
            In August of 1962, France is in a state of turmoil. President Charles de Gaulle had granted the country of Algeria independence, a decision that has enraged many French citizens. Many of them, mostly fanatics and extremists from the army, have formed an underground organization called the Organisation de l'armée secrète, and one faction, headed by Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiery, decide to assassinate de Gaulle. They set up shop along a road that de Gaulle's motorcade will be taking to the airport, and, as the motorcade passes, open fire on the Presidential car with automatic rifles. A number of bullets shatter and enter the vehicle, but not a single of them make a mark on de Gaulle or anyone else inside. Six months later, Bastien-Thiery and the other conspirators in the plot are captured. Bastien-Thiery's lawyer makes a stay of execution, but it is turned down, and the next morning, Bastien-Thiery is executed by firing squad.The top members of the OAS, Colonel Marc Rodin, manager Casson and treasurer Montclair take stock from hiding at a remote chalet in Austria, and realize that they cannot make any move as they will constantly be watched and identified: the OAS is planted with snitches who will watch every members move, and each member has had their complete details archived. Rodin realizes that what they need is a foreigner, someone whom no one in France has seen and has no record.Three months later, Rodin has succeeded in finding the right individual, an Englishman with a short but impeccable record. He invites him to Vienna for an interview by the three OAS leaders. The Englishman is smart, enigmatic and cold-blooded; he figures out their need for an outsider to assassinate de Gaulle, given the failed prior attempts and the OAS being riddled with informants. He accepts the job, but warns that he'll have to be paid $500,000 for the work, as anyone who does something like this will never be able to work again. He demands utmost secrecy and anonymity, and asks that no one but the four of them know of this project and that he work completely by himself. He takes the codename "the Jackal", and takes his leave of the OAS heads; his farewell is observed by Rodins bodyguard and adjutant Victor Wolenski.The Jackal begins his preparations: he researches extensively on his target, he acquires two false passports, he pays a visit to Paris to acquire a good shooting location, and he contacts two individuals in Belgium. The first is an armorer whom he commissions to build a special rifle; the second is a forger from whom he requires special French documents.Later on, the Jackal receives an OAS contact named Valmy that will inform him of any developments regarding the President. Around the same time, the OAS sends a female agent named Denise to bed a high-ranking French politician. Two weeks after visiting the armorer and forger, he returns to acquire his purchases. He is satisfied with the gun the armorer has made, and a trial of the rifle goes well; the forger on the other hand tries to blackmail him over his papers, and the Jackal snaps his neck.All his plans complete, he leaves for France under the name of Paul Oliver Duggan.Meanwhile, to raise money to pay the Jackal, the OAS heads order their network to rob a bunch of banks across Paris. The tactics range from late night burglaries to daylight ambushes of armored cars. This sudden crime wave is noticed by the French Action Service (the French espionage branch), and although several of the robbers are captured, they are hired thugs who only know that they've been ordered to carry out these robberies on behalf of the OAS.The Action Service's suspicions grow when they learn that Rodin and his associates have suddenly secluded themselves in the Hotel Garibaldi, in Rome, which is owned by an OAS sympathizer. From research by surveillance teams in the area, they observe that Rodin and co. are untouchable. They live alone on the top floor of the hotel, and the floor below that is occupied by their eight bodyguards, highlighting the mens' fear of being kidnapped. So far, their only form of contact with the outside world is Wolenski, who makes twice-daily trips to the post office to send and receive letters. After five weeks, the Action Service decide they need Wolenski taken in for questioning. They abduct him off the street while he's walking to the post office to pick up mail, load him into the back of a truck and drive him to an airfield, where he's then flown to Paris in a small propeller plane. They interrogate and torture him to death, but all they get is that a blond killer named Jackal visited his superiors. This is enough for the chief of the Action Service to conclude that the OAS are employing an outside contract killer as part of a plot to assassinate De Gaulle.The French Interior Minister asks for an interview with De Gaulle, but his demand for secrecy is rebuffed; de Gaulle is a proud man who refuses to go into hiding or shield himself. The Interior Minister instead convenes a secret council to deal with the Jackal, which includes high-ranking individuals like Police Commissioner Berthier and Colonel St-Clair. Berthier states that because of the Jackal's anonymity from even his own employers, no one has a clue where to start looking for him; the key to finding and stopping the Jackal thus is to establish his identity. He recommends his own deputy commissioner, Claude Lebel, as the best detective in France and ideal for the job of uncovering the Jackal.Lebel, a mild-mannered but tenacious policeman, is summoned to the council. He is given access to every resource