They Raid by Night
They Raid by Night | |
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![]() Original theatrical poster | |
Directed by | Spencer Gordon Bennet |
Screenplay by | Jack Natteford |
Produced by | Dixon R. Harwin |
Starring | Lyle Talbot June Duprez |
Cinematography | Gilbert Warrenton |
Edited by | Charles Henkel Jr. |
Music by | David Chudnow |
Production company | |
Distributed by | PRC (US) |
Release date |
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Running time | 73 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
They Raid by Night is a 1942 American low-budget World War II film directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and starring Lyle Talbot and June Duprez. It was from Producers Releasing Corporation.
Plot summary[]
The story follows the insertion of British Commandos into Norway to rescue a Norwegian general (Gen. Heden) from captivity and take him to the United Kingdom to lead the Free Norwegian Forces.
The film opens with the execution of a British spy who was sent to support partisan activities. A small team is assembled which consists of Capt. Robert Owen, a Canadian, Sgt. Harry Hall, a British and a Norwegian called Lt. Erik Falken. The team parachutes in and soon after arriving Falken is recognised by a local woman who reports them to her German lover and Dalberg, a Quisling. A team is sent to capture them but after they overpower their captors and free the general from the prison camp they are soon being pursued by the German authorities.
Once on the road in a captured German car they are attacked and forced to take shelter after Heden is hurt. They send Falken to get assistance from a doctor but he is betrayed once again by the same woman whom he had known when growing up in his hometown. The Germans take Falken alive and, pretending to be the doctor they requested, capture Owen near the house they are hiding in. Hall manages to keep Heden in safety in the house.
Owen misleads the Germans about their escape plans and after the Germans have realised their mistake they are surprised to find that the two prisoners have been freed by Dalberg. Owen and Falken manage to return to Hall and Heden and the party moves off to rendezvous with the incoming commandos and Royal Navy boats.
The film includes real footage from British Commando raids on German occupying forces in Norway in March and December of 1941.
Main cast[]
- Lyle Talbot as Capt. Robert Owen
- June Duprez as Inga Beckering
- Victor Varconi as Col. Otto von Ritter
- George N. Neise as Lt. Erik Falken
- Charley Rogers as Sgt. Harry Hall
- as Maj. Gen. Heden
- as Capt. Ralph Deane
- as Doctor
- Sven Hugo Borg as Dalberg
- as Maj. Gen. Lloyd
- Pierce Lyden as Braun, Ritter's Aide
- as Mr. Sandling, Beggar
- as Major Von Memel
- as German Lieutenant
- as Lammet, Radio Broadcaster
- 'Snub' Pollard as Bertie, Messenger / Orderly
- Bruce Kellogg as Sentry
External links[]
- They Raid by Night on YouTube
- They Raid by Night at the American Film Institute Catalog
- They Raid by Night at IMDb
- They Raid by Night is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- 1942 films
- English-language films
- Commandos (United Kingdom)
- American films
- 1942 drama films
- World War II films
- American black-and-white films
- Producers Releasing Corporation films
- World War II films made in wartime
- Films set in Norway
- Films about World War II resistance movements
- Norwegian resistance movement
- American drama films