THE SEA WOLVES: I Want Everyone Here to Smell Like a Distillery

The Sea Wolves (1980) – Directed by Andrew W. McLaglen – Starring Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, David Niven, Trevor Howard, Barbara Kellerman, and Patrick Macnee.

THE SEA WOLVES is an odd movie.

Given the title and the cover image they use at Netflix, I had thought I was getting a later version of an Alistair MacLean movie, which, as you know because you’re a loyal reader, I’d been reviewing for my appearance on Van Allen Plexico’s White Rocket Podcast. With Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, and David Niven looking so serious on the cover image, I was expecting a derivative MacLean film that would’t be as good, necessarily, but would still be entertaining.

Well, it’s not a MacLean film, but it is entertaining. It is, however, the kind of movie that doesn’t make any sense. The fact that it’s based on a true story makes the fact that it doesn’t make any sense make even less sense. And all of that is part of its charm.

Ostensibly, THE SEA WOLVES is a war movie. A World War II movie, to be precise, in which the Brits want to blow up a Nazi ship in neutral territory that is broadcasting detailed information about Allied ships, resulting in them getting blown to the bottom of the ocean by German U-boats. Being in neutral territory off the coast of Goa, the Brits can’t go after the ships without causing all sorts of international problems. Hamstrung, the Brits give the mission to the Calcutta Light Horse, which was part of the Cavalry Reserve in the British Indian Army.

What does all of that mean? It means old Brits living in India and playing lots of polo and drinking lots of beer get tasked with taking out a German controlled ship in neutral territory all the way on the opposite coast of India.

If this were a MacLean story, the film would start with Colonel Lewis Pugh (Gregory Peck) and Captain Gavin Stewart (Roger Moore) bringing in Colonel Grice (David Niven) and the rest of his Light Horse contingent, and then they’d go on a big adventure leading to a massive final action sequence. Of course, given that the Calcutta Light Horse isn’t a group of professional soldiers, but a group of ex-soldiers who have invited to not get involved in the war, maybe it would never be a MacLean story.

Instead of the band of ragtag brothers out to save the day, THE SEA WOLVES gives us a whole lot of Gregory Peck and Roger Moore playing Secret Agent Men in Goa, where Gavin finds time to fall in love with Mrs. Cromwell (Barbara Kellerman), who just so happens to be the Nazis #2 man in the Indian state.

It’s the relationship between Peck and Moore that gives SEA WOLVES its charm, and it is a very charming, enjoyable movie. It’s not a movie that I want to think too much about (the Brits only option is to do nothing or recruit some non-soldiers?) but if just sitting and watching it play out is a good time. Peck and Moore are fantastic playing off one another, and this is one of my favorite Peck performances. He’s so relaxed here that he plays almost every scene with this interior smirk that gives Pugh a persona that’s both professional and cocky. You’d think Moore would play the relaxed cocky one, and he does that, too. Instead of these performances either clashing with one another or canceling each other out, they actually work wonderfully together. It’s like watching two versions of the same man, separated by 30 years of experience.

I could easily have watched these two guys the entire movie and while that would not have been true to the spirit of what the actual Calcutta Light Horse did (and it’s to the movie’s credit that it makes sure you know this is a story based on real people), it would have been a more enjoyable movie. Once Pugh and Gavin split up – Pugh oversees the operation while Gavin stays in Goa to create distractions. All of the Light Horse guys are great but we get so little of them – and so little of David Niven – that their presence in the film distracts me from what I just spent the bulk of the movie watching.

I do not normally try to think for you, the reader. That’s just bad form. I’ll tell you what I think of a movie and attempt to stay away from ordaining what you think of a movie. That said, and to continue with my opening comments, if you come to the film wanting a war movie, you’re not going to get one. There’s very little World War II in the film. Instead, THE SEA WOLVES is like a relaxed adventure film that highlights an upper middle class British gentility. Whatever the purpose of the Light Horse originally was, in SEA WOLVES it’s just an old boy’s club where “men get to be men unless their woman is there to shake her head at them.” These are men looking for a bit of glory, who are unhappy to be considered out to pasture. They want to help. They want a bit of danger. And it’s … it’s almost tragic. They want to be important again and they treat the whole enterprise like they’re out on a fox hunt.

