Allied agents infiltrate the Nazi rocket complex at Peenemunde in order to obtain their secrets and sabotage the plant. The film alternates between German developments of the V-1 missile and V-2 rocket (with a German cast speaking their own language) and discovery by British Intelligence of the weapon.
Production
Actual V-1 test footage blended with studio recreations.
Acting
Loren elevates housewife spy to tragic dignity.
Practical Effects
Giant rocket models that genuinely terrified 1965 audiences.
Director
Michael Anderson
Sophia Loren
Nora Van Ostamgen
George Peppard
Lt. John Curtis
Trevor Howard
Professor Lindemann
John Mills
General Boyd
Richard Johnson
Duncan Sandys
Tom Courtenay
Robert Henshaw
Jeremy Kemp
Captain Phil Bradley
Anthony Quayle
Bamford
Lilli Palmer
Frieda
Paul Henreid
General Ziemann
Helmut Dantine
General Linz
Barbara Rütting
Hannah Reitsch
Richard Todd
Wing Cmdr. Kendall
Sylvia Syms
Constance Babington Smith
John Fraser
Flight Lt. Kenny
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Duncan Sandys, Churchill's son-in-law, threatened to sue over his portrayal as a bumbling bureaucrat. The studio changed his character name but kept the actor.
This was one of the first mainstream WWII films to acknowledge British intelligence failures—the V-2 rocket's existence was actually discovered by Polish resistance, not glamorous agents. The movie conveniently forgot that part.
GB
