DramaWar

633 Squadron

- The greatest adventure since men fought on earth - or flew over it!

When Norwegian resistance leader Lieutenant Erik Bergman reports the location of a German V-2 rocket fuel plant, the Royal Air Force's 633 Squadron is assigned the mission to destroy it. The plant is in a seemingly-impregnable location beneath an overhanging cliff at the end of a long, narrow fjord lined with anti-aircraft guns. The only way to destroy the plant is by collapsing the cliff on top of it.

Release Date : 1964-04-06

Language :GermanEnglish

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : The Mirisch Company

Production Country : United KingdomUnited States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Wing Commander Roy Grant

Original Name : Cliff Robertson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lieutenant Erik Bergman

Original Name : George Chakiris

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hilde Bergman

Original Name : Maria Perschy

Gender : Female

Character Name : Air Vice-Marshal Davis

Original Name : Harry Andrews

Gender : Male

Character Name : Group Captain Don Barrett

Original Name : Donald Houston

Gender : Male

Character Name : Squadron Leader Frank Adams

Original Name : Michael Goodliffe

Gender : Male

Character Name : Flight Lieutenant Gillibrand

Original Name : John Meillon

Gender : Male

Character Name : Flight Lieutenant Scott

Original Name : John Bonney

Gender : Male

Character Name : Flying Officer Hoppy Hopkinson

Original Name : Angus Lennie

Gender : Male

Character Name : Flying Officer Bissell

Original Name : Scot Finch

Gender : Male

Character Name : Flying Officer Evans

Original Name : John Church

Gender : Male

Character Name : Rosie, barmaid at the Black Swan Inn

Original Name : Barbara Archer

Gender : Female

Character Name : Lieutenant Nigel

Original Name : Sean Kelly

Gender : Male

Character Name : Flight Lieutenant Singh

Original Name : Julian Sherrier

Gender : Male

Character Name : Flight Lieutenant Frank

Original Name : Geoffrey Frederick

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lieutenant Jones

Original Name : Johnny Briggs

Gender : Male

Character Name : WAAF Sergeant Mary Blake / Bissell

Original Name : Suzan Farmer

Gender : Female

Character Name : SS Interrogator

Original Name : Anne Ridler

Gender : Female

Character Name : Lieutenant Maner (uncredited)

Original Name : Peter Kriss

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ericson, Norwegian Resistance (uncredited)

Original Name : Cavan Malone

Gender : Male

Character Name : Johanson, Norwegian Resistance (uncredited)

Original Name : Richard Shaw

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

Fall in for the blood pumping joy of De Havilland's Mosquitoes. A WW2 squadron of Mosquito bombers are training for a perilous mission to bomb a cliff face in Norway; with the aim to bring the cliff tumbling down on the German arms factory below it. 633 Squadron may not be a film for the War enthusiast purists? But the work done here to make this film a winner should never be understated. In this day and age it's often forgotten how these type of film's relied on good aerial photography, deft model work, and a stirring score. All of which this picture contains, thus making 633 Squadron more than a wet day crowd pleaser. Sure the intermittent scenes between the training sequences and the actual mission are mere filler, and the subplots obviously halt the flow of the movie (hello romance, hello sacrifice clichés); but what they do do is give a sort of added feel to the proceedings come the mission at the end. We do after all have to have some sort of affinity with the characters putting their lives at risk, and we get that here courtesy of a well written first half. Also boasting (in my opinion naturally) one of the greatest scores used in a War movie, courtesy of Ron Goodwin, the film triumphs because the ending is all that you hope for. In truth it's never in doubt given the build up we are given (and being the normality for many genre pieces), but with little dashes of poignancy and slivers of adrenalin rushes, the impact is akin to a jingoistic chest thudding. Besides which, if you can't get a tingle on your neck watching the Mosquitoes fly over the Norwegian fjord? Well you got no blood in your body say I. 7/10

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-12-02

We probably ought to bear in mind that this film was designed for success at the American box office, so there is quite a lot of theatrical licence taken with this telling of the story of an RAF squadron tasked with the destruction of a Nazi rocket fuel factory built deep into a Norwegian mountainside. George Chakiris (not too long after his success in "West Side Story") and Cliff Robertson take the lead in this quite stilted, but well made wartime drama. The aerial photography is good, but for 1964, not that good and the characters are a little too stereotyped to be treated very seriously. A journeyman cast offers some support, but frankly, aside from a memorable score from Ron Goodwin, this is a disappointing effort.