That doesn’t mean it’s not fun to watch them, because THE SEA WOLVES is the perfect example of what I used to call an AMC movie. I haven’t had cable in so long I have no real idea what kinds of movies that AMC still broadcasts, but back in the day they played a lot of movies I’d never heard of that nonetheless starred a bunch of people I had heard of. Using SEA WOLVES as an example – I’d see the ad for a film starring Peck, Moore, and Niven and then wonder why I didn’t instantly recognize what movie it was. How could I not know about a movie starring Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, and David Niven?

Then I’d watch the film and know why – it was thoroughly mediocre and maybe even disappointing. As time goes by we think of old actors only for their best or most memorable films. We forget that even big stars probably starred in a bunch of clunkers, and that was the role that AMC existed to fill, to remind us of those probably clunkers.

SEA WOLVES isn’t a clunker, though. It’s not a highly memorable movie but it’s a perfect example of what I wanted but usually did not get out of an AMC movie – an enjoyable film starring a bunch of actors I like doing things they’re good at. That’s SEA WOLVES. It’s not overly memorable, it’s not overly well made, but it is thoroughly entertaining, and proof that sometimes even war movies can be breezy and light and charming.

FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE: You Didn’t Give a Motherhunch About Me, Did You?

Force 10 from Navarone (1978) – Directed by Guy Hamilton – Starring Harrison Ford, Robert Shaw, Edward Fox, Franco Nero, Carl Weathers, Barbara Bach, and Richard Kiel.

FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE is one of the weirder sequels in cinematic history.

Ostensibly, it’s a sequel to THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, but while the story picks up shortly after the events of that movie and reunites the characters of Keith Mallory and John Miller, FORCE 10 was produced 17 years later and Gregory Peck and David Niven have been replaced with Robert Shaw and Edward Fox, actors with very different approaches to the characters than their predecessors. So while FORCE 10 is technically a sequel, functionally it’s entirely its own film.

That’s not wholly a good thing, but it’s not a disastrous thing, either.

FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE is a perfectly enjoyable action/war movie. All of the actors are good, the story is good, the action is good, and the final scene is fantastic. Ironically, while it’s the least of the four Alistair MacLean-based movies, it’s also the only one where I was immediately ready for a sequel. This is due not just to the ending – which sees our four heroes flush with the success of completely their mission but suddenly confronted with being trapped behind enemy lines – but to the chemistry exhibited between our four main leads: Shaw, Fox, Harrison Ford, and Carl Weathers.

Colonel Barnsby (Ford) and his Force 10 team are due to head into Yugoslavia to blow up a bridge, and he’s none-too-happy to have old times Mallory and Miller forced onto him. Right from the start, FORCE 10 overcomes one of the problems I had with (the otherwise superior) WHERE EAGLES DARE, which is to create some tension between our protagonists. Barnsby and Mallory clash repeatedly, the younger soldier’s fire clashing nicely with the older soldier’s calm. When the Force 10 unit is in the middle of stealing a plane (they steal one of their own planes in order to keep the mission a secret), a Jeep of MPs rolls up and a brawl ensues. Instead of getting involved, Mallory and Miller lean back against their transport truck and don’t get involved until they can be of the most use.

It’s during this brawl that Sergeant Weaver (Weathers) joins up with them, forcing his way out of MP custody and onto the stolen plane. Before they reach their destination the plane is attacked and almost everyone dies. The unit then has to hoof it through Yugoslavia, where they get embroiled with Richard Kiel and blah blah blah war stuff mistaken identity subterfuge penicillin Franco Nero prison break. I’m skipping through this huge middle section because while it’s pretty entertaining, it’s the film’s ending that I want to talk about.

Force 10 was sent into Yugoslavia to blow up a massive bridge but they lack the explosives to do it, so they devise a plan to blow up a nearby dam, believing the escaped water will wash the bridge away and keep the Germans on the other side of the river. Miller is the bombs expert, but it’s Mallory and Barnsby that sneak into the dam and travel all the way to the corridor at the base of the dam to plant the explosives. When they’re deciding on how long to set the fuse, Mallory recognizes they’ve run out of time and the Germans must, at that very minute, already be crossing the bridge.

Barnsby decides to set the fuse for 20 seconds, which is obviously not enough time for them to get out. He asks Mallory if 20 seconds is the right time and in a nice switch from GUNS where Miller forced Mallory to make the hard call, Mallory now tells Barnsby that the call is his. Barnsby balks even though he knows he’s right, wanting the older officer to give him confirmation. Mallory finally does, the fuse is set, and the two men shake hands and walk away. The bomb goes off and …

Poof.

