Operation Amsterdam

"Operation Amsterdam" from 1959 stars Peter Finch, Alexander Knox, Tony Britton and Eva Bartok in a Rank film based on a true incident. In 1940, there was a British move to get industrial diamonds out of Holland so that the Germans could not make use of them.

A British Major (Britton) travels to England with two diamond experts (Knox and Finch) to persuade diamond merchants in Amsterdam to give over their industrial diamonds, which would be brought to England.

There is danger all around them, with soldiers, shootings, and bombings everywhere. At a harbor, a young woman, Anna (Eva Bartok) tries to drive into the water to commit suicide after her fiancée's parents are killed, as she blames herself for inadvertently causing their death. The men are able to stop her and make use of her car, and her knowledge of Amsterdam, all the while not sure if they can even trust her. No one, in fact, can trust anyone, since German parachuters are disguised as Dutch soldiers.

Jan (Finch's) father, who is a diamond merchant in Amsterdam, appeals to his circle to relinquish their stashes so that the major and the men can bring them to a destroyer on which Churchill is allowing them to travel. The time is short -- will the merchants cooperate? Or have they come a long way for not very much? I found this film very exciting and very moving. The atmosphere was tense throughout. Peter Finch gives a wonderful performance as Jan, and he was so handsome and had good chemistry with the beautiful, mysterious Anna of Bartok. Alexander Knox seemed to be an afterthought, not given much to do.

Knowing what the Dutch suffered during the war made this an emotional experience watching the courage of the people who helped the men along the way. This wasn't the officially formed resistance, but an earlier group who didn't want the Nazis in Holland and probably were the core people when the official Resistance began.

Highly recommended. I think the story is compelling enough to overcome editing criticisms, the time of release criticisms and the like. Powerful stories are timeless.

Unseen Nazi jackboots are marching into Holland in the darkest days of WWII and Churchill's government is worried about all the industrial diamonds lying around in Amsterdam that could be used for the German war effort. Being British, we're obviously not going to rely on Frenchy to nip across and spirit the city's entire stock away before the invading hordes arrive so we send a rather colourless secret agent in the form of Tony Britton, the son of an Amsterdam diamond merchant (Peter Finch) and another chap who just seems to be along for the ride (Alexander Knox, who looks worrying dispensable throughout but somehow manages to emerge from the entire escapade unscathed).

Our unlikely heroes hitch a lift to Amsterdam from a distraught Eva Bartok who has just witnessed her boyfriend's boat being bombed by the Luftwaffe and is about to drive into the harbour waters to look for him. At first they fear she might be a fifth columnist, but she turns out to be a plucky heroine, picking up the machine gun of a fallen resistance fighter to sullenly strafe the enemy at one point.

Operation Amsterdam is one of those films that deserves to be better known because it's really quite good. The location photography of an eerily near-deserted Amsterdam is effective, and the tension is ramped up quite nicely until the whole thing seems to run out of steam in the final reel as our heroes make their getaway. The problem is that nobody is really aware that they are in fact getting away because their exploits haven't yet been uncovered. Anyway, when the film isn't testing our heroes it's commenting on the unenvious position in which the City's diamond merchants – many of whom are Jewish and only too aware of the treatment meted out to their creed by the Nazis. One old chap tries to bargain a place on the boat back to Britain for his sick, elderly wife but is gently rebuffed.

Perhaps the film's main weakness is the suspicion that something wasn't quite right during post-production. Midway through, the film seems to take a disconcerting leap forward, and suddenly there's little Melvyn Hayes sitting in the back of a car with our fellows. Now where did he come from? A neighbour of hero number three's mum, apparently (so that's why he tagged along), although we're never see this mother-and-son reunion – even though you suspect the scenes were filmed.

From a purely historical point of view, "Operation Amsterdam" is a really cool film. That's because most movies about WWII focus on big, loud and obvious topics--like battles. However, "Operation Amsterdam" is instead about an equally serious problem--what to do with all the diamonds (particularly the industrial grade ones) in Amsterdam--the capital of the diamond industry. This is because lots of war-time machinery (such as precision drill bits) depended on these diamonds and the British were scared the Germans would confiscate them when they overran Holland in 1940.

As far as the film itself goes, it is mildly interesting and has some very tense moments. My only reservation is that the film, at times, seems a tad bland. While it stars Peter Finch--a rather distinguished Oscar-winning actor. Here, however, he isn't given a lot to do other than hide from Germans and Nazi sympathizers. This is not a huge complaint, but the overall film is a bit on the sterile side. Worth seeing, yes, but not a rousing adventure, that's for sure.

Operation Amsterdam is a pleasant surprise. It has both a strong story and some unusual cinematic touches to keep the viewer interested.

The story of the British secret service agents who are sent to Amsterdam to recover industrial diamonds before the German invasion is a familiar one, and their eventual safe escape is predictable enough.

What interested me was the atmosphere of fear and bleakness that the producers manage to convey. The empty streets, in bright sunlight; the columns of fleeing people; the confusion of not knowing who are enemies or friends, makes for a better than average effects.

Added to this a score made only with drums, and some very abrupt editing that is almost painful to watch, makes this a worthwhile watch.

Operation Amsterdam is a no frills war thriller about a special mission to the Netherlands. British major Tony Britton is sent there accompanied by a pair of Dutch diamond merchants, Peter Finch and Alexander Knox. Their mission is to clean out as many industrial diamonds as they can from the diamond brokers which the city is known for.

Those industrial black diamonds ain't pretty and don't sparkle. But they are the hardest things on planet earth. Drill bits to shape metal are invaluable in an industrial economy, all the more so on a war footing. The Nazis could really use them and they are hours away from occupying the Low Countries.

This one moves at a nice clip with grainy black and white cinematography to demonstrate the coming darkness to fall on the Netherlands and Europe.

Along the way the men of the mission save Eva Bartok from suicide and she proves invaluable. Her own wartime experiences gave her depth to her role that was unique. No time for romance, but Finch is clearly interested and might be looking her up after the war assuming both survive.

No super heroics, just some men, Dutch and British doing a job that needed to be done in Operation Amsterdam.