Operation Amsterdam (1959) sounds promising, but the film has a number of irritating defects. True, some of the atmosphere in the imperiled city is conveyed thanks to location lensing in Amsterdam which involved a considerable amount of organizing like removing traffic from the streets, replacing it with contemporary vehicles and making sure all the extras wore the correct wartime clothing. Unfortunately, all this admirable location lensing is somewhat undercut by the continuous and obvious use of studio cut-ins against a process screen. On the other hand, the editing of the action spots is nice and sharp, particularly the sequence in which the car goes over the wharf. This is most effective indeed! I was also thrilled by the sequence in which we wait for the time lock to come off which features shorter and shorter cross- cutting. Elsewhere, however, the editing tends to be rather slack, dragged out and as placidly routine as Michael McCarthy's direction.. There's also far too much padding in the script. At least 30 minutes should have been jettisoned, including all Malcolm Keen's scenes. True, he's a competent actor, but here his delivery is uncomfortably slow. And worse, what he has to say is of little importance and just time- consuming. Alexander Knox is also saddled with some of the script's most pious platitudes. The other players make an effort to overcome their banal dialogue, though Peter Finch also struggles to make an impression. And as for the miscasting of one of my favorite comedians, John LeMesurier, as a colonel in the Dutch War Ministry, the less said the better! Fortunately, the film does gain attention with a brilliant use of musical sound effects. In fact the music score throughout is a major asset.

From a purely historical point of view, "Operation Amsterdam" is a really cool film. That's because most movies about WWII focus on big, loud and obvious topics--like battles. However, "Operation Amsterdam" is instead about an equally serious problem--what to do with all the diamonds (particularly the industrial grade ones) in Amsterdam--the capital of the diamond industry. This is because lots of war-time machinery (such as precision drill bits) depended on these diamonds and the British were scared the Germans would confiscate them when they overran Holland in 1940.As far as the film itself goes, it is mildly interesting and has some very tense moments. My only reservation is that the film, at times, seems a tad bland. While it stars Peter Finch--a rather distinguished Oscar-winning actor. Here, however, he isn't given a lot to do other than hide from Germans and Nazi sympathizers. This is not a huge complaint, but the overall film is a bit on the sterile side. Worth seeing, yes, but not a rousing adventure, that's for sure.

Not a badly told story of getting much of the world's supply of industrial diamonds out of Amsterdam at the beginning of World War II. Peter Finch and two other men are dropped off by a British destroyer. The team visit Finch's father, one of a dozen or more prominent owners of diamond stashes. He agrees to coax the other owners into giving up their diamonds for safe keeping in England.It's not an easy job. They have about three days to get it done before the Germans will enter Amsterdam. And there are Fifth Columnists everywhere, including some in Dutch Army uniforms. No one can be trusted.Further, many of the owners are Jews and are prompted to keep their stashes as some sort of bargaining chips. Others argue reasonably that if they give their diamonds to the British, they ought to be taken out of Holland and brought to England to avoid the labor camps. And to cap the difficulties, many of the diamonds are in vaults with time locks that are not set to open during the window of operating time.The images are pretty stark. As time passes the team becomes more rumpled and unshaven. An unglamorized and suspect Eva Bartok is swept up in the scheme. And the streets of the populous city are as empty and ominous as those of De Chirico's plazas, except for isolated Dutch Army patrols who may or may not be on the side of the Nazis.A couple of tense action scenes punctuate the search team's effort. There are shoot outs, a strafing, and some bombs are dropped by German airplanes. And meanwhile, in the background, creeping closer, is the booming of artillery.Not a masterpiece but it's reasonably well done, exciting, and sustains interest.

The movie makes the best out of a fairly unique story that is probably based on true historical facts. It is about a one day expedition to Amsterdam in May 1940, shortly before the arrival of the invading German troops. In a race against time exiled Dutch jewelers try to get all the industrial diamonds out of the country and bring them to Britain before the Germans can take them. It is a quick in and out operation organised by the British government that has to be accomplished in one day - and no easy task as the jewelers have to be convinced by sheer argument it is the right and sensible thing to do (hard to decide in the Netherlands in May 1940, I am certain).In a strange way this movie is surrealistic and realistic at the same time. There is a lot of good location shooting, the sun drenched streets of Amsterdam are virtually deserted, the atmosphere is ghostly. At times there is gunfire in the distance. There are some disoriented Dutch soldiers hanging around, or shall I say loitering? The effect is strangely threatening. At one time two groups of soldiers start shooting at each other. In another scene, one of the day trippers steps into a pub in a totally empty square. And there they are, the Dutch! Sitting peacefully behind their pints and discussing the latest news from the front. The transition really took me completely by surprise, it was incongruous but strangely effective and somehow totally believable.There are harrowing scenes. When the day trippers disembark, the harbour is in chaos and full of refugees – a strong contrast to the mentioned deserted streets in the town center. When they finally succeed in organising a meeting with all of Amsterdam's important jewelers, their Jewish colleagues express the opinion that for them it might be wiser not to make the Germans angry by giving away the jewels. They can be convinced to agree to the evacuation of the stones that are invaluable to the armament industry, although it is made perfectly clear that the day trippers can take no refugees with them. All these issues are treated in a rational and unemotional way which actually strengthens the impact of the tragic situation.In addition the movie also has some action scenes, a car chase and, as the culmination of the absurd general situation, the heist of a jewel depository by partisans who help the day trippers, with an ensuing fierce shootout with a detachment of Dutch troops. The acting is good, Peter Finch (Network) is cool as usual and gives a convincing performance as the son of an eminent Amsterdam jeweler and leader of the expedition. Eva Bartok is stylishly beautiful and enigmatic as a Dutch woman with uncertain alignments who joins the day trippers after they saved her from a suicide attempt (driving her car over the pier in the harbor, a car, incidentally, that comes in mighty handy). So, a hell of a lot goes on in Operation Amsterdam.