The Guns of Navarone

The Guns of Navarone is a well-known 1957 novel about World War II by Scottish thriller writer Alistair MacLean that was made into an equally-acclaimed film in 1961.

The book and the film share the same basic plot: the efforts of an Allied commando team to destroy a seemingly impregnable German fortress that threatens Allied naval ships in the Aegean Sea, and prevents 2,000 isolated British troops from being rescued.

Novel

The book brought together elements that would characterize much of MacLean's subsequent work: tough, competent, worldly men as main characters; frequent but non-graphic violence; betrayal of the hero(es) by a trusted associate; and extensive use of the sea and other dangerous environments as settings. Its three principal characters (New Zealand mountaineer-turned-commando Keith Mallory, American demolitions expert "Dusty" Miller, and Greek resistance fighter Andrea) are among the most fully drawn in all of MacLean's work.

Film

The film version of The Guns of Navarone was part of a cycle of big-budget World War II adventures that included The Longest Day (1962) and The Great Escape (1963). The screenplay, adapted by producer Carl Foreman, made significant changes in virtually all of the major characters. A new character, Major Franklin, initially leads the expedition; Dusty Miller, in the book a tough rough-edged Anglo-American/Polish explosives expert, becomes a dapper Professor of Chemistry, Casey Brown, a Scottish engineer and communications expert becomes a bearded knife-wielding killer and Lt. Stevens, a Greek-speaking navigation expert vanishes from the team. The character of Mallory, originally a New Zealander, is played by US actor Gregory Peck and his nationality is left in the dark. At one point he remarks about his "stupid anglo-american decency", though later Miller tells him to "think of England and pull the trigger".

The film also introduced female characters, romance, and a subplot that radically altered the relationship between Mallory and Andrea.

Principal cast

*Gregory Peck: Capt. Keith Mallory
*David Niven: Cpl. John Anthony Miller
*Anthony Quinn: Col. Andrea Stavrou
*Stanley Baker: Pvt. 'Butcher' Brown
*Anthony Quayle: Maj. Roy Franklin
*James Darren: Pvt. Spyros Pappadimos
*Irene Papas: Maria Pappadimos
*Gia Scala: Anna
*James Robertson Justice: Commodore Jensen/Prologue Narrator
*Richard Harris: Squadron Leader Howard Barnsby RAAF

Anthony Quinn bay, Rhodes, Greece

The film was directed by J. Lee Thompson after original director Alexander Mackendrick (best-known for the small, quirky comedies he directed for Ealing Studios) was fired by Carl Foreman due to "creative differences." The Greek island of Rhodes provided locations, and Quinn was so taken with the area that he bought land there in an area still called Anthony Quinn Bay.

Anthony Quinn bay, formerly Vagies bay

The film was a major box office success and the top grossing film of 1961. As a result, MacLean reunited Mallory, Miller, and Andrea in Force 10 From Navarone, the only sequel of his long writing career, in 1968. It was filmed in 1978 by UK director Guy Hamilton, a veteran of several James Bond adventures. Despite a cast that included Robert Shaw, Edward Fox, and Harrison Ford, it was a critical and commercial failure.

Awards

Award wins

*Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
*Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score - Motion Picture (Dimitri Tiomkin)
*Academy Award Best Effects, Special Effects (Bill Warrington & Chris Greenham)

Award nominations

*Academy Award for Best Picture
*Academy Award for Directing (J. Lee Thompson)
*DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (J. Lee Thompson)
*Academy Award for Film Editing (Alan Osbiston)
*Academy Award for Original Music Score (Dimitri Tiomkin)
*Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture (Dimitri Tiomkin)
*Academy Award for Sound (John Cox)
*Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay (Carl Foreman)

Synopsis

Mallory, an army officer and Andrea (in the novel, he is given no surname, but in the film, he is surnamed Stavros) a Lt. Colonel in the defeated Greek army, have been fighting behind enemy lines in Crete. They are recalled to mount a suicidal mission by Commodore Jensen. Under the command of Major Franklin, they are asked to scale an "unclimbable" (and therefore unguarded) cliff on the south coast of the island of Navarone, off the coast of Turkey. Their task is to blow up two huge guns that guard the approach to the island of Kheros. The Royal Navy is sending destroyers to evacuate 2000 British soldiers stranded on Kheros, and all other attempts to destroy the guns, including bombing have failed. Time is very short, and Mallory, an expert climber, reluctantly agrees.

