SYNOPSICS
The Heroes of Telemark (1965) is a English,German,Norwegian movie. Anthony Mann has directed this movie. Kirk Douglas,Richard Harris,Ulla Jacobsson,Michael Redgrave are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1965. The Heroes of Telemark (1965) is considered one of the best Action,Drama,History,War movie in India and around the world.
Set in German-occupied Norway, this is an embellished account of the remarkable efforts of the Norwegian resistance to sabotage the German development of the atomic bomb. Resistance fighter Knut Straud (Richard Harris) enlists the reluctant physicist Dr. Rolf Pedersen (Kirk Douglas) in an effort to destroy the German heavy water production plant near the village of Rjukan in rural Telemark. In the process, Pedersen discovers that his ex-wife Anna (Ulla Jacobsson) and her uncle (Sir Michael Redgrave) have also joined the resistance. British commandos dispatched to destroy the plant are killed when their glider hits the mountainside at night. An improvised raid by the resistance ends in the partial destruction of the heavy water canisters, but the contingency plans of Reichskommissar Terboven (Eric Porter) enable the Germans to resume production quickly. Pedersen wants to recommend to London that the Allies bomb the plant. Straud opposes him because of the potential death toll on ...
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The Heroes of Telemark (1965) Reviews
A film about the NORWEGIAN resistance
'The Heroes of Telemark' tells the true story of how a group of men from the Norwegian resistance, managed to halt a German attempt to produce heavy-water at a hydro-electricity plant in Telemark, Norway. Earlier attempts by British elite troops had failed, and in an attempt by the US Airforce to bomb the plant, they hit a nearby village killing several local inhabitants. The film is in many ways removed from reality. It portrays the event in true Hollywood style, with stout and brave resistance men versus scar-faced villainous Germans and of course the obligatory spectacular pyrotechnics. In the real event, not a single German soldier was killed, in fact, not a single shot was fired.
See it for the action, not the history.
This is a British Movie that received the Hollywierd treatment.One of my many peeves is "historical " movies that hoke things up, make things up, change things around. The real story is far more exciting and dramatic, why fictionalize it. The first attempt at attacking the Norsk Hydro plant, "Operation Freshman", a British glider commando raid, ended in disaster, one tow plane crashed killing its crew and commandos, the other glider crashed, those who weren't killed in the crash were captured and shot by the Gestapo under Hitler's "Commando Order" which authorized the execution of Allied commandos even when they were in uniform. An attempt by the USAAF to destroy the Norsk Hydro plant from the air failed, the British then turned to the Norwegian section of SOE. eight of them attacked the plant, did tremendous damage, escaped without loss. The Germans then decided to move the heavy water and its production equipment to Germany, it was American born Knut Haukelid and an another Norwegian who planted the charges than sank the ferry Hydro and defeated the Germans' attempt to build an atom bomb. I am not sure why the Norsk Hydro plant made heavy water, there were no Norwegian atomic scientists at the time. Nuclear physics was still a very theoretical subject. As with so many movies, see it for the action, then read the history. Best part of the movie is the portrayal of the sinking of the Hydro.
Missed a few facts?
I see a few comments that are decrying the liberties taken with the true story, as usual, by Hollywood. Not that it's not a common occurrence, and I'm not defending such practice - but I do feel it necessary to point out that THIS film is NOT, in fact, a Hollywood film at all. It IS a British film. Any complaints one can have with the omission or alteration of events must be directed at Rank, not at the non-specific "Hollywood". The events of the movie, and the true-life events, are fascinating. It's a terrible thing to contemplate, Nazis creating the atomic bomb. What would our world be like today if they had succeeded? This was certainly a WWII story worth telling.
Subdued but fairly interesting war thriller.
The Heroes of Telemark is based on a real-life story. It follows a unit of the Norweigan resistance in their efforts to destroy a German occupied factory, where the Germans are drawing near to creating the first atomic bomb. Kirk Douglas plays an academic from the University of Oslo who is brought in to help them because he is an expert on atomic science. Richard Harris plays the leader of the resistance fighters, a strong willed and courageous man who is always thinking of the best way to be a thorn in the side of the Nazis. There are other decent characterisations too, such as Ulla Jacobsen as Douglas's ex-wife (they parted because he seduced one of his students) and Eric Porter as a power hungry Nazi. The film is quite good, but it might have been better still. For much of the running time, it seems curiously subdued, with lots of scenes which don't quite screw home the tension as far as they could. The sequence in which the resistance fighters infiltrate the factory and attempt to destroy the German's heavy water supply should have been unbearably tense, but it kind of comes and goes without generating the necessary atmosphere. The closing sequence aboard a boat full of children is very well done, though, and there's another taut bit where Douglas and Jacobsen are almost caught snooping around the factory but manage to convince a passing guard that they are merely young lovebirds trying to find a quiet spot for a bit of private love-making. The Heroes of Telemark tells a worthy story and is reasonably entertaining, but it could have been a touch better if the maker's had concentrated slightly harder on the suspense.
The Toll of Norwegian Resistance
When Norway was occupied by the Nazis it had a unique burden to face. With the exception of Winston Churchill all the rest of the Allied political and military leaders favored no military operations to liberate Norway. The war was not to be fought in Scandinavia. Therefore the Norwegians could only sit back and hope for an allied victory in other parts of Europe in order to be free. Knowing that those who resisted in Norway did it from real anti-fascist conviction and the fact that they wanted to do something against their unwelcome occupiers. The Heroes of Telemark and the Norwegian film, Kampen om Tungtvannet on the same subject that was previously done showed the Norwegians in their resistance just such a chance even though it did not help one bit in the liberation of their country. The Nazis have a plant used for making heavy water, deuterium, water made with a hydrogen atom with a neutron as well as a proton. This stuff was critical in the development of the atomic bomb. When a Norwegian scientist got wind of it he gets a message to a colleague played by Kirk Douglas who escapes to Great Britain to inform the Allied High Command. Douglas goes back to Norway and with Richard Harris makes several attempts to destroy the water. A whole lot of people, British Commandoes and Norwegian citizens die in the attempts made. But the job gets done. Hey if the job hadn't gotten done, I'd be writing a review of a different kind of film, maybe in German. Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris prove uneasy allies. In a recent biography of Harris it was reported that he and Harris did not get along at all on this film. Douglas is a talented egotist and Harris was quite the carouser back in those days and also didn't get along with both Marlon Brando and Charlton Heston on films he co-starred with them. Not a good combination for a happy set, but the film got done. Anthony Mann did some great location photography in Norway for this film, shot on the actual sites. Kirk and Dick on skis, even if it was stunt doubles were something to watch. The Heroes of Telemark is a good World War II action/adventure film and a nice tribute to the Norwegian resistance.