available, but he is asked to keep things secret, and that he succeeds. Lebel brings in his assistant Caron to help him out, and the two get to work contacting the heads of police agencies abroad. Meanwhile, St-Clair arrives home and pours out everything about the situation to his mistress, Denise. She later slips off and phones Valmy...Over in London, enquiries are being headed by Inspector Thomas, who has been given express authority by the Prime Minister to make full investigations regarding the Jackal (ensuring that he not be English, or if he is to be stopped). The British police come up with two things that they pass over to Lebel. Firstly, that there was a suspicious character named Charles Calthrop who was in the Dominican Republic around the time its dictator Trujillo was assassinated (Jackal in French is "chacal", the word formed from the first three letters of each name); a search on Calthrop's home reveals he is absent. Second and more worryingly, a review of all passport applications reveals that one was made for one Paul Oliver Duggan, who had died at the age of two.Meanwhile, the Jackal learns from Valmy that his assignment is blown, but decides to continue on regardless. He makes it to a hotel at Grasse, where he spends the night charming and seducing a fellow guest, Baroness Collette de Montpellier.The next morning the hotel records are taken and scanned, as is French customs (and more urgently than usual). Presently Duggan's name is spotted and immediately Lebel orders forces on the hotel and he heads over there himself. They find no sign of the Jackal, him having already left the hotel (something Lebel finds strange), but they learn that the Baroness's bed had been slept in by two people. Lebel interviews the Baroness, but she denies knowing a thing about the man.The Jackal's quick getaway before the police arrive is cut short by accidentally crashing his car. He decides to head for the Baroness's estate, where she takes him in. That night she tells him the police were looking for him, but promises she wont say anything if he tells her what hes about; in response, he strangles her. He takes on a new disguise and identity of bespectacled Danish pastor Per Lundqvist, whose passport he stole earlier in Heathrow Airport, and quickly but quietly leaves. He heads to Tulle station in the Baroness's car and catches a train to Paris. Hours later, the servants discover the Baroness's body.Lebel reports the failure of catching the Jackal and the murder of Madame de Montpellier, and notes that he could not have escaped unless he had been forewarned and that he now has the identity of a Danish pastor (having traced the car to the station and questioned the station authorities). He also notes that the murder means he can do away with secrecy and initiate a public manhunt. A police squad heads to Paris station to intercept the Jackal, but they arrive a few minutes too late. Lebel sends police to check every hotel in Paris, but the Jackal evades them by entering a Turkish bathhouse and being picked up by a French homosexual.Lebel uses a phone tap to discern that Denise is the OAS spy that's been tipping off the Jackal. He presents a recording of her phone call to the council, and St-Clair leaves (he later overdoses on sleeping pills); he'd tapped all the phones of the council members, having had suspicions about the Jackal being forewarned. Afterwards, he works out that the Jackal will strike in two days, or August 25, 1963 which is Liberation Day, the anniversary of France's liberation from Nazi Germany. De Gaulle, as a World War II veteran, is sure to make a public appearance on that day no matter what the threat, and the council disbands, intending to make all attempts to find the Jackal before then.Meanwhile, the Jackal kills the homosexual when he sees a public broadcast about Per Lundqvist being wanted for murder.In the early hours of Liberation Day, the Minister wearily informs Lebel that they've been unable to find the Jackal. All they can do is implement the utmost security precautions around. The day goes on, but nothing happens. Some time later, a gendarme allows the Jackal, disguised as an old one-legged French war veteran, to head to his residential address, after seeing his papers; the Jackal enters his location, sheds his disguise and disassembles his crutch to form his rifle, and waits for the President to present medals to former French Resistance members.Lebel strolls around looking for anything the least suspicious or out of place, but he doesn't find anything until he meets the gendarme around the time the President presents medals. He learns that the officer let a cripple with a crutch through, sees that the address pointed out has a window open on the top floor, and rushes over there, ordering the officer to follow him.The Jackal aims, takes his shot... and misses because De Gaulle suddenly bends his head to kiss a Resistance soldier on the cheeks, as is French custom. The Jackal reloads his gun for a second shot, but then Lebel and the gendarme burst in on him. He guns down the gendarme, but Lebel snatches up the officers submachine gun and empties it into the Jackal.Over in London, Charles Calthrop appears at his flat. The British authorities take him in for questioning, but conclude that he had nothing at all to do with the Jackal and close the matter (also forswearing any responsibility regarding the Jackal, since he was an Englishman but also a Dane and a Frenchman). Thomas ponders who the Jackal really was...The film ends with a funeral in Paris: a body is buried in an unmarked grave, with Lebel the only witness.
    