Mallory, Franklin, Stavros, Corporal Miller, an explosives expert, Spyros Pappadimos and "Butcher" Brown, an engineer and communications expert, assemble at a base to discuss their plans, only to be overheard by a knife-wielding laundry boy who claims not to speak English. Major Franklin asks the base commander to have him imprisoned, and the base commander only agrees after being threatened.

Disguised as Greek fishermen on a decrepit boat, they sail across the Aegean Sea. They are intercepted by a German boat and boarded. On Mallory's signal, they attack and kill all the Germans and blow up the patrol boat. Afterwards, Mallory confides to Miller that Stavros has sworn to kill him after the war, because he was inadvertently responsible for the deaths of Stavros' wife and children.

Their landing on the coast that night is hampered by a violent storm. The ship is wrecked and they lose part of their equipment, most notably the food and medical supplies. Franklin is badly injured while scaling the cliff. They find that the cliff is in fact guarded after all. Miller suggests that they leave Franklin to be "well cared for" by the enemy. Mallory, who assumes command of the mission, feels that Franklin would be forced to reveal their plans, so he orders two men to carry the injured man on a stretcher.

After Franklin tries to commit suicide, Mallory lies to him, saying that their mission has been "scrubbed" and that a major naval attack will be mounted on Navarone. Attacked by German soldiers, they split up, leaving Andrea behind with his sniper rifle, while they move on to their next rendezvous point. They contact local resistance workers, Spyros's sister Maria and her friend Anna.

The mission is continually dogged by Germans - clearly there is a major intelligence leak - but they make their way across the rugged countryside. They are captured when they try to find a doctor for Franklin. They escape by donning German uniforms, but leave Franklin behind, so he can get medical attention. Franklin is injected with the truth drug scopolamine and gives up the false "information", as Mallory had hoped. As a result, German units are redeployed away from the team's escape route.

While making final preparations for the destruction of the guns, Miller discovers that most of his explosives have been sabotaged. Miller deduces that Anna is the saboteur. She pleads that she was coerced by the Germans into treachery, but while Mallory and Miller argue over her fate, Maria shoots her.

Mallory and Miller find a way into the heavily fortified gun emplacements; the others cause a diversion and steal a motorboat for their getaway. Locking the main entrance behind them, Mallory and Miller set obvious explosives on the guns and hide more below the elevator leading to the guns. The Germans finally cut through the thick emplacement doors, but Mallory and Miller make their escape by diving into the sea. Despite Miller's inability to swim, they make it to the stolen boat, but learn that Pappadimos and Brown have been killed. Stavros is wounded and has difficulty swimming, but Mallory manages to pull him in.

The destroyers appear on schedule. The Germans remove the explosives planted on the guns and fire. The first salvo falls short. The next barely misses the lead ship, but then, just as they are about to fire again, the elevator descends and triggers the hidden explosives. The guns and fortifications are destroyed in a spectacular explosion.

Stavros chooses to return to Navarone with Maria and shakes hands with Mallory, seemingly having given up his plan to kill him. Mallory and Miller are taken on board the destroyer.

Music

Jag Panzer's "The Mission (1943)" is based off of the book and movie.

The Skatalites' instrumental "The Guns of Navarone" (1964) is based on the film's main theme, which can be heard during the opening titles. The song has also been performed by the Finnish ska group Jazzgangsters and 80s UK ska group The Specials.

Cultural references

The Wu-Tang Clan's single "Triumph" features a lyric by Method Man referring to the title of the movie.

In the film Pulp Fiction, one character describes himself as the Guns of the Navarone.

In the video game Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, one level called the guns of the Kirin-do has you attacking a fortress.

External links

* Movie review at Alistairmaclean.de (German)
* Book review at Alistairmaclean.de (German)