Force 10 from Navarone (film)

Force 10 From Navarone
film poster by Brian Bysouth
Directed by	Guy Hamilton
Produced by	Oliver A. Unger
Written by	Robin Chapman George MacDonald Fraser (uncredited)
Starring	Robert Shaw Edward Fox Harrison Ford Barbara Bach
Music by	Ron Goodwin
Cinematography	Christopher Challis
Editing by	Raymond Poulton
Distributed by	USA American International Pictures non-USA Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	December 8, 1978
Running time	118 minutes (theatrical release) 126 minutes (restored version)
Language	English
Budget	$10,000,000
Box office	$7,100,000

Force 10 from Navarone is a 1978 war film loosely based on Alistair MacLean's 1968 novel of the same name Force 10 From Navarone. It is a sequel to the 1961 film, The Guns of Navarone. The parts of Mallory and Miller are played by Robert Shaw and Edward Fox. It was directed by Guy Hamilton and also stars Harrison Ford, Carl Weathers, Barbara Bach, Franco Nero, and Richard Kiel.

Plot

In 1943, after their successful mission in Navarone, Mallory (Robert Shaw) and Miller (Edward Fox) are sent to find and kill "Nicolai". Originally thought to be a traitor who informed the Germans about Miller and Mallory during the Navarone mission, Nicolai is now known to be a dedicated German spy, and is believed to be disguised among the Yugoslav Partisans as a Captain Lescovar (Franco Nero).

To get to Yugoslavia the two men pair with "Force 10", an American sabotage unit led by Lt. Col. Barnsby (Harrison Ford) and having with its own mission in Yugoslavia. To maximize security, Force 10 steals a plane from Termoli rather than requisitioning one, but are spotted by US M.Ps before takeoff. Weaver (Carl Weathers), a US Army sergeant under arrest by the MP's, joins with Force 10 and forces his way onto the plane. Barnsby and crew successfully "escape" Termoli only to be shot down by German night fighters over Yugoslavia. Only Barnsby, Mallory, Miller, Weaver and Reynolds (Angus MacInnes) manage to escape the crippled plane.

On the ground, the survivors run across a group they believe to be Communist Yugoslav Partisans, their allies. Led by a Capt Drazak (Richard Kiel), Force 10's rescuers are soon revealed to be collaborationist Chetniks (nationalist Serb guerrillas) under German control. The Germans take the team into custody, but do not know what their mission is. Mallory and Barnsby tell the commander, Major Schroeder (Michael Byrne), that they are criminals fleeing Allied authorities. To keep Schroeder from opening Miller's suitcase, which contains his special explosives, Mallory tells him that it contains a "new" drug called penicillin. By the next morning, the prisoners are told that Schroeder has opened the case, finding it full of firewood. Mallory and Barnsby improvise, "admitting" they buried the samples. Schroeder sends them to retrieve them, under the guard of his concubine, Maritza (Barbara Bach), and three of his soldiers. Miller, Weaver and Reynolds are left in a cell in camp.

Far from camp, Maritza kills the Germans, revealing herself to be a partisan spy. She directs Mallory and Barnsby towards the partisans under the command of her father, Major Petrovich (Alan Badel). Mallory and Barnsby escape, ambushing and killing two of Drazak's Chetniks - men bandaged to hide burns from flamethrowers. Eventually, the two meet a patrol of real Yugoslav Partisans led by a man Mallory recognizes as his target – Captain Lescovar, AKA Nicolai. While Mallory assumes that Lescovar has recognized him, he and Barnsby are nevertheless taken to the partisans. Mallory and Barnsby both realize their location when they recognize a wide river and a large hydroelectric dam near the Partisan camp.

Skeptical, Major Petrovich dismisses Mallory's story about Lescovar being Nicolai - assuring Mallory that they had executed the real 'Nicolai' months earlier. He reproves the men for killing the bandaged Chetniks, as the men were partisan infiltrators in the Chetnik camp and his only link to Maritza.

Petrovich's principle worry is an impending assault by the Wehrmacht. The German's are marshaling their forces nearby, and only a ravine separates as many as 3 German divisions from the outnumbered partisans. Only a single concrete arch bridge links each side of the ravine, but the partisans have been unable to destroy it. Convinced that no bridge is impregnable, Barnsby reveals that this bridge is in fact Force 10's target. Knowing Miller's expertise in demolitions, Mallory convinces a reluctant Petrovich to help mount a rescue mission using Lescovar and the Partisan Marko (Petar Buntic).

The four re-enter the camp at night, Mallory and Barnsby posing as captives and the partisans disguised as the bandaged men. Before they complete their mission, Drazak arrives with the bodies of the real bandaged men and, since Maritza had always been seen with them, concludes she was a partisan as well. A gun battle breaks out in the cell block. Schroeder and Reynolds are killed, but Mallory, Barnsby, Miller, Weaver, Lescovar and Marko escape in a truck with a badly beaten Maritza and the recovered explosives.