The Day of the Jackal


            "The Dresser" opens with a performance of "Othello" at a regional theater in England during the last days of World War Two. In the title role is an ageing, once-famous Shakespearean actor identified to us only as "Sir" (Albert Finney). He is of the old. bombastic school of British acting, full of grand gestures and fine oratory. As the curtain comes down on the last act, and as the actors line up for their curtain call, Sir lectures them on the mistakes they've made during the performance, showing us that he is the leader of this traveling band of actors bringing Shakespeare to the provinces during wartime.Waiting backstage is Norman (Tom Courtenay), who has been Sir's dresser for decades. Norman is an efficient, somewhat effeminate little man who knows Sir's every whim and fancy, is used to his tirades and temperamental rants and is, for all intents and purposes, Sir's servant. As Norman waits for Sir to come offstage after a typically florid closing address to the audience, we see one way he copes with his job as he takes a nip from a handy little bottle of brandy always in his back pocket.Next we see the company hurrying to its next venue, a theater in the industrial town of Bradford where Sir is to give his renowned portrayal of King Lear. The train nearly leaves without them, as Sir makes his stately progress through the train station to the platform, Norman scurrying ahead to plead with the train guard the even the conductor to hold the train for Sir's arrival. But the train begins to pull out of the station, until Sir delivers a loud, commanding "STOP....THAT....TRAIN!" from the platform steps. The conductor, taken aback, does just that and Sir placidly leads his company aboard.Arriving in Bradford, however, we soon learn another source of Norman's anxiety, for it becomes obvious that Sir's mental capacities are rapidly fading. Norman rescues him from a confused, almost violent rant in the town square that lands Sir in the hospital. As the company tries to decide what to do, Sir unexpectedly arrives at the theater, disoriented and exhausted, saying he's checked himself out of the hospital. Norman ushers Sir theater's dressing room, fiercely resisting the stage manager's insistence that the show be canceled and insisting Sir will be ready to go on.The middle section of the film takes place nearly entirely in the dressing room, as Norman struggles to prepare Sir for the curtain. Sir's wandering mind and nearly incoherent ramblings gradually become more focused as Norman gets him to concentrate on applying his makeup, remembering his lines; and we see how dependent the two men are on each other. Sir would have no career left without Norman; Norman, even worse, would have no life without Sir, to whom he has so long dedicated all his time and energy. By the time Sir's wife, referred to only as "Her Ladyship" and who is playing Cordelia to her husband's Lear, arrives in the dressing room for the five-minute call, Sir is ready for the role we learn he has performed 227 times.The curtain rises for the opening dialogue among Lear's courtiers, but Sir seems to mentally drift away while waiting for his cue, much to Norman's distress, forcing the hapless actors on stage to improvise speeches while Norman struggles to convince Sir of his entrance. Air raid sirens sound, signaling the possibility of an airstrike; and, indeed, distant bombs that can be heard falling seem to rouse Sir and he strides on stage to deliver what all agree is his finest portrayal of Lear in his long career.After the triumphant performance, however, Sir collapses from exhaustion and Norman helps him to his dressing room to lie down. Sir requests Norman to read from an autobiography he claims to have been writing. Although all Sir has written is the opening dedication, Norman reads aloud Sir's gracious thank yous to his audiences, his fellow actors, to Shakespeare, to stage technicians...but not a word about his dresser who has served him so long and loyally. About to protest, Norman discovers that Sir has died while he's been reading. Norman, by now slightly drunk from the evening's brandy nips, flies into a rage, accusing Sir of being a thankless old sod, and in his anger even madly scribbles an addition to Sir's writing thanking himself. But Norman's anger only temporarily covers his disorientation at losing the only life he has known for so many years and, as Norman tearfully admits, the only man he has ever loved. The film closes with Norman sprawled across Sir's body, unwilling to let go of his life and his love.
    

