Continuing the Casablanca theme we now have a similar movie made some 20 years later than Desert Commando's, a Italian project that contains some known actors. While D.C. was a mash of two better films, this is a near plot point for plot point rip off of The Eagle has Landed set during the post Torch landings. The plot: Churchill arrives in North Africa to take part in the Casablanca conference and during the train journey a Nazi spy sabotages the train and stopping it so that a group of German paratroopers can storm the train, kill the American commandos defending the train and capture Churchill, killing a number of random passengers along the way. A intrepid British agent travels by camel to rally the survivors to defeat the vile Germans just as a rescue party of US Marines blow up the train engine. As the film ends we learn our Churchill is a decoy and the real Prime Minister was in no danger, unlike the poor passengers who are mostly killed in the fighting. Jason Connery is our British agent and lead actor, with Glenn Ford and Donald Pleasence in surprisingly robust supporting roles. Unfortunately these two great actors are wasted in this. As for Connery, he is no Bond, not even the David Niven version sadly. With the rest of the cast it ranges from mediocre to so bad its actually funny to watch. For the Germans if they had handlebar mustaches they would be twirling them while they chewed the scenery and dialog. The editing is better than Desert Commandos, but not great which is equally true of the music that often feels discordant. Nor is the dialog particularly inspired and often delivered woodenly, even by the experienced actors. My dvd copy has a washed out look to it that though made twenty years later looks like it came from the same era as D.C. As to which is better that is a tough call, it did feel D. C. had a bit more originality than this film and the possibility of a good story under a better director and writer, this one just feels lazy and a waste of some good actors.
Why and from where would Churchill be traveling on a train? He flew to Casablanca from Britain. Were the writers hypothesizing that he had been somewhere else in North Africa first?
I suppose it could be argued that since 'Churchill' is a double/decoy travelling by train is plausible.
Plot, my friend, plot. It would be next to impossible for German paratrooper to capture a plane in mid-flight. Another plot-hole, why are American commandos( did we even have commandos then) guarding Winston, instead of British ones? Shortage of British extras perhaps.
