Operation Crossbow (later re-released as The Great Spy Mission) is a 1965 British spy thriller film directed by Michael Anderson and starring Sophia Loren, George Peppard, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Richard Johnson, and Tom Courtenay. The screenplay was written by Emeric Pressburger (under the pseudonym Richard Imrie), in collaboration with Derry Quinn and Ray Rigby, from a story by Duilio Coletti and Vittoriano Petrilli. It was filmed in Panavision and Metrocolor at MGM-British Studios. Set during the Second World War, the film is loosely based on an actual series of events, where British bombers targeted the German manufacturing facilities for experimental rocket-bombs. Although it is largely fictional, the film touches on the main aspects of the operation, which was geared to thwart the German long-range weapons programme in the final years of World War II. The story alternates between Nazi Germany's development of the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket, and the efforts of British Intelligence and its agents to counter those threats. All characters speak in the appropriate language, with English subtitles for those speaking German or Dutch.
Plot In 1943, Nazi Germany is developing the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket. Technical issues with the V-1 lead the Germans to create a crewed version for flight testing, but the test pilots die flying it. Eventually, aviator Hanna Reitsch successfully flies the prototype, and realises that mechanical shifting of the missile's weight and change of speed requires the trim controls to be changed. Winston Churchill is concerned about a rumoured flying bomb and orders Duncan Sandys, his son-in-law and a minister, to investigate. Sandys is convinced by intelligence and photo-reconnaissance reports that they exist, but scientific advisor Professor Lindemann dismisses the reports. Bomber Command launches a raid on Peenemünde to destroy the rocket complex. The Germans move production underground to the Mittelwerk factory in Southern Germany and progress to develop the more deadly V-2 rocket. The head of British intelligence learns that engineers are being recruited across occupied Europe and decides to infiltrate the factory. He finds three volunteers, American, Dutch, and British, all experienced engineers who speak fluent German or Dutch. They are hastily trained and sent to Germany, given identities of dead men. Amongst the volunteers interviewed but not selected is a British officer named Bamford, who is later revealed as a German undercover agent. After the agents parachute into occupied Europe, the British learn that one of them, Robert Henshaw, has been given the identity of a Dutch sailor who is wanted by German police for murder, Jakob Bijus. He is arrested but agrees to act as an informant for the Germans. However, he is recognised by Bamford, who has returned to Germany. Refusing to reveal his mission, Henshaw is shot after refusing to co-operate. Nora, the wife of the man (Erik van Ostamgen), whom USAAF Lieutenant John Curtis is impersonating, visits the hotel where she believes her husband is staying, to obtain full custody of their children. After Curtis gains her silence with a promise to free her and leaves for the factory, Nora is killed by another agent, Frieda, who was undercover as the hotel check-in lady. Curtis and Phil Bradley, now impersonating a Dr Engel, infiltrate the underground rocket factory. Bradley is assigned as a porter/cleaner while his papers are checked. Curtis joins the heart of the project, assigned to fix the vibration that is delaying the V-2's development. V-1 flying bombs are shown being launched from their "ski" ramps and falling on London, while others are destroyed by antiaircraft fire, after defensive guns are moved forward to the Kent coast. The more devastating V-2 attacks begin. Launched from undetectable mobile platforms, the only way to fight them is to destroy the factory. The agents learn that the Royal Air Force is mounting a night bombing raid, but the launch doors covering the large A9/A10 "New York rocket" must be opened so that the light provides a visible target. Bradley tries to discover which powerhouse switch opens the doors. Bamford arrives and reviews the photos of the engineering staff, searching for a familiar face. He recognises no one, and orders all employee records to be checked. The face of the man Curtis is impersonating does not match that taken at the factory, and Bamford realises Curtis is a spy. He sounds the alarm just as the agents are heading for the powerhouse. Bradley is captured, but Curtis, who does not know which switch to pull, makes his way inside, sealing himself in, while holding the staff hostage. Bamford demands that Curtis surrender, using Bradley as his bargaining chip. As the air-raid sirens sound, Bradley lunges for the microphone and tells Curtis which switch to pull and is shot by Bamford. The powerhouse workers attack Curtis, but he shoots them. One shoots Curtis as he pulls the lever, opening the launch doors. The Germans try to launch the rocket, but as it lifts off, bombs explode, obliterating the facility. In a final scene, Churchill congratulates Sandys, who observes that the names of the agents will never be known. Churchill adds that without the RAF's courageous raid on Peenemünde, London would have been devastated. He makes Sandys Minister of Works and speaks of rebuilding London.
Cast
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