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The Battle of the River Plate
1956 Action / Drama / War
Review
The penultimate collaboration of the legendary director-screenwriting
team Michael Powell and Emeric Pressurger would prove to be their most
commercially successful, although today the film is far from regarded
as their best work. The story of the Graf Spee so fascinated Powell that
in 1956 he would publish a novel The
Last Voyage of the Graf Spee recounting its eventful last few
weeks of service.The Battle of the River Plate is most memorable for its dramatic, stunningly realised action sequences, which were achieved with the cooperation of the Royal Navy and the US Navy. These make effective use of VistaVision – a short-lived rival to CinemaScope – to evoke a sense of scale and awesome military might as British and German warships lock horns in a grisly fight to the death. The film also stands apart from many war films of its time in its sympathetic, non-stereotypical treatment of German officers, continuing a trend which can be seen in all of Powell’s war films, even those with an obvious propaganda agenda. In contrast to many war time stories, this one is less about the heroism of the Allies and more about the honour and integrity of a German officer. Far from being an idealistic fanatic and a sadist, which is how Germans are often portrayed in war films, Captain Langsdorff is the epitome of the professional naval officer, executing his duty with efficiency without sacrificing his humanity. This is not a film about the glory and sacrifice of battle, but rather one about one man’s determination to prevent the savagery of war from eroding the noble precepts by which he lives. © James Travers 2008 Write a review for this film...User Comments
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Director:
Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Starring: John Gregson, Anthony Quayle, Peter Finch, Ian Hunter, Jack Gwillim Synopsis
November 1939. When his freighter, The Africa Shell, is sunk by the
German pocket battleship Graf Spee,
Captain Dove finds himself a prisoner of Captain
Langsdorff. Despite the humiliation of his situation, Dove
is impressed by Langsdorff’s courtesy and professionalism, and shows
him the respect due to a fellow naval officer, albeit one on the
opposing side. When the Graf Spee sinks another British
ship, Dove is joined by several dozen other prisoners, who are equally
well-treated by the German captain and his crew. Meanwhile, three
British warships, under the command of Commodore Harwood, have assembled
in the South Atlantic, ready to engage the Graff Spee as it heads for South
America....
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