Alicia I love this movie so much

Lawbolisted Powerful

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Chase_Witherspoon Surprisingly tense account of allied forces operating behind enemy lines in WWII France, infiltrating enemy strongholds and generally destabilising the occupation in collaboration with resistance fighters. Canadian Robert Beatty and Scot Gordon Jackson are the principals protagonists, teaming up with Simone Signoret in an elaborate game of cross and double cross, evading the Germans while they attempt to rescue one of their own.Great cast with Jack Warner as the convivial commando (belying his autumn age), while Jackson and Beatty are the more intense agents, the former engaging in a rather unlikely romance with Signoret's character, herself a highly capable spy and willing to pull the trigger as required. Burly JRJ is the puppet master overseeing the covert operations, while Paul Dupuis has a memorable role as a turncoat doing everything he can to aid and abet the allied rearguard.There's two or three very memorable moments in this film, and a relative surfeit of violence for its late-forties vintage - the Signoret-Warner scene is quite brutal and unexpected. Good use of sets and exteriors, and while there's a few clichés, I found it quite an addictive film that holds the attention pretty well.

michael-dixon22 First the good bits and that mainly centres around Simone Signoret, who as usual is excellent. But this poses a problem, for the "love-affair" of the film, which involves her and a young Gordon Jackson who looks and acts as though he had never been out of Cowdenbeath. So hardly the material to interest a sophisticated European lady as played by Ms. Signoret. Not good casting, indeed one of the more ridiculous romantic combinations in the history of motion pictures.That being said the film, in black and white, has some atmosphere, tension and you feel that you are there, which is important. The rather bizarre casting continues, however, with the unlikely scenario of a rather elderly Jack Warner playing the part of a commando. Still if he was still an active policeman at 80 years of age in Dixon of Dock Green , who are we to argue with his credentials. In addition he is part of the two most memorable scenes in the film, one when he meets the Irish girl working for the Germans and secondly when he has to contend with a very angry Ms. Signoret holding a pistol.James Robertson Justice is, as always, very believable as the organiser of the missions working from base and there are some good supporting actors who play around his character. For some reason the part played by John Slater irritated me from start to finish, though the rest of the cast, including Robert Beatty, were sound if a touch wooden.I would summarise this film as a pleasant and nostalgic way to spend a rainy afternoon and if it is on sale for around £5 then worth a look.

MARIO GAUCI This unusual but typically low-key product from Ealing Studios (best-known for a series of classic comedies made between 1946-1955) is a semi-documentary depiction of the saboteur training undergone by a band of hand-picked civilians and their subsequent missions behind enemy lines; therefore, in both theme and quality, it anticipates the later, more acclaimed Hollywood offering DECISION BEFORE DAWN (1951) which, incidentally, I just caught up with a couple of weeks ago. The cast is mostly made up of the usual familiar British faces (James Robertson Justice, Gordon Jackson, Jack Warner, Robert Beatty, etc.) but 2 major roles are, very effectively, portrayed respectively by French and Canadian actors: Simone Signoret (appearing in her first English-speaking film when on the verge of attaining stardom on her home ground) and Paul Dupuis. Being in this company, there cannot fail to be lighter moments – especially during an early sequence where our heroes are being shown the tools of their trade i.e. booby-trapped dead rats, manure and even sausages! – among the continuous perils and occasional tragedies they have to face away from home (including being forced to cold-bloodedly execute a compromised companion and swallow the omnipresent suicide pill to escape torture at the enemy's hands).

ianlouisiana This seminal British war film has been "hommaged" a thousand times in the last sixty years from "Charlotte Gray" to "'Allo,'Allo !" via Where Eagles Dare" but despite countless copies and lampoons it has retained its power .Fast paced and seeming shorter than its 92 minutes,"Against The Wind" is shot in crisp black and white by Lionel Banes . From the opening sequence depicting priest Mr R.Beatty walking into the Imperial Institute a number of beautiful interior shots seamlessly meld into the introduction of the undoubted star of the piece Miss Simone Signoret.It is she on whom the camera lingers for just that extra second.She takes Mr Beatty to the office of S.O.E. boss Mr J.R. Justice.Slimmer and more hirsute he is still a nascent Sir Lancelot Spratt,outwardly irascible,inwardly compassionate. He briefs Beatty on his plan to parachute a group of saboteurs into occupied Belgium.As the story progresses we are introduced to the other members of the team as they go through their training. Miss Signoret has recently had tragedy in her personal life and wants to go into action to make amends.Forbidden from doing so by Mr Justice who rightly questions her motives ,she is drinking heavily in a nearby pub when she is joined by Mr J.Warner,one of the group in training. This is a key scene in the film and Miss Signoret is extraordinary in it as the camera closes in on her face and we see anger and determination turn to despair.Mr Warner,too often dismissed as a lightweight,is first class in support here. However she eventually gets her wish and joins Mr Warner and his comrades on their mission. Just as they take off Warner is revealed as a traitor but it is too late to call them back and it is not until they are hiding up with the Resistance that Miss Signoret as wireless operator gets the message that he is a spy.Without any hesitation she shoots him dead as he shaves at the sink. Briefed to bust an important S.O.E. operative from jail the team snatch him from a train in a brilliantly handled sequence that has been often imitated but never bettered. There is a splendid vehicle chase through narrow streets congested with cattle,beer drays and a religious procession.This last has been particularly well cut in Eisenstein fashion without being an obvious copy. Perennial TV favourites Mr J.Slater and Mr G.Jackson make a strong impression in smaller roles but it is Miss Signoret's strength and beauty that commands the attention. "Against the wind " is a film that deserves to be better - known. Indeed you may think you have seen it before,but you probably haven't. But I can guarantee you a lot of other film directors have.