Churchill's Leopards (1970)

Not great, but fun enough, 16 May 2017

Churchill's Leopards tells the story of a group of British paratroopers sent to France to destroy a dam just prior to D-Day. The idea is that the resulting flood will wipe-out German supply lines, thereby reducing the effectiveness of German forces (never mind the destruction to the French countryside). The British have a secret weapon – Lt Richard Benson (Richard Harrison) is posing as his recently deceased twin brother, Lt Hans Muller. Muller is the commander of German troops stationed at the dam. A German SS officer, Hauptsturmfuhrer Holtz (Klaus Kinski), is suspicious and is the major obstacle in the way of Allied success.

In order to enjoy Churchill's Leopards, you really have to put all logic on hold and ignore all the historical inaccuracies. You can't think too hard about the ridiculous twin brother plot point or the fact that Muller's position at the dam is uber-convenient or any of the inaccurate military insignia and hardware. If you can do that, Churchill's Leopards is a reasonably entertaining film. The movie does take a little while to get going, but most movies of this type do. Director Maurizio Pradeaux has filled the final 2/3 of the film with plenty of action and tense moments. The finale on the dam is packed with suspense as the Nazis bear down on our heroes. The tight, confined action here is expertly filmed. Churchill's Leopards also includes one dramatic moment that I wasn't expecting and it ended up being a highlight for me. On a scenic overlook (speaking of scenic, the locations used in Churchill's Leopards are stunning), Kinski has lined-up a group of French citizens and intends to execute them in retaliation for the deaths of two Nazi soldiers. A woman named Elise (Pilar Velazquez), Benson's love interest, is one of the condemned. The frightened look in her eyes as she's waiting to die, knowing that Benson can do nothing or he'll blow his cover, is gut-wrenching. The entire time this drama is playing out, Kinski is pacing impatiently, drawing on a cigarette as if his life depended on it. The scene is filmed beautifully with Leone-esque close ups and includes some very appropriately moving music. It's one of those moments in a film that I'll never forget.

There are, however, some problems with Churchill's Leopards that I cannot overlook (and again, I'm not talking about logic or historical inaccuracies). Some of the acting was spotty. I really didn't care for Harrison's Benson/Muller. Maybe it wasn't his fault, but he just seemed disinterested to me during much of the film. Also, I usually don't complain about special effects in a movie like this that was so obviously filmed on a shoestring budget, but the final dam scene is jarring it's so bad. Next, the credits prominently feature Helga Line's name. I always enjoy her work. Here, though, her screen time is limited to less than five minutes – and I'm being generous with that estimation. Still, the whole thing is fun enough that I had no problem getting past these issues.

6/10