Ill Met by Moonlight

"Ill Met by Moonlight" is a different kind of film for The Archers, and sadly, their last venture together.

It's a World War II film, based on real-life events in Crete, about the British army and members of the Crete resistance who kidnap a German officer (Marius Goring) in order to send him to Egypt.

The British are headed up by Dirk Bogarde.

It's a slow moving film, without a tremendous amount of suspense, but I have to say I enjoyed it. It's rich in humor and examples of camaraderie among the soldiers and resistance workers. The photography is excellent, though it's no Black Narcissus.

The problem with it is that it isn't up to the usual standards of Powell and Pressburger and not representative of them. I do love Dirk Bogarde, though, in everything.

Yes , it does come from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

This is because when the operation occurred, the British operators went under the codenames of Oberon, Titania and Ariel for the radio traffic back to Cairo. See Xan Fielding's memoirs as well as Lawrence Durrell's recollections of Paddy Leigh Fermor in Bitter Lemons, his reminiscences of the British campaign against EOKA in Cyprus in the late 50s.

It's not that bad a movie as it absolutely avoids the mawkishness of a propaganda piece and has a semi-documentary feel to it. You must remember there was an entire SS division on the island against which the 5 Britons and about 800 partisans were ranged. It is not so much derring-do as in the vein of The Password is Courage, another excellent true - life drama of Bogarde's.

Think of `The Guns of Navarone', but with these differences:

(1) The band of adventurers genuinely like each other.

(2) Their mission is not to blow anything up. Rather, they plan to kidnap a German general and take him to Cairo. It's a publicity stunt. But it soon ceases to be a MERE publicity stunt: demonstrating German vulnerability may be as important as creating it.

(3) We get a good look at Crete - and NOT just because of spectacular scenic photography. We really feel at home on Cretan soil. Michael Powell, who had a talent for finding out-of-the-way composers (he also introduced Ralph Vaughan Williams and Brian Easdale to the cinema) has this time found Mikis Theodorakis, whose score is strongly flavoured but friendly to the ear.

With all this, `Ill Met by Moonlight' is an unusual venture by Powell and Pressburger, in that it isn't unusual: it's another World War II mission story, and there have been dozens. It IS more civilised than most. It tells its simple story neatly and cleanly; it's sweet, unpretentious, and disappointing only in that, since it was Powell and Pressburger's last official collaboration, it would have been nice to go out with a bigger bang.

The title is a line from `A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Its relevance is not obvious, at any rate not to me. Am I missing something?

Filmed ten years AFTER the end of the second world war, Night Ambush (ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT to the rest of the world) is a story of British operatives in Crete, reporting home on the activities of the Germans. Their plan is to grab a German officer and take him away. The only name I recognized here is British actor Dirk Bogarde, who plays Major Patrick Fermor. In this story, David Oxley plays Captain I.W. Stanley Moss; Moss is also the original author of his own true account of this WWII story, according to Wikipedia. Part of the story is kind of a jolly old adventure, with dancing and singing, which was a little odd for spies keeping a low profile. Take note of the German officer who barges in at the dentist's office to inspect everyone's papers; Christopher Lee (would have been about 30) has played many roles, frequently the villain in Star Wars, Man with the Golden Gun, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and even Sherlock Holmes. Interesting career,he has worked with many of the greats. As others have mentioned, incredible outdoor photography, which seems to be the Italian Alps. Quite good quality sound and photography by the Rank Organisation, for the 1950s. Screenplay and direction by Powell and Pressburger, who had made 25 films together. Good way to spend 104 minutes (although IMDb shows "US version 93 mins", Turner Classics DID show the 104 min version ....there were a couple off- color remarks, but certainly not 10 minutes worth.) Doesn't seem to have won any awards, but interesting spy story from WW II.

On the Greek island of Crete during WWII, British agents are assisted by local partisans fighting the Nazi occupation. One night on a beach, they welcome Major Patrick Leigh Fermor DSO (Dirk Bogarde) and Captain Bill Stanley Moss MC (David Oxley) of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). They come up with a plan to kidnap German commander Major General Kreipe (Marius Goring).

It's a British war movie based on real people. The Italian locations look great and seem pretty close. There is a bit of espionage and some action. Mostly, it's collegial cat and mouse stuff. I would have liked to see the big ambush. The movie should follow Niko after the gold coin until the ambush happens. It's missing the big action finish.