The Dresser


            "The Duellists" is based on a story written by Joseph Conrad, which, according to the author, was itself based on a true story whose origins sprang from a ten-line paragraph in a small Southern France local newspaper. That brief paragraph reported the fatal ending of a duel between two officers in Napoleon's Grand Army. The two officers had fought a series of duels in the midst of great wars on some futile pretext. As the pretext was never disclosed, Conrad invented one.We are in 1800, in the garrison town of Strasbourg, on the Rhine. There is a lull in the Napoleonic wars, and the French soldiers are enjoying a moment of peace before resuming the slaughters. As the film opens, a young girl driving a gaggle of geese happens upon two men dueling in a meadow. Lieutenant Gabriel Féraud (Harvey Keitel), from the 7th Hussar Regiment, is in the process of settling a score with an unknown man who soon ends up skewered on the Lieutenant's épée. We learn that this man is the nephew of the Mayor of Strasbourg, and is seriously wounded, when General Treillard (Robert Stephens), Commandant of the garrison, enters his officers quarters and makes inquiries about this Lieutenant Féraud. Lieutenant Armand d'Hubert (Keith Carradine), from the 4th Hussar Regiment, admits to vaguely knowing the gentleman, and he is immediately "volunteered" by his Commandant to find him and bring him back to the barracks, where he will be put under house arrest. General Treillard, who must see that his soldiers obey the Emperors rules prohibiting combat with civilians, needs to investigate what happened in the meadow. It is somewhat ironical that Bonaparte, who spent a large part of his life dueling with the rest of Europe on a rather grand scale, involving tens of thousand of participants on both sides (but was somewhat of a dilettante when judged by present day's standards), had little respect for the same tradition on an individual level.D'Hubert, after looking all over town, ends up at Féraud's private quarters, where he learns that the Lieutenant is attending a soirée at the salon of Madame de Lionne (Jenny Runacre). At the salon, d'Hubert meets with Féraud and informs him of his mission. Féraud, having judged himself the insulted party in his morning duel, cannot comprehend the reason for his arrest. Further, he determines that d'Hubert has in turn insulted him by bursting into the salon of Madame de Lionne, disturbing him with the General's orders as he was talking to the lady. Féraud immediately challenges d'Hubert to a duel with sabers, which ends when Féraud is wounded. Now, not only has Féraud's forearm been injured, but his wounded pride demands satisfaction.From then on, for the next fifteen years, Féraud will be obsessed with the idea of settling his dispute with d'Hubert, holding him captive by Férauds tragic, ironic concept of honor.D'Hubert goes to meet his friend, an army surgeon (Tom Conti), asking his advice on how to get out of this messy situation. The surgeon tells him first, to keep away from Féraud, second, to always stay ahead of Féraud in military rank, since only duels between soldiers of equal ranks are tolerated and third, to rely on Napoleon for keeping the wars going, as there is no dueling during a state of war.Augsburg, one year later. Lieutenant d'Hubert meets an old girl friend, Laura (Diana Quick), one of the camp followers. She tells him she has an offer of marriage from a one-armed veteran, but they nevertheless resume their relationship. It happens that Lieutenant Féraud is in the same town, and of course they will duel again. Epées, this time. This encounter is not so lucky for d'Hubert, who ends up gravely wounded. Their seconds propose that now the honor of both parties has been saved, but The Duellists both refuse the opportunity for reconciliation. Laura nurses d'Hubert back to health, but after a face-to-face with Féraud and a subsequent consultation with a fortuneteller, she realizes that these duelists will go on until one of them is killed. If it is d'Hubert who is to die, she