La bataille du Rio de la Plata

"The Battle of the River Plate" (1956) is Powell and Pressburger's most underrated movie. Set in 1939, its about the British navy trying to capture "The Graf Spee" pursued by the "HMS Ajax", "HMS Exeter" and "HMS Achilles".Most people say it is not up to the standard as, say, "A Matter of Life and Death", but I disagree. As it is not one of the more wider known parts of World War Two, it makes the first half tense and exciting. But its the second half, when "The Graf Spee" hides in a neutral port where it kicks into high gear. The whole place reeks of atmosphere, unequalled in any over Powell and Pressburger film. As I have said before, a very underrated movie, that is well worth watching.

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger are probably best known for their mystical, romantic films like: 'A Matter of Life and Death'; 'Black Narcissus', and 'The Red Shoes'.

'Battle of the River Plate' is a decent film, but it does have some awkward lapses. There is some excellent footage shot at sea using veteran Royal Navy ships. Unfortunately this sits uneasily with the studio sets. During the battle scenes I had the uneasy feeling someone out of shot was throwing buckets of water in the air to simulate shell-fire.

Instead of indulging in Technicolor, I feel the producers should have gone for the harsher monochrome which 'The Cruel Sea' and 'Sink the Bismarck!' use so well. Black and white photography also makes the shift between location and studio work much less obvious.

There are some good performances in the film, notably Peter Finch as Langsdorff. I remember seeing newsreel footage of the real Langsdorff attending the funeral of his men in Montevideo, he gave a German Naval salute instead of the Nazi version. His portrayal as a 'decent' German has a basis in fact.

The battle of the River Plate was the last Naval action to take place without the benefit of technical advances such as radar. It was a fine piece of seamanship and the story deserved to be told. At the end of this film, unfortunately, you can't help feeling it could have been told better.

Fine, entertaining movie of the famous sea battle between 3 smaller British warships versus the great German Pocket Battleship "Graf Spee". Tremendous sea scenes , aided by the fact that most of the original ships which fought the actual battle are used in the movie. Well acted all-round with Peter Finch doing a fine job as Captain Langsdorf.

A former teacher of mine who had previously served in the navy was a fan of this film and made a passionate speech once in school about the underlying themes of the film which was about understanding and respecting your enemies.

The admirable filmmaking partnership Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger turn their attention to The Battle of the River Plate 10 years after the end of the second world war with an entertaining reconstruction of three smaller warships against the German Pocket Battleship 'Graf Spee' skippered by a seemingly honourable Captain Langsdorf (Peter Finch) although in opening scenes it looks like the Graf Spee has sunk a British vessel inside Portuguese territorial waters.

There is a lot of cat and mouse as the British commanders anticipate Langsdorf's next moves, in between the lull you have diplomatic manoeuvrings between the Allies and Nazis against the Uruguayan government. In the climax you have a live American broadcast from a cafe/bar in the harbour with Christopher Lee playing a South American bar owner.

Powell and Pressburger shy away from the jingoism and histrionics that plagued a lot of post war films, I guess they did their bit for the war effort during the war itself with films like Colonel Blimp and as always were ahead of their time even when making a post war film looking back at the start of the war.

There is little about the personal lives of the seamen, we do not see them reminiscing about the loved ones waiting for them back home. Its all about strategy and getting the job done with a few scenes of comic relief.

The film is very well photographed and they had the cooperation of the Royal Navy that supplied naval ships for the film. However they could had done with some model work as their were some jarring scenes with the studio shots that do not stand up too well these days.

This is a splendid British film concerning historic deeds during WWII , the naval battle in the South Atlantic between British cruiser squadron of three ships and the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee , Dic 1939 . The main and secondary cast are stunningly incarnated by a magnificent plethora of English actors . The film contains a colorful and glimmer cinematography by Christopher Challis and an atmospheric musical score . The movie is well produced by Archers production and professionally directed by Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell . The motion picture will appeal to warlike genre buffs and British classic movie fans . Rating : Better than average .

The film is based on true events , these are the following : Though the British cruisers were no match for the battleship , Admiral Sir Henry Harwood (Anthony Quayle) launched an attack to Graf Spee (with 6 cannons,280 mm) . German fire seriously damaged HMS Exeter (commanded by John Cregson as captain Bell) with cannons 203mm , put half of HMS Ajax (captain Woodhouse played by Ian Hunter)'s guns out of action , and then damaged Achilles (cannons 152 mm) , but the cruisers did sufficient damage to the German ship to make its captain break off and run for shelter in Montevideo , Uruguay . The British followed and waited in international waters outside the neutral port . The Uruguay government ordered the Germans to leave after 72 hours . The British cruisers called Royal and Renown were near from Montevideo and Langsdorff (Peter Finch) didn't wait possibilities to vanquish . Hitler , reluctant to risk the Graf Spee being sunk by heavier British warship which were sailing for the River Plate , ordered the captain to scuttle the vessel . He did so 17 Dec 1939 and three days later shot himself .