Operation Daybreak
Operation Daybreak | |
---|---|
Directed by | Lewis Gilbert |
Screenplay by | Ronald Harwood |
Based on | Seven Men at Daybreak 1960 novel by Alan Burgess |
Produced by | Carter DeHaven |
Starring | Timothy Bottoms Martin Shaw Joss Ackland Nicola Pagett Anthony Andrews |
Cinematography | Henri Decaë |
Edited by | Thelma Connell |
Music by | David Hentschel |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. (US) Columbia-Warner Distributors (UK) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 118 minutes |
Countries | Czechoslovakia United States Yugoslavia |
Languages | English German |
Operation Daybreak (also known as The Price of Freedom in the U.S.
Plot
In late 1941, General
The first attempt to assassinate Heydrich on his departing train is thwarted. Under vigilance from Gabčík, Kubiš hides in a control room and aims his rifle at Heydrich, but another train abruptly passes to the opposite direction, obstructing the trajectory. They devise a new plan to shoot Heydrich as his car slows down at a bend in the road during his regular morning drive into the city from his country residence. When Heydrich approaches, Gabčík's gun jams, and he runs away, pursued by Heydrich's driver. Kubiš, who is sitting nearby, then throws a grenade at the car, causing it to explode nearby and injuring Heydrich, who later dies at hospital due to mortal wounds caused by the shrapnel.
A manhunt is launched as the Gestapo offer a large sum of money for an informant who can give a lead to their capture. Čurda, who fears for his wife and child's safety, surrenders to the Gestapo, betraying Gabčík, Kubiš and their group. The Moravec family is arrested after learning of Čurda's intelligence. The paratroopers seek refuge in the crypt of Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral, but when the Germans discover their location, a long battle ensues. The Germans try to force them out by gassing and flooding the crypt. Knowing they cannot escape alive and unwilling to surrender, the assassins fatally shoot each other in the flooded crypt.
Cast
- Timothy Bottoms as Sergeant Jan Kubiš
- Anthony Andrews as Sergeant Jozef Gabčík
- Martin Shaw as Sergeant Karel Čurda
- Nicola Pagett as Anna Malinová
- Joss Ackland as Janák
- Ray Smith as Hájek
- Vernon Dobtcheff as Pyotr
- Diana Coupland as aunt Marie Moravcová
- Ronald Radd as aunt Marie's Husband
- Kim Fortune as Ata Moravec
- Pavla Matějovská as Jindřiška
- Cyril Shaps as Father Petrek
- Anton Diffring as acting Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich
- Carl Duering as Karl Hermann Frank, Secretary of State of the Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
- George Sewell as Heinz Pannwitz, Chief Investigator
- Reinhard Kolldehoff as Fleischer, Gestapo
- Philip Madoc as Heydrich's interpreter
- Kika Markham as Čurda's Wife
- Nigel Stock as General František Moravec
- Frank Gatliff as Surgeon
- Adolf Opalka(leader of the second set of paratroopers)
Production
Development
The screen rights to the novel Seven Men at Daybreak by
Casting
In November 1974, Timothy Bottoms signed to star in the film.[8] To prepare for the role of Kubiš, leader of the group and eventual hero who does the killing, Bottoms spent three months on location in Czechoslovakia.[9] The castings of Anthony Andrews, Martin Shaw and Nicola Pagett were announced in December 1974, who all had acting experience from London's West End theatre.[10]
Anton Diffring was cast as Heydrich and was familiar to viewers due to being frequently cast as Nazi officers in war films of the 1950s and 1960s. Diffring, being born in 1918, was in his mid-50s when he took on the role,[11] despite Heydrich being 38 when he died.[12]
In January 1975, Gilbert announced that the actor chosen to play Adolf Hitler had to be replaced, as the original actor turned out to be too small for the role. Calls were made to Gunnar Möller and George Sewell,[13] the latter of who went on to play Heinz Pannwitz.
The size of the cast was around 3,000 which also included actors of German, French, Finnish and Czech origin.[14]
Filming
The film was entirely American produced and financed
The Swastika flag was hung around Prague and in particular at Prague railway station. Younger extras on set, who had no experience of the war, showed little emotion. In one instance, an elderly woman arriving from the countryside needed reassurance from railway station workers that the German invaders had not returned, while another Czech woman was observed to glance disapprovingly at an actor wearing a full Nazi SS uniform.[17]
For the razing of Lidice, the movie deployed convincing replica Tiger tanks, built on the T-34 chassis.[18] Historic film footage from the destruction is inter-cut with new film footage shot by Gilbert.[19]
Post production
Gilbert considered it a "good film" but felt it came along "fifteen years too late... there was nothing in it for people to relate to." However, the film impressed Albert Broccoli and prompted the producer to hire Gilbert to direct The Spy Who Loved Me.[7]
Music
David Hentschel composed the score from an ARP synthesizer[18] and the orchestra was conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.
