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.]

 

What do you think of The Heroes of Telemark? 

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

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Anthony Mann's El Cid may have the most braggadocio tagline (IN A THOISAND YEARS!)

QUICK REVIEW:

This is the story of the Spanish folk hero, who stubbornly resisted the dictatorship of the monarchs and fought against the African Islamists, - side by side with the Spanish moors.

Charlton Heston (Ben-Hur (1959)) and Sophia Loren (Aida (1953)) are formidable in this epic, which has everything that its kind should have of intrigue, murder, love and self-sacrifice, shot on location in Spain and in Rome.
El Cid packs grand sword fights and battle scenes; Miklós Rózsa's (Ben-Hur) Oscar-nominated music is eminent. The film only has slight, visual imperfections and a somewhat muted color scheme, (unless this is just a decision on the part of the restoration team?)
In any case, El Cid is a solid, fine film that remains relevant today. It is directed by Anthony Mann (Winchester '73 (1950)), whose 4th to last film this is.

Related review:

Anthony Mann: Cimarron (1960) - A fine epic western settler adaptation

The Italian poster for Anthony Mann's El Cid unsurprisingly pushes Sophia Loren's involvement to the forefront

Watch the film's epic trailer here, which stresses its countless great qualities!

Cost: 6.2 mil. $
Box office: 26.6-30 mil. $ (US only)
= Big hit (at least!)
[I have only been able to find the American box office numbers, which vary as noted. Depending on how big a hit the film was abroad, (probably big in Europe especially), it might have bee not only a big but a huge hit, (although it certainly did not cap William Wyler's spectacular Ben-Hur.) El Cid was Oscar-nominated for Art Direction, Score and Best Song.]

What do you think of El Cid?
Other fine Mann pictures?

Cimarron (1960) - A fine epic western settler adaptation

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An exciting poster for Anthony Mann and Charles Walters' Cimarron

QUICK REVIEW:

Yancey (Glenn Ford) and his wife (Maria Schell) are among the Americans who rush across Oklahoma land, when the state is declared in 1889. Although the missus and son for long stretches must yield to Yancey's adventures, he becomes known as a true pioneer.

Cimarron is a handsome epic, the second film based on Edna Ferber's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel from 1929: The first from 1931 was, however, more successful both commercially and critically, winning 3 Oscars, (this Cimarron was nominated for 2 technical Oscars but won none.)
It's a film with classic western themes. It succeeds in incorporating many of life's big experiences into an engaging family saga.
It is directed by Anthony Mann (Winchester '73 (1950)), who was fired for reasons unknown and replaced at the end of shooting with Charles Walters (High Society (1956)), who finished the film. Mann, who had already had a long and illustrious film career, went on to direct epic actioners for other studios than MGM after Cimarron.

Watch the original trailer here

Cost: 5.4 mil. $
Box office: 4.8 mil. $
= Big flop
[It seems the studio (MGM) were unhappy with the way the film turned out, seeing as they fired director Mann near the end of production and also released the film without much marketing. It resulted in a major loss, reportedly 3.6 mil. $.]

What do you think of Cimarron in all the forms that you know it?
If you know why Mann was fired as the director of the film, please, enlighten us