Tonight We Raid Calais

Tonight We Raid Calais

30/4/1943 1h 20m 5.4/10

Overview

A British commando is on a one-man raid to destroy a bomb factory in Nazi-occupied France. He must enlist the aid of French farmers to complete his mission.

Director

John Brahm

Top Billed Cast

Lee J. Cobb

Lee J. Cobb

Bonnard

Beulah Bondi

Beulah Bondi

Mme. Bonnard

Howard Da Silva

Howard Da Silva

Sgt. Block

John Sutton

John Sutton

Geoffrey Carter

Blanche Yurka

Blanche Yurka

Widow Grelieu

Annabella

Annabella

Odette Bonnard

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

12/30/2023

6/10

John Brahm delivers a quickly paced and decently focussed tale of British commando "Carter" (John Sutton) who must make contact with the French resistance and arrange for them to help him target a vital Nazi munitions factory for RAF bombing. What now ensues is sometimes quite a potent look at just how the French were living under the rule of their conquerors. "Odette" (Annabella) and her father "Bonnard" (Lee J. Cobb) have him living with them, and must tread a very fine line between staying alive and keeping their family safe whilst helping the Briton ensure the destruction of the plant. Let's just say they don't agree on the best strategy and in desperation the jeopardy gets distinctly more real for "Carter"! Neither the writing nor the acting here is especially notable - indeed Cobb is a little fish-out-of-water, but the film itself manages to convey a degree of the menace lived under by those occupied families. It was made mid-war, so does have a certain propagandist function to it, but in the main this is quite a tautly directed wartime adventure with just a hint of a conscience.

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