"Ill Met by Moonlight," aka, "Night Ambush" is an unusual World War II film. It's one of many films about a special mission during the war, and it's one of many films about resistance and the underground. But, with both of these elements it also has some other less common aspects. First, it has the kidnapping of a German two-star general. Second, it's a rare look at the Greek underground in World War II. Third, it's about the widespread Greek resistance to German rule. This was the first such civilian resistance that Nazi Germany met in its conquests to that time. And, fourth, it's about a unique network that was established and operating during that time. That network included a thousand or more Greek soldiers, 500 British soldiers, and hundreds of Cretan civilians. The military were men who couldn't be evacuated in time, and who weren't among those captured as the Allies were overrun by the Germans in 1941. The Cretan people hid these men in mountain hamlets and villages around the island. With the Cretan resistance fighters, this lot formed a loosely organized underground. The movie doesn't show it but alludes to the formidable hindrance the network was to the Germans. By clandestine radio, it kept in touch with British command in Egypt. All of this makes for a most interesting wartime drama. It's not one of combat action, or even much resistance fighting. The killing that takes place is off screen and only alluded to. This is a movie about a calculated and well carried out ambush, kidnapping and flight from the enemy. The flight is aided by the natural mountainous terrain of Crete, and the collaboration with and support from people of the local villages and hamlets. Some reviewers take exception to the almost cavalier attitude or persona of the lead characters, especially Dirk Bogarde, as Major Patrick Fermor. He is known to the local Cretans, and the Nazi secret police, as Philedem. Most of the British leaders have that sort of carefree air about them as well. They seem to mirror the easy-going, carefree demeanor and attitudes of the Cretans themselves. As this movie shows, they could move about quite easily without German detection. They knew their land and its rugged terrain that the enemy did not know. So, who is to say that it wasn't something like that? With advisers for the film and the source material, it's likely that life was like that for those people then and there. The story is about a true event, based on a book, "Ill Met by Moonlight." That was a wartime diary of W. Stanley Moss's service in Crete. The original film title is the same as that of the book. It was renamed "Night Ambush" on release in America, and the film was cut by more than 10 minutes. I saw the original 104-minute British version. David Oxley plays Moss. Major Fermor requested his assignment for the 1944 mission to kidnap Major General Kreipe (played by Marius Goring). Kreipe commands 30,000 Germans on the island. That includes a paratrooper division that was the main assault force for the Germans in taking the island. So, the Brits now want to kidnap the Kreipe to humiliate the Germans and boost Allied morale. The operation was planned by British intelligence and carried out by the mixed underground. This may be one of those instances when it was more difficult to shoot a movie in a place than to carry out a war there. In 1957, the roadway system in Crete probably did not yet lend itself to the movement of huge film crews and equipment to mountainous areas for filming. So, this film was shot instead in similar terrain that was more easily accessible. The mountain scenes were shot in the Maritime Alps of Italy and France. The coastal scenes were shot along uninhabited and rugged spots that could still be found in 1957 along the French Riviera. This is an excellent movie. It's a deserved testimonial to the Cretan people. And, it's a nice story of a little-known highly successful Allied coup during WW II. It should be in any serious World War II film collection. For those interested in history, here's a little more that the film doesn't cover. The German invasion of Crete was called "Operation Mercury." It was the first large airborne assault in history. It was also the first time German troops met with mass resistance from a civilian population. The German parachute had only one riser, so it couldn't be controlled. And, the German jumped without their rifles which were dropped separately in bundles. Before many could get to their weapons, they were met by the Allied underground and the civilians. The latter were armed mostly with pitchforks, sledgehammers and other crude weapons. But they exacted a huge toll on the Germans. As a result, Hitler forbad future paratrooper assaults in the war. The Americans and British had far superior chutes, and they jumped with their weapons. So, the Allies had many successful airborne assaults during the war.After capturing Crete, the Germans carried out widespread reprisals against the civilians. Between June 2, 1941, and August of 1944, more than 1,000 Cretans were killed in large shootings by firing squads. Homes were looted and villages were destroyed. German generals Bruno Brauer and Friedrich-Wilhelm Muller ("The Butcher of Crete") were the commanders who ordered most of these reprisals. After the war, both were tried for war crimes and executed.

A group comprised of British soldiers stranded in Crete and local partisans decide to try something quite bold--kidnap the Nazi in charge of the island. Very little of the film actually involves the setup for the kidnapping and the actual event takes place somewhat uneventfully. The bulk of the film consists of a cross-country trek with the prisoner to try to spirit him out of the country.I decided to watch this film because I love the acting of Dirk Bogarde--plus, it being a Powell/Pressberger film didn't hurt. However, my overall impression was pretty unexceptional. Now I am not saying it's a bad film. The acting is fine and the direction seemed good as well. The problem, however, is that the story just never seemed all that interesting--even though it is based on the actual kidnapping of a German general by partisans during WWII. Competent but not enough to merit its being seen as anything more than a moderately interesting time-passer.

"Ill Met by Moonlight" is a different kind of film for The Archers, and sadly, their last venture together.It's a World War II film, based on real-life events in Crete, about the British army and members of the Crete resistance who kidnap a German officer (Marius Goring) in order to send him to Egypt.The British are headed up by Dirk Bogarde.It's a slow moving film, without a tremendous amount of suspense, but I have to say I enjoyed it. It's rich in humor and examples of camaraderie among the soldiers and resistance workers. The photography is excellent, though it's no Black Narcissus.The problem with it is that it isn't up to the usual standards of Powell and Pressburger and not representative of them. I do love Dirk Bogarde, though, in everything.

This must be the worst film by Powell and Pressburger. Powell describes its failures so well (in his autobiography MILLION DOLLAR MOVIE, page 364) that one need not dwell on all the details. The biggest problem is the flip, arch, schoolboy attitude of the characters. Powell complains of Bogarde, and claims that his performance effected the others, but the script and direction can't escape blame. One of the strong moments in the much more interesting non-fiction book this is based on is when the author realizes that it's not just fun and games but all for real when the general's driver gets killed. This moment of realization is not in the film. The travel across the island with the general is much too long, and there is no evolution to the relationship between the general and his captors, which makes it very tedious. Goring is a weak-sister general; perhaps Powell's first choice of Curt Jurgens could have made a difference. But the greatest disappointment is the use of hackneyed dramatic structure, particularly in the final scenes. Whether Powell and Pressburger were good or bad, they were always original. But the sequence where the general tries to bribe the boy is so familiarly presented that every step of its structure is obvious from the start. Ditto the scene when the general leaves his hat, where we're given a clue in the dialogue that the British are on to this ruse. The scene is baldly inserted to give some sense of danger to the trek. Then there's the "I don't know Morse code, do you?" routine at the end, which is lazily resolved by Cusak coming up out of nowhere with no particular explanation. These, and other tired script devices are taken, unadorned, straight out of Saturday matinée westerns. I can forgive the lack of pacing, but not this. The photography is stunning, even though the "on-location" isn't Crete. And despite Powell's disparaging remarks about VistaVision, it really enhances the black and white.