Up on a nearby hill, Miller and Weaver are watching and waiting. When there is no massive explosion, Weaver freaks out, yelling that nothing happened and that after all they’d been through to get to that moment … NOTHING! Behind him, Miller puffs on his pipe, clearly unconcerned.

Back in the tunnel, Mallory and Barnsby dust themselves off. There was an explosion in the tunnel, but no real damage appears to have been caused. They’re furious but while hiding out from three Germans, a crack appears in the corridor’s ceiling and water starts to shoot down. Mallory and Miller pop out of hiding and run past the surprised Germans. Slowly, incrementally, Weaver sees the dam begin to crack and water begin to shoot through and his anger turns to such joy that he nearly dances with Miller on the hill and kisses the Brit twice on the cheek. (My admiration for Weathers continues to grow, and I love how Sergeant Weaver continually forces himself into the narrative.) The dam eventually breaks, Mallory and Barnsby escape, and the bridge is washed out, stopping the German advance.

It’s a wonderfully executed sequence by Guy Hamilton and his crew. There are moments here where a bit of Hamilton’s past comes in to add a bit of cheek to the proceedings (like when Barnsby and Mallory are escaping the dam and they both push the same German solider out of the way to climb up some stairs ahead of him) but for the most part they help, rather than hurt the movie. This last sequence, however, is mostly pure action goodness and it unfolds beautifully. Every shot is the right one and every shot last exactly the right amount of time.

The day is won but as the four men reunite on the hill, it’s the ever-practical Mallory who reminds them that they’re now on the wrong side of the river in an area that’s soon to be swarming with angry Germans. With no hope of reuniting with allies, he tells them it’s going to be a long walk to freedom as the camera is pulling away from them and the credits start rolling. It’s a really great ending, calling in mind films like the original Italian Job and The Thin Red Line in that even though the movie is over, the story (and the war) clearly is not.

FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE does not have the literary quality of the other MacLean films, as its intentions are clearly designed to be an enjoyable World War II romp, but while it may not reach the heights of GUNS OF NAVARONE, ICE STATION ZEBRA, and WHERE EAGLES DARE, this is still a darn good movie, thanks to the four leads and some fine directing from Guy Hamilton.

WHERE EAGLES DARE: We Mustn’t Cheat the Hangman

Where Eagles Dare (1968) – Directed by Brian G. Hutton – Starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure, Patrick Wymark, Michael Hordern, Robert Beatty, and Ingrid Pitt.

Let me say this right at the start so there’s no confusion: WHERE EAGLES DARE is a very, very good movie, boasting a phenomenal performance by Richard Burton and a still-thrilling and still-massive final action sequence.

But.

But there’s something missing here that can be found in two other Alistair MacLean-derived films (THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, ICE STATION ZEBRA, and even the lesser FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE), and that’s a bit of passion, a bit of energy, a bit of spark provided by one of the characters to help mitigate the long, slow march to the final action sequence. In NAVARONE, this was provided by Anthony Quinn, who’s intensity wonderfully balanced Gregory Peck’s more stately approach to completely the mission. Patrick McGoohan filled this role in ICE STATION ZEBRA, his sharp tongue and rapid talking style countering nicely with Rock Hudson’s calm. And FORCE 10, released a decade later, gives multiple doses of this spark in the performances of Carl Weathers, Richard Kiel, and the constant bickering between Harrison Ford and Robert Shaw’s characters.

What we have then, with WHERE EAGLES DARE, is the least of all MacLean set-ups and the best of all MacLean finishes.

There are relative terms, of course, because none of the MacLean films is ever outright bad. Yet WHERE EAGLES DARE takes far too long to get where it’s going and clumsily sets up and executes the traitor angle.

British Major John Smith (Richard Burton) and American Lieutenant Morris Schaffer (Clint Eastwood) are paired with five other British soldiers to make a daring raid on Schloss Adler, a castle high in the Bavarian Alps, in order to rescue an American general. During their parachute jump, one of the soldiers ends up dead with a broken neck and so we’ve got a mystery of who on the team is the traitor. The problem is that I never believe it’s either Smith or Schaffer and neither Schaffer nor Smith believe it’s each other. That means it’s either an outsider, or one of the five Redshirts, and none of the Redshirts are, in any way, developed.

The film is so interested in following Smith around that it’s far more interested in his mysterious meetings with Mary Elison (Mary Ure) than it is in the killings.