cannot see any future in their relationship. She decides to leave him and go and marry the disabled ex-soldier.Captain Féraud (he caught up in rank with d'Hubert, who was promoted earlier) and Captain d'Hubert meet in a third duel, again with sabers, in a cellar. The two combatants fight to total exhaustion in an inconclusive duel, and eventually, dirty and bleeding, must be separated by their seconds.Lubeck, 1806. Captain d'Hubert and Captain Féraud duel a fourth time, on horseback. It is Féraud's turn to be wounded, seriously enough to not be able to continue the fight to its conclusion. Laura reappears on the scene. She is now a widow, and had hoped to settle with her ex-lover, Captain d'Hubert, but she sees that this is just wishful thinking. D'Hubert, too involved in this dueling matter, remains deaf to her subtle suggestion that they resume their affair.Russia, 1812. The Emperor's Grand Army, defeated by the terrible Russian winter and the Russian battle tactics, is in retreat. Colonels Féraud and d'Hubert are now like grunts in the "sacred battalion," consisting of officers of all arms who had no longer any troops to commend. One night, around a campfire, they find themselves again face to face. They silently recognize each other. The next day, Féraud requests a volunteer to go investigate some Cossack activities in the nearby woods. The soldiers are so exhausted and despondent that Féraud had guessed rightly that d'Hubert would be the only one to follow him, with the ulterior motive of finishing their endless confrontation. Far from the camp they come face to face, each with a pair of pistols, but at that moment, a group of Cossacks appears and the two adversaries present a common front to fight them off. Following this, in a gesture of reconciliation, d'Hubert offers Féraud a drink from his hip flask, but the latter disdainfully walks away: "Pistols, next time," he says.Tour, 1814. Napoleon is in exile on the Island of Elba and the Bourbons are back in power with Louis XVIII. General d'Hubert is convalescing at his sister Leoni's home from a bad leg wound sustained during the campaign in France, fighting the Prussians. She suggests to her brother he ought to get married, and offers to introduce him to Adele (Cristina Raines), the niece of her neighbor, the old aristocrat Chevalier de Riverol (Alan Webb). After a short courtship, the two marry. D'Hubert is visited by a Bonapartist gentleman (Edward Fox), a friend of General Féraud, who tries to recruit him to aid in the planned return of the Emperor, but d'Hubert refuses.Following the "Hundred Days," the return of Napoleon to French soil, the Emperor is defeated at Waterloo, and definitively exiled to the Island of St. Helena. Louis XVIII is returned to the throne. Many known Bonapartists are arrested, including General Féraud, and these will be executed as examples. Upon hearing the news, d'Hubert meets with the Police Minister of the Second Empire, Fouché, now Duke of Otranto (Albert Finney), and requests Férauds pardon, a request that is granted. D'Hubert asks only that his intervention on Férauds behalf be kept secret.Having discovered d'Hubert's whereabouts, Féraud sends two of his ex-companions in arms to set up yet another, and hopefully, final duel. The Duellists meet at dawn, on d'Hubert's property, with pistols. Two shots each, fire at will. D'Hubert gets to fire the last shot, but instead of killing Féraud, he fires a bullet into the ground, and with this gesture becomes the rightful owner's of Féraud's life: "I shall simply declare you dead," says d'Hubert. The final scene shows Féraud, from the back, standing on a bluff overlooking the Dordogne River winding through the beautiful valley below. He stands wearing a two-pointed cocked hat and a long black, straight military capote, reminiscent of his Emperor's portraits on the Island of St. Helena - could it be "le petit caporal" (the little corporal), the Emperor himself, humiliated and defeated? It is the "end of the road" for Féraud: finally at peace, as he meditates on what has been his life.
    

