The Battle of the River Plate (film)
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| The Battle of the River Plate | |
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 theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger |
| Produced by | Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger |
| Written by | Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger |
| Starring | John Gregson Anthony Quayle Peter Finch |
| Music by | Brian Easdale |
| Cinematography | Christopher Challis |
| Editing by | Reginald Mills |
| Distributed by | Rank Film Distributors Ltd. |
| Release date(s) | November 30, 1956 UK |
| Running time | 119 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Battle of the River Plate is a 1956 film by the British-based director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. In the United States the film was retitled Pursuit of the Graf Spee.
The film portrays the Battle of the River Plate, a naval battle of 1939, between a Royal Navy force of three cruisers (HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles) and the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee.
Unlike many British war movies of its time, The Battle of the River Plate treats the Germans as honourable opponents rather than as cardboard cut-out "Huns". This was a recurrent theme in Powell and Pressburger's films, including The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.
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[edit] Plot
In the early months of WWII, the German Navy sent out various surface raiders to attack Allied merchant shipping. The Royal Navy sent out various hunting groups to find them. The group that found Admiral Graf Spee was very lightly armed in comparison, but went straight to the attack.
The British were led by Commodore Harwood (Anthony Quayle), with Captain Woodhouse (Ian Hunter) commanding the Ajax, Captain Bell (John Gregson) the Exeter and Captain Parry (Jack Gwillim) the Achilles. Captain Langsdorff's (Peter Finch) Graf Spee was much better armed than the three cruisers and inflicted a lot of damage but was fooled by the tactics of the British. The Graf Spee sustained damage itself and took refuge in a neutral port, but according to international law, had to leave by a specified time. Falsely believing that an overwhelming British force was lying in wait, Langsdorff took his ship out with a skeleton crew and scuttled her.
[edit] Historic details
The film pays particular attention to detail, including the bells ringing before each salvo, the scorching on the gun barrels after the battle, and the accurate depiction of naval procedures. The scene where Harwood meets with his captains on board Ajax is pure fiction, created for the movie in order to explain the situation to the audience. The battle is seen entirely from the perspective of the British ships, plus that of prisoners (captured from nine merchantmen) held on Graf Spee.
[edit] Production
Most of the action of the battle and prior to it takes place on real ships at sea. The producers had the advantage of having elements of the Mediterranean Fleet of the Royal Navy available for their use and USS Salem to play the part of Admiral Graf Spee (although she had the wrong number of main turrets). This meant that they did not have to rely on extensive use of models like most Naval war films, although a model (at Pinewood Studios) had to be used for the scuttling of Admiral Graf Spee. In one scene it is claimed that the Graf Spee is being disguised - using features such as a false funnel - as an American cruiser, a trick typical of commerce raiders. The U.S. Navy would not allow any Nazi insignia to be displayed on the Salem so the wartime German flag being hoisted and flown was filmed on a British ship. This is also the explanation as to why the crew of the Graf Spee are seen wearing US Navy pattern helmets rather than German "Coal Scuttles" - whilst the film-makers wanted to achieve an accurate impression and use German helmets they were refused permission. This aspect is often erroneously described as a "goof" on the part of the film-makers but was in fact a circumstance forced upon them.
Filming started on the sixteenth anniversary of the battle. The HMS Ajax and River Plate Association reportedly sent a message to the producers: "Hope your shooting will be as successful as ours."
[edit] Ships used
- HMS Achilles played by herself (INS Delhi)
- HMS Exeter played by HMS Jamaica
- HMS Ajax played by HMS Sheffield
- Admiral Graf Spee played by USS Salem
- HMS Cumberland (which joined after the main battle) played by herself
- HMS Battleaxe and HMS Birmingham were used as camera ships.
- The supply ship Altmark was played by the fleet oiler Olna.
[edit] Cast
- John Gregson as Capt. Bell, HMS Exeter
- Anthony Quayle as Cdre. Harwood, HMS Ajax
- Ian Hunter as Capt. Woodhouse, HMS Ajax
- Jack Gwillim as Capt. Parry, HMNZS Achilles
- Bernard Lee as Capt. Dove, MS Africa Shell
- Peter Finch as Capt. Langsdorff, Admiral Graf Spee
- Lionel Murton as Mike Fowler, Montevideo
- Anthony Bushell as Millington Drake, British Minister, Uruguay
- Peter Illing as Dr. Guani, Uruguayan Foreign Minister
- Michael Goodliffe as Capt. McCall, Royal Navy military attaché
- Patrick Macnee as Lt. Cmdr. Medley, HMS Ajax
- John Chandos as Dr. Langmann, German Minister, Uruguay
- Douglas Wilmer as M. Desmoulins, French Minister, Uruguay
- William Squire as Ray Martin, Montevideo
- Roger Delgado as Capt. Varela, Uruguyan Navy
- Andrew Cruickshank as Capt. Stubbs, Doric Star
- Christopher Lee as Manolo
Cast notes
- Future director John Schlesinger has a small part as a prisoner onboard the Graf Spee.[1], as does Capt. Patrick Dove, who is himself portrayed in the film by Bernard Lee.
- Anthony Newley and Donald Moffat have small parts as a radio operator and a lookout.
[edit] References
[edit] Bibliography
- Christie, Ian. Arrows of Desire: the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. London:Faber & Faber, 1994. ISBN 0-571-16271-1. 163pp (illus. filmog. bibliog. index).
- Pope, Dudley. The Battle of the River Plate. London: William Kimber, 1956. 259pp (illus).
- Powell, Michael. A Life in Movies: An Autobiography. London: Heinemann, 1986. ISBN 0-434-59945-X.
- Powell, Michael. Million Dollar Movie. London: Heinemann, 1992. ISBN 0-434-59947-6.
[edit] External links
- The Battle of the River Plate at the Internet Movie Database
- The Battle of the River Plate at the British Film Institute's Screenonline. Full synopsis and film stills (and clips viewable from UK libraries).
- Reviews and articles at the Powell & Pressburger Pages
- The Battle of the River Plate at the TCM Movie Database
- The Battle of the River Plate at Allmovie
- The Battle of the River Plate movie posters at MoviePosterDB.com
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