Critical reception
Colin Bennett of Australia's
Historical inaccuracies
While the film remains broadly true to the facts of the operation, critics have highlighted some inaccuracies and omissions. The circumstances leading up to the assassination of Heydrich were largely ignored, with the implication that the operation was primarily an effort to remove a man who may have been the successor to Adolf Hitler, yet Heydrich was not considered second to Hitler within the Nazi party.[22] While the film portrays the British Special Operations Executive as being responsible for the operation, in reality they had little involvement, as it was primarily the Czechoslovak government-in-exile that organised the operation.[23] The operation was considered a necessity by Winston Churchill in an effort to raise allied morale, despite the expectation of German retribution. The film failed to emphasize this facet or the involvement of those whose actions ultimately resulted in the Nazi destruction of Lidice.[16]
The film does not show that aunt Marie Moravcová commits suicide in the toilet after consuming a capsule of cyanide. Similarly, Ata was not interrogated in the flat as the film suggests, but was arrested along with his father. After his mother's suicide, he was shown her severed head and warned his father would be killed if he did not reveal information. This is not shown in the film.[citation needed]
In the film, Sergeant Karel Curda's betrayal made him appear as a "treacherous weakling", though in reality his confession came after an order by Hitler for the execution of 30,000 political Czech prisoners of war.[23]
The finale shows Kubiš and Gabčík sacrificing each other in a flooded crypt, yet in reality, Kubiš was found unconscious in the church by the Nazis and taken to hospital upon where he was declared dead within twenty minutes.[24] Other reports from the time suggested that the Gestapo claimed the paratroopers were captured while hiding and were immediately executed.[25]
See also
References
Citations
- ^ IMDb: Release dates for Operation: Daybreak Retrieved 2013-01-22
- ^ IMDb: Literature for Operation: Daybreak Retrieved 2013-01-22
- ^ "Warners Purchases 'Seven Men' Rights". The Pittsburgh Press. May 12, 1973. p. 71.
- ^ "Wartime Drama Told by "7 Men"". Youngstown Vindicator. August 16, 1974. p. 18.
- ^ "Bottoms Set For Nazi Role". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 17, 1974. p. 7.
- ^ "Seven Men, hero drama". The Windsor Star. February 5, 1975. p. 50.
- ^ a b "Interview with Lewis Gilbert Side 14". British Entertainment History Project. 1996.
- ^ "Bottoms to Star". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. November 15, 1974. p. 17.
- ^ "Timothy Bottoms Visits". The Afro American. November 22, 1975. p. 14.
- ^ a b "Totally American Film Is Being Shot Abroad". Youngstown Vindicator. December 6, 1974. p. 53.
- ^ Hutchings 2009, p. 97.
- ^ "Reinhard Heydrich, Gestapo Hangman, is dead of wounds". Corsicana Daily Sun. June 4, 1942. p. 1.
- ^ "Calling all 'Hitlers'". The Calgary Herald. January 29, 1975. p. 39.
- ^ a b "Nazis Return to Prague". The Victoria Advocate. June 1, 1975. p. 21.
- ^ Hildred & Ewbank 2006, p. 43.
- ^ a b "'Operation' Was Unlikely But True, Bottoms Says". The Evening Sun. November 26, 1975. p. 17.
- ^ "Czechs Remember Massacre". Waycross Journal-Herald. June 11, 1975. p. 23.
- ^ a b Hughes 2012, p. 159.
- ^ a b "Nazi horror recalled in new film". The Baltimore Sun. November 26, 1975. p. 20.
- ^ "Daybreak shines very late". The Age. October 28, 1976. p. 26.
- ^ "Operation Daybreak Review". Radio Times. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ "Nazi horror recalled in new film". The Baltimore Sun. November 26, 1975. p. 17.
- ^ a b Rich 2018, p. 68.
- ISBN 0-306-80860-9.
- ^ "An Invented Finis?". The Billings Gazette. July 4, 1942. p. 4.
Sources
- Hildred, Stafford; Ewbank, Tim (2006). Martin Shaw - The Biography. John Blake. ISBN 9781782192664.
- Hughes, Howard (2012). When Eagles Dared : The Filmgoers' History of World War II. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9780857721501.
- Rich, Paul B (2018). Cinema and Unconventional Warfare in the Twentieth Century. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781350055704.
- Hutchings, Peter (2009). The A to Z or Horror Cinema. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810870505.
External links
- Operation Daybreak at IMDb
- Operation Daybreak at the TCM Movie Database
- Operation Daybreak at AllMovie
- Operation Daybreak at the better source needed]
- Operation Daybreak at the British Board of Film Classification