The Duellists


            
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Oliver Twist

Daniel Deronda

An Ideal Husband


            London, 1790. Lieutenant William Bligh (Anthony Hopkins) arrives in court, facing charges that his ship, The HMS Bounty, was taken by mutiny. Admiral Hood (Laurence Olivier) and Captain Greetham (Edward Fox) ask him to tell the court his story.Bligh recounts his story. In December 1787, he recruits Fletcher Christian (Mel Gibson) to bring breadfruit from Tahiti to Jamaica (and also to circumnavigate the world). John Fryer (Daniel-Day Lewis) is Master of the Ship, so Fletcher would serve as Master's Mate. The ship's bosun is William Cole (Bernard Hill).The Bounty sails from Spithead, England on December 23rd and over dinner in the crew area, seamen Charles Churchill (Liam Neeson) and Matthew Quintal (Neil Morrissey) fight, while Bligh and Fryer eat with Nelson (Simon Chandler) and Doc Huggan (Malcolm Terris). Thomas Heywood (Simon Adams) goes to investigate, but the crew covers the fracas with loud music.As the ship crosses the equator, the crew hazes Heywood while Bligh watches. Bligh shows a mean streak for even the slightest transgression, and seems to enjoy putting the crew through extra efforts.Rounding Cape Horn, the ship is buffeted by strong weather and waves. Fryer argues with Bligh over whether they should turn back; Bligh disagrees, and even though they have to take an alternate route, Bligh expresses his doubts about Fryer in the ship's log. He announces to the crew that Fryer is being replaced by Christian; Fryer is upset.The Bounty arrives in Tahiti on October 26, 1788 after ten months at sea. Bligh barters with King Tynah (Wi Kuki Kaa) for breadfruit. During the time spent waiting for breadfruit to grow, Fletcher falls in love with a native girl, Mauatua (Tevaite Vernette) the daughter of King Tynah, eventually impregnating her. Upset by this turn of events, Bligh seeks to disrupt the relationship. Romanced by the beautiful scenery of Tahiti, Churchill and some of the crew desert the ship, and Heyward is lashed for not reporting it. Bligh tells the crew that shore leave is cancelled. Fletcher refuses to enforce Bligh's discipline.The deserters return to the island, and Doc Huggan is found dead. The deserters are flogged as Fletcher bids farewell to Mauatua. Shortly after, the Bounty sets sail for Jamaica on April 4, 1789. Bligh tries to reconcile with Fletcher, but he is withdrawn. Bligh continues to be harsh on the crew, especially towards Fletcher and his watch. Bligh announces that they will return around Cape Horn to sail to Jamaica. Disagreements lead Fletcher and the crew to plot a mutiny.On the evening of April 28, Fletcher and his group take over the ship in a relatively bloodless battle. Of the 42-man crew, 18 join Fletcher in the mutiny, two remain neutral, and 22 side with Bligh. Fletcher and the mutineers order Bligh, two midshipmen, the surgeon's mate (Ledward), and the ship's clerk and 14 others into one of the ship's lifeboats and they are cast adrift, and Fletcher sails the Bounty back to Tahiti.Upon arrival back in Tahiti, Fletcher is unable to barter with King Tynah, but Mauatua elects to leave with him, so Tynah gives some of his men to help sail the ship. Heyworth stays in Tahiti, as does Churchill. The Bounty leaves Tahiti in September 1789 to sail for an uncharted island for them to settle on and to avoid the Royal Navy.Meanwhile, Bligh and his men sail the open boat 30 nautical miles to Tofua in search of supplies, but are soon forced to flee after attacks by hostile natives result in the death of one of his men, and they are forced to leave without provisions. Bligh decides to skirt other islands like Fiji and head to Timor. Bligh's men are forced to ration food and water, but he maintains order. After a 47-day, 3,000 mile journey in the open rowboat, Bligh and his men reach the Dutch port of Coupang, Timor in Dutch Indonesia... exhausted and barely alive. Bligh reports the mutiny.Fletcher and The Bounty do not fare as well. They have little luck finding a paradise island for them to hide out on, and the men do not respect him. Fletcher decides to try and find Pitcairn Island, mentioned in logs but not specified. On January 15, 1790 they discover Pitcairn Island, which had been misplaced on the Royal Navy's charts. After the decision is made to settle on Pitcairn, livestock and other provisions are removed from the Bounty. To prevent the ship's detection, and anyone's possible escape, Fletcher orders the ship to be burned. The date is January 23, 1790.Back in England, Bligh is exonerated by the court for having anything to do with the cause of the mutiny.Back on Pitcairn, Fletcher and the mutineers watch the Bounty burn in the shallow bay of the island.The disclaimer during the end credits states that 35 years later, only John Adams and his new English-Tahitian mixed race family was found on Pitcairn Island by a passing British warship. The descendants of the HMS Bounty mutineers continue to live on Pitcairn Island. The fate of Fletcher Christian remains unknown but it is believed that he was killed sometime in 1793 during a civil conflict on Pitcairn Island along with most of the other mutineers with the exception of Adams.
    

