Operation Crossbow
1965 UK
Dir:Micahael Anderson
Stars:George Peppard, Sophia Loren, Lilli Palmer, Tom Courtenay
Above:George Peppard
To tell the truth, I consider this movie mediocre even as an action movie. Then why I bring it up here? There
are two reasons for it. The first one is concerning the peculiar handling of the German side, and the second one
is concerning to the two femmes appearing in this movie during rather short period; i.e, Sophia Loren and Lilli
Palmer, both of whom were born in a none-English speaking country, Italy and Germany respectively.
When I saw this picture for the first time, I wondered it might have depicted the WW2 from German side at least
in the first 30 minutes during which the German side was depicted more affectionately than the Allied one. While
German scientists are patiently developing V-Rocket with tight cooperation, British scientist's (played by Trevor
Howard) only concern seems to discredit German scientists' ability to develop modern weapons that might have influence
upon the course of the war so that the inability on his own part could be spared. There is even such a scene as
a German female test pilot dedicates flowers to the grave of her colleague who was killed by riding on a mulfunctioning
V-Rocket. This kind of scene, especially a female person being involved, can easily provoke emotional reactions
to viewers. In comparison with this, the appearence of the aforementioned self-preserving scientist makes the allied
side look like they don't deserve to win the war at all. Probably it could be said that, as the scientist didn't
know the due course of the war at that time, he might not have been so stupid as we might think. But saying so
is totally pointless, for the director and the writer surely knew what had actually happened, even if the scientist
in question was supposed to be inaccessible to the knowledge of future episode. Therefore, in this case, why they
brought up such a person in the first place only matters. Considering the total destruction of the German facility
in the last scene, this handling of both sides is totally inexplicable and even schizophrenic. But, on second thought,
I finally concluded this movie must be a hero movie after all. While the first 30 minutes of this movie is a hero
story viewed from the German side, the rest of it is as well a one viewed from the allied side.
"Operation Crossbow" is essentially an action movie, so it is the movie of men. But, if rather short
period, there appear two notable actresses in this picture. One is Sophia Loren, and the other is Lilli Palmer.
Former plays a wife who doesn't know the fact that her husband was killed, and a British officer (played by George
Peppard) is impersonating him in order to infiltrate a German rocket factory. Latter plays a landlady, behind the
cloak of which actually she has been conducting several resistance activities. Eventually she kills Sophia Loren
in order to protect the covert operation of George Peppard. By some inexplicable reasons, despite the fact that
she is a victim of the war, I cannot sympathize with Sophia Loren at all. On the other hand, it is rather easy
to empathize with Lilli Palmer, even if she is the person who kills Sophia Loren. Of course, anyone can say there
wasn't enough time for Sophia Loren to characterize herself. But it is also true to Lilli Palmer. Although Lilli
Palmer is called a dreadful woman by Sophia Loren in a scene, I cannot help feeling truth is reverse, even if it
is totally inappropriate considering the situation. Speaking honestly, I don't know much about Lilli Palmer, for
she is essentially a 1940s and 50s actress and I rarely watch movies made before I was born (i.e. 1960). But judging
by her acting in the movie "Counterfeit Traitor"(1962)
(She is absolutely marvelous in this movie.), I can surely say she had a trenendous amount of warmth, or rather
an ability to show fragility that brings sympathy to any audience. On the other hand, Sophia Loren is one of the
most difficult person for me to emphasize with. Generally for Japanese, she is not the kind of actress who arouses
much empathy, though I am not at all sure it is also true to other countries' audiences. Finally despite all of
this, I'll never say they should have switched their roles. I have a hunch that if they ever had done so, all those
scenes in the hotel would have been completely forgettable. Although I cannot explain the reason for it clearly,
it might be related to Lilli Palmer's natural tallent for having the audience notice her ambivalence without any
blatant divulge of emotions. Considering in this way, I can surely say she was really a great actress.
