''Invasion Quartet'' is a 1961 British World War II

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

that was publicised as a parody of '' The Guns of Navarone''.Weiler, A. H. ''New York Times'' film review 11 December 1961 It was directed by

Jay Lewis Jay Gardner Lewis (1914 – June 4, 1969) was a film director, a film producer and writer born in Warwickshire, England. In 1940, he founded the documentary film company Verity Films with Sydney Box. Filmography Director *''A Home of Your O ...

and starred

Bill Travers William Inglis Lindon Travers (3 January 1922 – 29 March 1994) was a British actor, screenwriter, director and animal rights activist. Prior to his show business career, he served in the British army with Gurkha and special forces units. E ...

and

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...

Plot

Two wounded officers, one British and one French are deemed unfit and surplus to requirements. They abscond from their hospital and, together with an explosives expert suffering from mental illness, and a Colonel, thought too old to serve in the Army, make their way to France to destroy a long range German artillery piece. The plot has similarities to the exploits of Commando Sgt Peter King and Pte Leslie Cuthbertson.

Cast

as Freddie Oppenheimer *

as Godfrey Pringle *

Grégoire Aslan Grégoire Aslan (born Krikor Kaloust Aslanian; 28 March 1908 – 8 January 1982) was a Swiss-Armenian actor and musician. Early life Krikor Kaloust Aslanian ( hy, Գրիգոր Գալուստի Ասլանյան) was born in Switzerland or in Cons ...

as Debrie *

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 co ...

as Colonel *

Thorley Walters Thorley Swinstead Walters (12 May 1913 – 6 July 1991) was an English character actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedy film roles such as in ''Two-Way Stretch'' and '' Carlton-Browne of the FO''. Early life Walters was born in Tei ...

as Cummings *

Maurice Denham William Maurice Denham OBE (23 December 1909 – 24 July 2002) was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes in his long career. Family Denham was born on 23 December 1909 in Beckenham, Kent, the son ...

as Dr. Barker * Thelma Ruby as Matron *

Millicent Martin Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer, and comedian. She was the lone female singer of topical songs on the weekly BBC Television satire show ''That Was the Week That Was'' known as TW3 (1962–1963), a ...

as Kay *

Cyril Luckham Cyril Alexander Garland Luckham (25 July 1907 – 8 February 1989) was an English film, television and theatre actor. He was the husband of stage and screen actress Violet Lamb. Career The son of a paymaster captain in the Royal Navy, Cyril Lu ...

as Col. Harbottle *

William Mervyn William Mervyn Pickwoad (3 January 1912 – 6 August 1976) was an English actor best known for his portrayal of the bishop in the clerical comedy ''All Gas and Gaiters'', the old gentleman in ''The Railway Children'' and Inspector Charles Rose i ...

as Naval Officer *

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 Gun Commander *

Alexander Archdale Alexander Mervyn Archdale (26 November 190513 May 1986) was a British actor, manager and theatre producer. He had a very long career in both the theatre and in film, stretching from the 1930s to the 1980s. He spent the latter part of his life an ...

as Brigadier, War Office *

Gerald Case (Thomas) Gerald Case (1905 – 22 May 1985) was a British film and television actor known for his role in the 1976 Wodehouse Playhouse episode, ' Strychnine in the Soup'. He was the son of Captain Thomas Elphinstone Case, of the Coldstream Guard ...

as Medical Board Officer - (uncredited) * Ernst Ulman as German Sergeant *

John Wood (English actor) John Wood (5 July 1930 – 6 August 2011) was an English actor, known for his performances in Shakespeare and his lasting association with Tom Stoppard. In 1976, he received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in St ...

as Duty Officer, War Office *

Richard Marner Richard Marner (born Alexander Pavlovich Molchanov, russian: Александр Павлович Молчанов, translit=Aleksandr Pavlovič Molčanov; 27 March 192118 March 2004) was a Russian-British actor. He was probably best known for h ...

as German Soldier (uncredited) * Bernard Hunter as Coding Officer, War Office

Reception

According to MGM records, the film made a loss of $119,000..

References

External links

* 1961 films 1961 comedy-drama films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1960s English-language films Films based on military novels British World War II films British war films 1960s war adventure films Military humor in film British black-and-white films Films scored by Ron Goodwin Films with screenplays by John Briley Films shot at MGM-British Studios 1960s British films {{WWII-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links