The Bounty

Gulliver's Travels

Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna

Galileo

Forbidden Territory: Stanley's Search for Livingstone


            In 1943, after their successful mission in Navarone, MI6 agents Mallory (Robert Shaw) and Miller (Edward Fox) are sent to find and kill "Nicolai". Originally thought to be a traitor who informed the Germans about Miller and Mallory during the Navarone mission, Nicolai is now known to be a dedicated German spy, and is believed to be disguised among the Yugoslav Partisans as a Captain Lescovar (Franco Nero). Mallory and Miller's new mission is to get to Yogoslavia, find Nicolai, and kill him.To get to Yugoslavia the two men pair with "Force 10", an American sabotage unit led by Lt. Col. Barnsby (Harrison Ford) and having with its own mission in German-occupied Yugoslavia. To maximize security, Force 10 steals a plane from Termoli Airfield in Italy rather than requisitioning one, but are spotted by US M.Ps before takeoff. Weaver (Carl Weathers), a US Army sergeant under arrest by the MP's, joins with Force 10 and forces his way onto the plane. Barnsby and crew successfully "escape" Termoli only to be shot down by German night fighters over Yugoslavia. Only Barnsby, Mallory, Miller, Weaver and Reynolds (Angus MacInnes) manage to escape the crippled plane.On the ground, the five survivors run across a group they believe to be Communist Yugoslav Partisans, their allies. Led by a hulking Yugoslav named Captain Drazak (Richard Kiel), Force 10's rescuers are soon revealed to be collaborationist Chetniks (nationalist Serb guerrillas) under German control. The Germans take the team into custody, but do not know what their mission is. Mallory and Barnsby tell the German commander, Major Schroeder (Michael Byrne), that they are deserters and criminals fleeing Allied authorities. To keep Schroeder from opening Miller's suitcase, which contains his special explosives, Mallory tells him that it contains a "new" drug called penicillin.The next morning, the prisoners are told that Schroeder has opened the case, finding it full of firewood. Mallory and Barnsby improvise, "admitting" they buried the samples. Schroeder sends Mallory and Barnsby out to retrieve them, under the guard of his concubine, Maritza (Barbara Bach), and three of his soldiers. Miller, Weaver and Reynolds are left in a cell in camp.Far from camp, Maritza kills the Germans, revealing herself to be a partisan spy. She directs Mallory and Barnsby towards the real partisans under the command of her father, Major Petrovich (Alan Badel). Mallory and Barnsby escape, ambushing and killing two of Drazak's Chetniks - men bandaged to hide burns from flamethrowers. Eventually, the two meet a patrol of real Yugoslav Partisans led by a man Mallory recognizes as his target Captain Lescovar, AKA: Nicolai. While Mallory assumes that Lescovar has recognized him, he and Barnsby are nevertheless taken to the partisans. Mallory and Barnsby both realize their location when they recognize a wide river and a large hydroelectric dam near the Partisan camp.Skeptical, Major Petrovich dismisses Mallory's story about Lescovar being Nicolai - assuring Mallory that they had executed the real 'Nicolai' months earlier. He reproves the men for killing the bandaged Chetniks, as the men were partisan infiltrators in the Chetnik camp and his only link to Maritza.Petrovich's principle worry is an impending assault by the Wehrmacht. The Germans are massing their forces nearby, and only a ravine separates as many as three German divisions from the outnumbered partisans. Only a single concrete arch bridge links each side of the