Anthony Quayle was an apt choice for the cast of The Guns of Navarone as he had helped organize guerilla fighters in Albania during World War II.

Because of his ability to get the international cast, which featured several alpha males, to work together peaceably, director J. Lee Thompson won the nickname "Mighty Mouse" on the set.

Anthony Quinn brought several portable chess sets to the film's location, and chess not only became the main off-screen pastime, but served to defuse any rivalries among the film's stars.

Peck saw The Guns of Navarone as a mixture of a love story and a Keystone Kops caper. He informed producer-writer Carl Foreman of his interpretation of the film's subtext: "David Niven really loves Tony Quayle and Gregory Peck loves Anthony Quinn. Tony Quayle breaks his leg and is sent off to the hospital. Tony Quinn falls in love with Irene Pappas, and David Niven and Peck catch each other on the rebound and live happily ever after." Foreman responded, "Greg, you clever rascal, you've caught me out."

Peck thought the film bordered on parody by suggesting that five men defeated the entire German Army. In his opinion, the only key to making it work was for the actors to play their roles with complete conviction.

During studio work at Shepperton Studios in England, Peck and his wife's rented house was robbed one night while they were at the theatre. Police suspected an inside job and discovered the star's driver, Mike, had a criminal record. Despite their suspicions, Peck refused to fire Mike and, when filming was completed, gifted him and some others who had worked closely with him with gold watches from Cartier's. Shortly after returning to Hollywood, Peck received a call from the famed jewelers asking if he had authorized Mike to pick up another dozen watches as gifts for various crewmembers. Mike then rented a hotel suite in Peck's name, claiming the actor needed it for post-production work but actually staying in it himself. At that point, the police stepped in and put Mike back in jail.

Peck was so impressed with Thompson's work that before filming was even completed he offered him the chance to direct his next film, Cape Fear (1962), which he was producing through his own company.

Quinn insisted on wearing a red undershirt beneath his costume even though it was rarely seen in costume tests. When the costume got wet, however, as happened often, the undershirt stood out strongly. Peck would later say Quinn did it to steal focus.

Quinn enjoyed the location work so much he bought property on the island of Rhodes. In recognition, the government renamed an inlet "Anthony Quinn Bay."

Niven's character is a member of the Light Infantry, the same regiment in which the actor had served in World War II.

Because of the stars' advanced ages, the British press dubbed The Guns of Navarone "Elderly Gang Goes Off to War."

Watch closely during the early scene at the airfield, and you'll see a 1960s pick-up truck to the right, even though the film is set in 1943.

The German soldiers use metal detectors to search for bombs in the gun positions, even when searching around metal railroad tracks.

The film's opening incorrectly attributes the sinking of the HMS Barham to the eponymous guns, but the Barham was sunk by a u-boat (not to mention the fact that the guns are totally fictional creations).

Future Oscar®-winner John Schlesinger, then a director of television documentaries, was hired by Foreman to shoot a promotional film on the making of The Guns of Navarone. After months of troubled location shooting, including run-ins with the film's first director, Alexander Mackendrick, Schlesinger had a large amount of what he considered useless film. Eventually, Foreman had it cut into short promotion films which were used to sell the picture, and the U.S. Coast Guard used footage of Peck and his wife touring one of their ships for a 12-minute promotional short shown on U.S. television.

With a $13 million box-office take domestically, on a then-large investment of $6 million, The Guns of Navarone was the top-grossing film of 1961.

by Frank Miller

Memorable Quotes From THE GUNS OF NAVARONE

"Greece and the islands of the Aegean Sea have given birth to many myths and legends of war and adventure. And these once-proud stones, these ruined and shattered temples bear witness to the civilization that flourished and then died here and to the demigods and heroes who inspired those legends on this sea and these islands. But, though the stage is the same, ours is a legend of our own times, and its heroes are not demigods, but ordinary people. In 1943, so the story goes, 2,000 British soldiers lay marooned on the tiny island of Kheros, exhausted and helpless. They had exactly one week to live, for in Berlin the Axis high command had determined on a show of strength in the Aegean Sea to bully neutral Turkey into coming into the war on their side. The scene of that demonstration was to be Kheros, itself of no military value, but only a few miles off the coast of Turkey. The cream of the German war machine, rested and ready, was to spearhead the attack, and the men on Kheros were doomed unless they could be evacuated before the blitz. But the only passage to and from Kheros was guarded and blocked by two great, newly designed, radar-controlled guns on the nearby island of Navarone. Guns too powerful and accurate for any allied ship then in the Aegean to challenge. Allied intelligence learned of the projected blitz only one week before the appointed date. What took place in the next six days became the legend of Navarone." -- Prologue, spoken by James Robertson Justice.

"...we'd love to go back! Wouldn't we boys? Just as soon as we can! BUT -- we've got one condition. We want the joker who thought this one up to come with us. And when we get there, we're gonna shove him out at ten thousand feet -- without a parachute." -- Richard Harris, as Squadron Leader Howard Barnsby, on the first attempt to take out the German fort on Navarone.

"First, you've got that bloody old fortress on top of that bloody cliff. Then you've got the bloody cliff overhang. You can't even see the bloody cave, let alone the bloody guns. And anyway, we haven't got a bloody bomb big enough to smash that bloody rock. And that's the bloody truth, sir." -- Harris, as Squadron Leader Howard Barnsby, explaining the mission.

"Captain, I'm concerned about this vessel. It's taking on water."
"Why does that concern you?"
"I can't swim." -- David Niven, as Cpl. Miller, and Gregory Peck, as Capt. Keith Mallory.

"Why me?"
"Well, you speak German like a German, Greek like a Greek and before the war you were the greatest mountain climber in the world." -- Peck, as Capt. Keith Mallory, questioning why Anthony Quayle, as the injured Maj. Roy Franklin, has chosen him to take charge of the mission.

"There is of course a third choice. One bullet now. Better for him, better for us. You take that man along, you endanger us all."
"Why don't we just drop him off the cliff and save a bullet?"
"And why don't you shut up? Yes, there's a third choice. We'll make it if necessary, when it's necessary, and not before." -- Anthony Quinn as Col. Andrea Stavros, David Niven, as Cpl. Miller and Peck as Mallory, debating what to do with Quayle, as Maj. Roy Franklin.

"The only way to win a war is to be as nasty as the enemy." – Peck as Mallory.

"There's always a way to blow up explosives. The trick is not to be around when they go off." -- Niven, as Corporal Miller.

"You may find me facetious from time to time, but if I didn't make some rather bad jokes I'd go out of my mind." -- Niven, as Miller.

"If we're going to get this job done she has got to be killed! And we all know how keen you are about getting the job done! Now I can't speak for the others but I've never killed a woman, traitor or not, and I'm finicky! So why don't you do it? Let us off for once! Go on, be a pal, be a father to your men! Climb down off that cross of yours, close your eyes, think of England, and pull the trigger! What do you say, sir?" -- Niven, to Peck, on the need to kill Nazi informant Gia Scala, as Anna.

"You think I wanted this, any of this, you're out of your mind, I was trapped like you, just like anyone who put on the uniform!" -- Peck.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't think we could do it."
"To tell you the truth, neither did I." -- Niven and Peck, delivering the film's last lines.

"Six men come to save two thousand men
Two thousand men, the brave and the bold
For whom the bells have tolled.
Six men come to scale the hills above
Here where the gods were,
Think what the odds were - six men." -- Mitch Miller's Chorus, singing the title song over the final credits.

SOURCES:
Michael Freedland, Gregory Peck