Lewis Milestone's They Who Dare

Moviecut—Lewis Milestone's They Who Dare

source: Lewis Milestone's They Who Dare

How would I review a movie I had to start 3 times over, because I fell asleep because it was sooo boring? Unbalanced script (too much pointless talking and pointless scenes). It takes way too long before the action begins. Unconvincing dialogues and unconvincing choices in a war (visiting your family when you're on a mission for no other reason than visiting your family). Strange colors, way too saturated. So much wooden acting (even by good actors) and bad editing, that it's almost a parody on a WWII-movie. Avoid this pathetic flic and spent your time on better things. Unless the sole purpose is to fall asleep.

The usual malarkey about commandos blowing up a petrol dump, this is almost certainly the least of Lewis Milestone's war films, about which several reviewers have already commented upon the resemblance to 'The Guns of Navarone'; although it also strongly anticipates Dirk Bogarde's subsequent scenic tour of the Greek islands in 'I'll Met by Moonlight' (which had a much more memorable score by Mikis Theodorakis than the rather twee one provided here by Robert Gill). Luridly shot in Technicolor, the director is inevitably denied the opportunity to exercise his beloved lateral tracks aboard the submarine but quickly makes up for lost time once the team hit the beach. Akim Tamiroff is rather quiet for once, but Eric Pohlmann's back-slapping submarine commander is easily hammy enough for two; although Sam Kydd's little ditty about Confucius quickly becomes tiresome.

The version I watched on TV was a pathetically unwatchable print. For a majority of the movie I could not make out the characters - the night scenes (of which there were many) were laughable with the orangutan-coloured faces of the characters highlighted against a very dark blue night. Being so unwatchable, it was difficult to appreciate any nuances of expression on the faces of characters making this movie presentation much better suited to radio. The plot was nothing out of the ordinary and since the vision was almost non-existent because of the poorest of quality prints, there's little else to say.

THEY WHO DARE is one of the more disappointing WW2 movies I've watched. Where the film should be tense and exciting it just sort of trudges along through the story, much like the same characters. Despite the narrative being chock-full of dramatic events, nothing in the picture is ever very exciting, and you don't end up caring much about the fate of the characters one way or the other. It keeps you watching throughout, but I was expecting to be on the edge of my seat and I never was. The story is about a squad of British commandos who arrive on the island of Rhodes with the objective of blowing up a German airfield. Their mission is full of the usual problems and complexities, and things are far from over when they finally arrive at their destination. The film is full of stunning Greek scenery and has some strong character work from the likes of Akim Tamiroff, but the plodding pace and seeming disinterest of the director works against it. Dirk Bogarde is a good choice for the youthful hero, tough and yet humane at the same time. I've always been a fan of Denholm Elliott so there's nothing to complain about there either. In addition, character actors who are usually limited to brief cameo parts in low budget movies, such as Sam Kydd and Eric Pohlmann, get bigger and better roles than usual. The story has the sting of realism to it, but at the same time remains uninvolving throughout. I've not seen any of Lewis Milestone's other movies so I can't say how much he's to fault.

It's the Second World War. Dirk Bogarde is sent on a mission to Rhodes to destroy two Axis airbases with a crew of British commandos and Greek partisans. The copy of this movie that played on TCM today was in poor shape. Not only was it too dark to reveal much in the way of details, but the color balance on the Technicolor print it was drawn from -- or perhaps the telecine it was converted on -- was off; the dark-for-night scenes had gigantic swaths of blue, and the faces of the actors verged on orange. the cinematography by Wilkie Cooper looks like it was bleached into impressionism. It looks like it was drawn from a bad 16 mm. TV print. In addition, while there were many scenes shot on location in the Dodecanese, there were a tremendous number of process shots put together in such a way that there was no mistaking them. It's a shame, because it's a talented director -- Lewis Milestone -- with actors worth looking at: Dirk Bogarde, Denholm Elliott, Akim Tamiroff, Gerard Oury, and Eric Pohlman head the cast list. I think this movie is worth another attempt, but until I can see a copy drawn from senior 35 mm. elements, I cannot recommend this to anyway. If someone is aware of a better copy, I would like to know of it.

A British war drama; A story about a band of British commandos assigned to sabotage two Nazi outposts in the Aegean. This film is based on the British military mission Operation Anglo, during World War II, an inspiring tale of a Special Boat Service attempt to disrupt the Luftwaffe from threatening Allied forces in Egypt. However, the film lacks thrills and is a rather predictable men-on-a-mission tale. Danger and action comes without much suspense and the film has a throwaway ending. Dirk Bogarde seems miscast as a leader of a deadly commando unit and the rest of the cast, who perform well, are poorly served by sloppy dialogue. To its credit, the action is convincing and it has some attractive locations and colour and light is richly captured.

There is absolutely nothing to recommend about "They Who Dare." I think the title "They Who Dare to Make this Film" would have been more appropriate. The dialogue and the plot are so boring!! Tedium soon sets in as our heroes talk their way to victory, rather than actually fighting the enemy. Dirk Bogarde must have been looking forward to his earnings, that's all I can say. He clearly doesn't feel the need to act much here. Mind you, I daresay most other actors would feel the same way. There is no attempt to infuse a spark of imagination into the dialogue. It is merely a case of going through the motions.

They Who Dare is directed by Lewis Milestone and written by Robert Westerby. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Denholm Elliott, Akim Tamiroff, William Russell, Eric Pohlmann and Harold Siddons. Music is by Robert Gill and cinematography by Wilkie Cooper. It's "men on a mission" time as Special Commandos and some Greek partisans meet up on Rhodes to blow up two German airfields. And that's about it really, oh of course there's problems along the way such as questions of loyalty, hazards and set-backs such as minefields, and talking – lots of talking - as the men stand or sit around pondering the war and or - their own inadequacies etc. When the big action finale comes it is kind of worth the wait, but the performances are only adequate throughout and the script is lazily written to the point of tedium setting in. 5/10