SYNOPSIS

To save British ships under siege in the Aegean Sea during World War II, a group of six specialists penetrate enemy lines to take out a fortress whose gigantic guns stand guard over the only escape route. When the team's commander is injured while landing during a storm at sea, mountain-climbing expert Capt. Mallory takes over, forcing him to work closely with a resistance fighter who once lost his family as a result of Mallory's actions. The team must overcome personal differences, harsh weather and a traitor in their midst, to take out the mighty guns of Navarone and help turn the course of the war in the Allies' favor.

Director: J. Lee Thompson
Producer: Carl Foreman
Screenplay: Carl Foreman
Based on the novel The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean
Cinematography: Oswald Morris
Editing: Alan Osbiston
Art Direction: Geoffrey Drake
Music: Dimitri Tiomkin
Cast: Gregory Peck (Capt. Keith Mallory), David Niven (Cpl. Miller), Anthony Quinn (Col. Andrea Stavros), Stanley Baker (Pvt. "Butcher" Brown), Anthony Quayle (Maj. Roy Franklin), Irene Papas (Maria Pappadimos), Gia Scala (Anna), James Darren (Pvt. Spyros Pappadimos), James Robertson Justice (Commodore Jensen), Richard Harris (Squadron Leader Howard Barnsby), Bryan Forbes (Cohn)
C-157m.

Why THE GUNS OF NAVARONE is Essential

The Guns of Navarone was among the first of the "global productions" that started in the '60s and continue to this day. With a cast assembled from a variety of nations (the U.S., England, Mexico, Greece, Ireland and Wales), the film was designed to have the widest possible appeal at the international box office.

The picture was the first of Alistair MacLean's best-selling adventure novels brought to the screen. Its success inspired such later hits as Ice Station Zebra and Where Eagles Dare (both 1968). Starting in 1971, many of his adaptations actually featured his name in their titles, including The Guns of Navarone's 1978 sequel, billed in some areas as Alistair MacLean's Force 10 from Navarone.

The Guns of Navarone built on the variation in the action genre pioneered by The Magnificent Seven (1960), focusing on a team of specialists each of whom brings his or her personal skill to a dangerous mission. By transposing the plot to the military, it paved the way for such later hits as The Dirty Dozen (1967), Tobruk (1967) and The Green Berets (1968).

The Guns of Navarone was Gregory Peck's most successful film at the box office until The Omen in 1976.

Peck and director J. Lee Thompson would re-team for three other films, including the psychological thriller Cape Fear (1962).

by Frank Miller