A decade after this film, Michael Powell would direct two more scripts by long time writing partner Emeric Pressburger*, but this fact-based WWII ‘Mission’ story turned out to be the last film Written, Produced & Directed by them as The ARCHERS. A lesser-known work (and just plain lesser), it ended an 18-yr. run of filmmaking excitement & daring not with a bang or a whimper, but with ill-fitting conventionality. A Crete-set fact-inspired tale about a pair of planted British officers (lighthearted Dirk Bogarde and overacting David Oxley) working with countryside partisans to kidnap the occupation’s top Nazi (a threat-free Marius Goring), this straightforward adventure of pluck, luck & logistics would have been just the thing for J. Lee Thompson or John Sturges. But for The Archers? Other than the outbursts of jolly Cretan song by hardscrabble hillside guerrilla fighters, there's not a speck of fancy or perversity in the whole thing. And Powell, to judge by his auto-bio, knew it.**
DOUBLE-BILL: *The late, rarely screened titles are THEY’RE A WEIRD MOB/’66 and THE BOY WHO TURNED YELLOW/’72.
READ ALL ABOUT IT: **Powell died before finishing Part Two of his auto-bio, MILLION DOLLAR MOVIE. Compared to Part One (the excellent A LIFE IN THE MOVIES) it’s a mess, but the pages covering ILL MET are worth a look.
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