ravine, but the partisans have been unable to destroy it. Convinced that no bridge is impregnable, Barnsby reveals that this bridge is in fact Force 10's target. Knowing Miller's expertise in demolitions, Mallory convinces a reluctant Petrovich to help mount a rescue mission using Lescovar and the Partisan Marko (Petar Buntic).The four re-enter the camp at night, Mallory and Barnsby posing as captives and the partisans disguised as the bandaged men. Before they complete their mission, Drazak arrives with the bodies of the real bandaged men and, since Maritza had always been seen with them, concludes she was a partisan as well and savagely beats her up. A gun battle breaks out in the cell block. Schroeder and Reynolds are killed, but Mallory, Barnsby, Miller, Weaver, Lescovar and Marko escape in a truck with a badly beaten Maritza and the recovered explosives.Having made it to the Partisans, Miller reveals that the bridge really is impregnable to explosives. Mallory hits upon the idea of destroying the upstream dam they saw earlier, with the sudden onrush of several millions of gallons of water being enough to destroy the bridge. A night time air drop is arranged to replace Force 10's lost supplies, but Lescovar sabotages the air drop by calling in German planes. Maritza spots Lescovar betraying the partisans, but Lescovar kills her before she can warn the others. German planes bomb the illuminated drop zone.Petrovich, angered by the botched air drop, orders the men to be sent to Marshall Tito's headquarters for transport back to Italy. The team decides to infiltrate the German marshaling yards at Mostar to steal explosives, taking Lescovar and Marko. Lescovar again betrays them alerting a German sergeant to their presence, identifying himself as an Abwehr officer. Marko overhears the plan and sacrifices himself to save the others from the Germans. The others escape with Lescovar aboard a train leaving for Sarajevo. Lescovar's hasty cover story doesn't fool Mallory or Barnsby; Barnsby had observed Lescovar's interactions with the German sergeant who, fatally, salutes the other man even though Lescovar's uniform only made him out to be a corporal; Mallory had noticed a map showing that their train passes within a half-mile of the dam - a fact Lescovar "neglected" to bring up. Though Lescovar denies treachery, Mallory is convinced, and he kills Lescovar.Jumping the train near the dam, the team splits up: Miller and Weaver set off diversionary explosives while Mallory and Barnsby sneak into the dam. Weaver runs into Drazak in the woods, and kills him after a knife fight.Mallory and Barnsby set their charges within the dam, but realize that they are out of time. With the German assault only minutes away - they are forced to set a short fuse, leaving them no time to escape. Mallory and Barnsby are caught in the explosion, yet nevertheless survive. The dam appears undamaged, but soon begins to disintegrate; with its barely maintained structural integrity disrupted, the dam wall collapses, releasing millions of tons of water in a wave that topples the bridge. The German assault is thwarted, saving the Partisans. Mallory and Barnsby rejoin Miller and Weaver, but the jubilation is short-lived. Mallory reminds the men that they're now trapped on the wrong side of the river, with no supplies and no way of contacting or reaching the partisans. As the end credits roll, the four men begin a strenuous journey back to friendly lines.In this movie appears Wolf Kahler who will later play Ludendorff, chemist and Fritz Shimon Haber's close friend in Haber (2008).
    

Edward Fox

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