Unfortunately for the opening half of the movie, the film mimics Burton’s laid back, professional cool and thus gives off the impression that there’s nothing to worry about because Smith is always in control. I needed some tension between Smith and Schaffer or some aggressiveness or humor from Schaffer or one of the Redshirts to give the film some tension. Burton and Eastwood are just a bit too similar for me. Perhaps if EAGLES had been Eastwood’s movie and we spent our time following the group’s one American around as he tried to piece together what was going on, the film could have created some more tension.

Here’s the best example of what I mean. The group parachutes into Bavaria and sets up shop in a seasonaly abandoned cabin. There’s a fierce snowstorm going on outside and Smith takes out the radio equipment to contact London when goes, “Oh darn, I must have left the codebook in the dead guy’s jacket. How silly of me. I’ll go get it.”

In a snowstorm.

Without any help.

And he’s the man in charge of the mission.

So he leaves and walks around back, where he meets Elison in the cabin’s barn, makes out with her, and after a little cozy time in the warm barn, heads back to the main cabin. He can’t have been outside for more than a minute or two between the barn and the cabin, which should be obvious when he walks inside as one’s face would look pretty abused being out in a blizzard for an hour. If Schaffer sees it, however, he doesn’t mention it and so there’s no tension created or raised between the two men. They seem oddly trusting of one another. Later, we learn that Smith trusts Schaffer because, as the only American on the mission, Smith knows Schaffer could not have been the British traitor he was sent to root out.

From the plane ride to the cabin to the town located at the base of the castle’s mountain, the action is solid but almost clinical. Eastwood might as well have been played by anyone, because the film doesn’t ask him to do a whole lot at this point – this is Richard Burton’s movie and while he’s always excellent, the rest of the film gets caught just watching him. There’s some movement with Elison as she goes undercover as a member of the castle’s staff but all that does is create a silly infatuation subplot with Gestapo officer Major von Hapen (Darren Nesbitt), which never goes anywhere successfully.

All of the relative sins are forgiven once Smith and Schaffer get to Schloss Adler and Smith reveals himself to be double agent Johann Schmidt (yes, the Red Skull), which comes as a surprise to the three remaining redshirts who are also double agents. Smith lays out this whole scenario about how he’s the real Nazi spy and that the three actual spies are really fakes that the British have inserted in hopes of springing the American general the Nazis have captured. It’s a fantastic scene because it speaks to how dangerous the spy game is – if no one really knows who anyone is, who can you trust? Smith has been pretending to be a double agent so he can put a phone call in to a high-ranking Italian who speaks on his behalf. Smith gets each of the three redshirts to write down a list of known Nazi agents inside MI6 as a means of proving their real identity, but he’s actually doing it so he can learn the identity of those traitors.

We finally get all the pieces of the puzzle laid out – the American general isn’t actually the American general the Nazis think he is, and Smith’s entire mission wasn’t to save him but to expose the British traitors. It’s a fantastic reveal and Burton owns that castle scene, expertly manipulating the Nazi generals, the Nazi spies, and even Schaffer. When von Hapen intervenes and gets shot, it’s all out action from here to the end of the movie and every single inch of film reel is utterly fantastic.

From a massive interior castle battle (does fighting inside Nazi castles ever suck?), the group makes their way to the cable car that provides the only entrance to Schloss Adler from the town below. It’s silly for them to bring the double agents with them as they only prove to make the escape even more difficult, but they take them and the payoff is the legendary cable car battle, which is every bit as good as you’ve heard it is. After the cable car sequence, our heroes jump out of the cable car and into a river that runs into town, and then escapes in a bus. There’s not much in the way of plot through this section, but the film finally comes alive with real energy.

WHERE EAGLES DARE is a conflicted film for me. The ending is far and away the best of the four MacLean-based movies but that long set-up is the worst. It’s still a very, very good opening, but it’s the only time in all of these 2 1/2 hour-plus films that I wish they’d tightened things up a bit in the long lead-up to the action. That ending, though … WHERE EAGLES DARE presents one of the finest executed action sequences in cinematic history. For an hour or more the film offers thrilling action and Burton’s reserved performance as Smith pays off when he fingers Colonel Wyatt Turner (Patrick Wymark) as the Nazi’s top man in England during the plane ride out of Bavaria. Smith allows Turner to save face by jumping out of the plane without a parachute, which leads to one of the few genuine pieces of humor in the movie as Schaffer deadpans to Smith, “Do me a favour, will ya? The next time you have one of these things, keep it an all-British operation.”

Smith replies with a brief, simple, “I’ll try, Lieutenant.”