Tonight We Raid Calais

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Audience Member Slightly above-average WWII film given some nice touches by director John Brahm. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member "Escape to Glory" director John Brahm made this patriotic flag-waver "Tonight We Raid Calais," and he was German born. This behind-the-lines, World War II thriller concerns a British Intelligence officer, Geoffrey Carter (John Sutton of "The Dawn Patrol"), who sent by the British to find a munitions factory in France so the Royal Air Force can destroy it. Meaning, Carter has to contact a religious figure in the French underground. The Germans are waiting for the commandos when they land and riddle them with machine gun fire. The Brits scramble back into their armored transport vessel while Carter slips off behind it in the water and makes his way for the village near the factory. Apparently, the RAF cannot find the target so Carter is supposed to light some fires that will take them to it. Generally, a plane carrying incendiaries precedes the bombers and drops the incendiaries to mark the target, but not so here. Anyway, "Tonight We Raid Calais" turns out to be more than a "Hogan's Heroes" episode. The story examines the French and their contribution to the war effort on their own terrain under the heel of the German army of occupation. Odette (Annabella or Suzanne Georgette Charpentier of "Napoleon") is blackmailed into cleaning up for a German soldier, Sergeant Block (Howard Da Silva of "1776"), because he discovered that she was concealing a goat from the Germans. She has a small child and lives with her parents, French farmer Bonnard (Lee J. Cobb of "Lawman") and wife (Beulah Bondi), and complies with the German's request. Carter sneaks into the village, learns that the priest that he was supposed to contact is kaput and resorts to Bonnard. Carter decides to call him Pierre, and he manages this masquerade well among the general population, but Odette doesn't want her family taking such risky chances that could lead to their execution. "Tonight We Raid Calais" qualifies as a traditional World War II movie. The screenplay by Walto Salt of "Midnight Cowboy" was based on a story by Rohama Lee and L. Willinger and these guys generate more than enough suspense not only about the success of the mission but also Odette's decision to stop helping the Germans. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Tonight We Raid Calais

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