Having made it to the Partisans, Miller reveals that the bridge really is impregnable to explosives. Mallory hits upon the idea of destroying the upstream dam they saw earlier, with the sudden onrush of several millions of gallons of water being enough to destroy the bridge. A night time air drop is arranged to replace Force 10's lost supplies, but Lescovar sabotages the air drop by calling in German planes. Maritza spots Lescovar betraying the partisans, but Lescovar kills her before she can warn the others. German planes bomb the illuminated drop zone.

Petrovich, angered by the botched air drop, orders the men to be sent to Marshall Tito's headquarters for transport back to Italy. The team decides to infiltrate the German marshaling yards at Mostar to steal explosives, taking Lescovar and Marko. Lescovar again betrays them alerting a German sergeant to their presence, identifying himself as an Abwehr officer. Marko overhears the plan and sacrifices himself to save the others from the Germans. The others escape with Lescovar aboard a train leaving for Sarajevo. Lescovar's hasty cover story doesn't fool Mallory or Barnsby; Barnsby had observed Lescovar's interactions with the German sergeant who, fatally, salutes the other man even though Lescovar's uniform only made him out to be a corporal; Mallory had noticed a map showing that their train passes within a half-mile of the dam - a fact Lescovar "neglected" to bring up. Though Lescovar denies treachery, Mallory is convinced, and he kills Lescovar.

Jumping the train near the dam, the team splits up: Miller and Weaver set off diversionary explosives while Mallory and Barnsby sneak into the dam. Weaver runs into Drazak in the woods, and kills him after a knife fight.

Mallory and Barnsby set their charges within the dam, but realize that they are out of time. With the German assault only minutes away - they are forced to set a short fuse, leaving them no time to escape. Mallory and Barnsby are caught in the explosion, yet nevertheless survive. The dam appears undamaged, but soon begins to disintegrate; with its barely maintained structural integrity disrupted, the dam wall collapses, releasing millions of tons of water in a wave that topples the bridge. The German assault is thwarted, saving the Partisans. Mallory and Barnsby rejoin Miller and Weaver, but the jubilation is short-lived. Mallory reminds the men that they're now trapped on the wrong side of the river, with no supplies and no way of contacting or reaching the partisans. As the credits roll, the men begin a strenuous journey back to friendly lines.

Cast

• Robert Shaw as Major Keith Mallory
• Harrison Ford as Lieutenant Colonel Mike Barnsby
• Barbara Bach as Maritza Petrović
• Edward Fox as Staff Sergeant John Miller
• Franco Nero as Captain Nikolai Lescovar/Colonel von Ingorslebon
• Carl Weathers as Sergeant Weaver
• Richard Kiel as Captain Dražak
• Alan Badel as Major Petrović
• Michael Byrne as Major Schroeder
• Philip Latham as Cmdr. James Jensen
• Angus MacInnes as 1st Lieutenant Doug Reynolds
• Michael Sheard as Sergeant Bauer
• Petar Buntic as Marko

Reception

The film was moderately successful. However, unlike the earlier The Guns of Navarone, it failed to be a major success.

Production notes

Screenplay

In The Light's on at Signpost, George MacDonald Fraser claims he wrote the screenplay. 

Musical score

Composer Ron Goodwin scored the film to the 126-minute version during the summer of 1978. Before the film was released it was shortened to 118 minutes by American International Pictures, who held the US distribution rights. Additional music cues were created by recycling music from other parts of the film - typically reusing suspense passages in scenes for which they were not written. The CD release of the soundtrack by Film Score Monthly chronicles these changes, and presents the score as Goodwin wrote and recorded it for the 126-minute version.

Locations

Filming was completed at the Đurđevića Tara Bridge, Montenegro. Scale models of the dam, the valley and the bridge were constructed at the Mediterranean Film Studios in Malta.

Versions

The 118-minute cut was released worldwide theatrically by Columbia Pictures, which had released The Guns of Navarone. While Columbia held on to international rights, the U.S. rights would pass to Orion Pictures in 1982 after buying Filmways and American International Pictures. Orion was in turn sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1998. MGM itself was sold to a consortium led by Columbia's parent Sony in 2005, and so Columbia holds some ancillary rights in the U.S. today, including theatrical rights.

Legal action

Although three producers of the film Carl Foreman, Sidney Cohn and Oliver Unger were deceased, their estates and surviving producer, Peter Gettinger, took Columbia Pictures to court over unpaid money from distribution rights. Following a trial that began in May 2008 at the N.Y. Supreme Court, a judgement found the producers were entitled to funds withheld by Columbia Pictures for more than 30 years.

External links

• Force 10 from Navarone at the Internet Movie Database
• Force 10 from Navarone at the TCM Movie Database
• Force 10 from Navarone at AllRovi