''Operation Amsterdam'' is a 1959 black and white British action film, directed by Michael McCarthy, and featuring

Peter Finch Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (28 September 191614 January 1977) was an English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio. Born in London, he emigrated to Australia as a teenager and was raised in Sydney, where he worked in vaudeville ...

Eva Bartok Éva Márta Szőke Ivanovics (18 June 19271 August 1998), known professionally as Eva Bartok, was a Hungarian-British actress. She began acting in films in 1950 and her last credited appearance was in 1966. She acted in more than 40 American, ...

and

Tony Britton Anthony Edward Lowry Britton (9 June 1924 – 22 December 2019) was an English actor. He appeared in a variety of films (including ''The Day of the Jackal (film), The Day of the Jackal'') and television sitcoms (including ''Don't Wait Up (TV ser ...

. It is based on a true story as described in the book ''Adventure in Diamonds'', by David E. Walker. The action of the story covers 12–13 May 1940 (

Whit Sunday Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. It is the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the H ...

and

Whit Monday Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday, also known as Monday of the Holy Spirit, is the holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a moveable feast in the Christian liturgical calendar. It is moveable because it is determined by the date of Easter. In ...

) during the

German invasion of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands ( nl, Duitse aanval op Nederland), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands ( nl, Slag om Nederland), was a military campaign part of Case Yellow (german: Fall Gelb), the Nazi German invasion of t ...

. The composer

Philip Green Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green (born 15 March 1952) is a British businessman who was the chairman of the retail company the Arcadia Group. He owned the high street clothing retailers Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge from 2002 to 2020. As ...

composed two original pieces of music for the film, the ''

Pierement Waltz ''Operation Amsterdam'' is a 1959 black and white British action film, directed by Michael McCarthy, and featuring Peter Finch, Eva Bartok and Tony Britton. It is based on a true story as described in the book ''Adventure in Diamonds'', by Davi ...

'' and the ''Amsterdam Polka''.

Plot

In May 1940, as the

is under way, the British government decides to send a team to the Netherlands on board to secure stocks of industrial

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

s before the invaders can get to them. Accordingly, two

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

diamond experts, Jan Smit (

) and Walter Keyser (

Alexander Knox Alexander Knox (16 January 1907 – 25 April 1995) was a Canadian actor on stage, screen, and occasionally television. He was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his performance as Woodrow Wilson in the film ''Wilson'' (1944). ...

), with a British Army Intelligence officer, Major Dillon (

), are dropped by ship off the Dutch coast. They survive a German air raid and escape the attention of a suspicious Dutch policeman. Needing a car, they commandeer one driven by Anna (

), who is trying to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

because she blames herself for the death of her Jewish fiance's parents. Anna turns out to be a member of the Dutch security forces and agrees to help the mission. The four of them drive to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

where they meet Jan's father, Johan (

Malcolm Keen Malcolm Keen (8 August 1887 – 30 January 1970) was an English actor of stage, film and television. He was sometimes credited as Malcolm Keane.Whit Monday Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday, also known as Monday of the Holy Spirit, is the holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a moveable feast in the Christian liturgical calendar. It is moveable because it is determined by the date of Easter. In ...

holiday so they recruit Dillon's contacts, a Dutch resistance group, to break in.

Fifth column A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...

ist elements in the Dutch army launch an attack outside the bank but the group manage to break into the vault and recover the diamonds. Jan kills the leader of the fifth columnists, a Dutch army lieutenant ( Tim Turner). While the resistance fighters withstand the attack, the three agents and Anna make their escape. They drive back to the coast, dodging a German air attack on the way, but find that their boatmaster has been killed. They commandeer a

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

to take them back to the waiting destroyer, but Anna elects to remain in the Netherlands and work with the nascent resistance movement.

Cast

as Jan Smit *

as Anna *

as Major Dillon *

as Walter Keyser *

Malcolm Keen Malcolm Keen (8 August 1887 – 30 January 1970) was an English actor of stage, film and television. He was sometimes credited as Malcolm Keane.Petra Davies as Menschi (Johan's assistant) *

Alfred Burke Alfred Burke (28 February 1918 – 16 February 2011) was an English actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Frank Marker in the drama series '' Public Eye'', which ran on television for ten years. Early life Born in London's south-east ...

as dealer working with Johan * Christopher Rhodes as Alex (resistance leader) *

Peter Swanwick Walter Peter Swanwick (29 September 1922 – 14 November 1968) was a British actor best remembered as the "Supervisor" (sometimes called the Controller) in the 1967 TV series, ''The Prisoner''. Swanwick's film career began with bit parts in f ...

as Peter (safecracker) *

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation ...

as Colonel Janssen (Anna's security force contact) * Tim Turner as Dutch lieutenant (leader of fifth columnists) * John Horsley as Commander Bowerman *

Melvyn Hayes Melvyn Hayes (''né'' Hyams; 11 January 1935) is an English actor and voice over performer. He is best known for playing the effeminate Gunner (later Bombardier) "Gloria" Beaumont in the 1970s BBC sitcom ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum'', for appea ...

as Willem *

Carl Jaffe Carl Jaffe (21 March 1902 – 12 April 1974) was a German actor. Jaffe trained on the stage in his native Hamburg, Kassel and Wiesbaden before moving to Berlin, where his career began to develop. In 1933 Jaffe changed his stage name to Fran ...

as diamond merchant * Keith Pyott as diamond merchant *

Oscar Quitak Oscar Morris Quitak (born 10 March 1926) is a British stage, film and television actor. Quitak's stage work includes roles at the Old Vic and the National Theatre; as well as the original West End and Broadway productions of the musical '' Pi ...

as diamond merchant * Karel Štěpánek as diamond merchant *

Frederick Schiller Frederick Schiller (23 August 1901 – 29 September 1994) was an Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federat ...

as tugmaster * George Pravda as portmaster * John Bailey as suspicious Dutch police officer in port

Production

The film was based on a true story. British intelligence smuggled out ten million pounds worth of industrial diamonds from Smit's Diamonds in Amsterdam. Filming took place in October 1958. It was shot at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to ...

and on location in Amsterdam. Peter Finch said during filming: "I like my part in the film, it is one of my strongest".

Reception

The film was one of seven Rank films bought for distribution in the US by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

. The others were ''

Upstairs and Downstairs ''Upstairs and Downstairs'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Michael Craig, Anne Heywood, Mylène Demongeot, Claudia Cardinale, James Robertson Justice, Joan Sims, Joan Hickson and Sid James. It features the ...

'', ''

Sink the Bismarck! ''Sink the Bismarck!'' is a 1960 black-and-white CinemaScope British war film based on the 1959 book ''The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck'' by C. S. Forester. It stars Kenneth More and Dana Wynter and was directed by Lewis Gilbert.Weiler, A.H"M ...

'', '' Northwest Frontier'', '' Ferry to Hong Kong'', '' The Wind Cannot Read'' and '' The Captain's Table''. ''Variety'' said it had "plenty of excitement". The ''New York Times'' said "a surprisingly lukewarm drama has been culled from this tingling, true-life incident... Although it offers some fine tense panoramas of its doomed background, the picture remains curiously conventional in size and scope.... Not until the finale does the picture really get off its haunches.There are two consistent assets, one being a crisp, direct performance by Mr. Britton, as the realistic leader of the daring trio. First, last and always, there is Amsterdam itself."

Plot

Cast

Production

Reception

References

External links