

The story of how the German lead on the nuclear front during World War II in their hydro plant in Norway was stopped in the last second by Norwegian resistance fighters and British soldiers.

The Heroes of Telemark is written by Ben Barzman (Oasis (1955)), Ivan Moffat (Giant (1956)) and Harold Pinter (Reunion (1989)), based on the novels Skis Against the Atom (1953) by Knut Haukelid and But for These Men (1962) by John Drummond, and directed by Anthony Mann (Dr. Broadway (1942)).

Kirk Douglas (Spartacus (1960)) is a fantastic scientist/old pig here, who only thinks of himself, but who (of course) transforms into the greatest hero of the Telemark nonetheless. (Telemark is a region in Southern Norway.) As a Norwegian he is, naturally, incredibly unbelievable, and his greased-up hairdo doesn't move a quarter of an inch throughout the truth-based action adventure.

At one moment black and white footage of planes are placed in the film in what comes off as a silly ploy. But otherwise this is a highly thrilling war movie in the vein of The Guns of Navarone (1961) and Where Eagles Dare (1968). It may be second to those films, but The Heroes of Telemark has a rare and exciting cross-country skiing chase that puts the nerves on alert!

Related posts:

Anthony Mann: El Cid (1961) - Charlton Heston unites Spain in Mann's glorious epic

Cimarron (1960) - A fine epic western settler adaptation

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 5-5.6 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 1.65 mil. $ (North-American rentals; according to Variety, 1967)

= Uncertain

[The Heroes of Telemark premiered 23 November (London) and runs 130 minutes. Shooting took place from November 1964 - ? in England and Norway, including in Oslo. The North-American rental gross listed above says little about the actual box office gross. The film was among the 15th highest-grossing of the year in the UK. William Darby's Anthony Mann biography records that the film made "modest box office business". Mann returned with A Dandy in Aspic (1968). Douglas returned in The Lucy Show (1966, TV-series) and theatrically in Cast a Giant Shadow (1966); Richard Harris (Ravagers (1979)) in The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966). 7.1k+ IMDb users have given The Heroes of Telemark a 6.5/10 average rating.]

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

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Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

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Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

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William Hurt has passed away

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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1/13/2022

The Heroes of Telemark (1965) - Excitement abounds in boy's dream K. Douglas war adventure

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