The Heroes of Telemark

The Heroes of Telemark is based on a real-life story. It follows a unit of the Norweigan resistance in their efforts to destroy a German occupied factory, where the Germans are drawing near to creating the first atomic bomb. Kirk Douglas plays an academic from the University of Oslo who is brought in to help them because he is an expert on atomic science. Richard Harris plays the leader of the resistance fighters, a strong willed and courageous man who is always thinking of the best way to be a thorn in the side of the Nazis. There are other decent characterisations too, such as Ulla Jacobsen as Douglas's ex-wife (they parted because he seduced one of his students) and Eric Porter as a power hungry Nazi.

The film is quite good, but it might have been better still. For much of the running time, it seems curiously subdued, with lots of scenes which don't quite screw home the tension as far as they could. The sequence in which the resistance fighters infiltrate the factory and attempt to destroy the German's heavy water supply should have been unbearably tense, but it kind of comes and goes without generating the necessary atmosphere. The closing sequence aboard a boat full of children is very well done, though, and there's another taut bit where Douglas and Jacobsen are almost caught snooping around the factory but manage to convince a passing guard that they are merely young lovebirds trying to find a quiet spot for a bit of private love-making.

Based on the true story of the Norwegian heavy water sabotage during World War II . Kirk Douglas plays Rolf Pedersen, a Norwegian physics professor, who, though originally content to wait out the war, is soon pulled into the struggle by local resistance leader Knut Straud (based on Knut Haukelid, portrayed by Richard Harris). Their assignment results to be to stop the Nazis from developing the atom bomb . They are both smuggled to England to have microfilmed plans of the Hydro examined, and then return to Norway to plan a commando raid on the Hydro. When a force of Royal Engineers, who were to carry it out, are all killed, Petersen and Straud lead a small force of saboteurs into the plant. The raid is successful, but the Germans quickly repair the equipment. They then plan to ship tankers of heavy water to Germany. Petersen and Straud sabotage a ferry carrying the tankers, and it sinks in the deepest part of a fjord.

This rousing film packs noisy action , high adventure , frozen hell , dramatic events , and wonderful outdoors from Norway . Although this movie takes liberties with some historical facts, some technical details are surprisingly correct given that it was made 20 years after the war: The car used by the Norwegians is fitted with a "generator" converting wood to natural gas , as petrol was in short supply, civilian cars were not allowed to run on real petrol. All-star-cast and excellent secondary actors formed mostly by British actors as Michael Redgrave , Barry Jones , Anton Driffing , Roy Dotrice , Maurice Denham , Geoffrey Keen and many others . It was filmed on location in Norway splendidly photographed by Robert Krasker , furthermore in Pinewood Studios . The motion picture was well directed by Anthony Mann .Other versions about same story was also covered in Ray Mears' documentary entitled The Real Heroes of Telemark . Despite mainly sticking to the factual evidence, some scenes in the documentary, like the film, were partly dramatized ; focusing more on the survival skills involved in the operation the 1948 Franco-Norwegian film Kampen om Tungtvannet , quite faithful to the real events, it even had many of the original Norwegian commandos starring as themselves.

Based on a true story , the deeds are the followings : The actual life World War II missions that this film is based on were conducted by Norwegian members of the British Special Operations Executive and resulted in the deaths of thirty British commando soldiers. Some were captured, interrogated, tortured and shot by the Nazi Gestapo whilst some of them died when two gliders crashed during landing in Norway. The Norwegian heavy water sabotage was a series of actions undertaken by Norwegian saboteurs to prevent the German nuclear energy project from acquiring heavy water (deuterium oxide), which could be used to produce nuclear weapons. In 1934, at Vemork, Norsk Hydro built the first commercial plant capable of producing heavy water as a byproduct of fertilizer production . During World War II, the Allies decided to remove the heavy water supply and destroy the heavy water plant in order to inhibit the Nazi development of nuclear weapons. Raids were aimed at the 60-MW Vemork power station at the Rjukan waterfall in Telemark, Norway. The Allies remained concerned that the occupation forces would use the facility to produce more heavy water for their weapons programme. Between 1940 and 1944, a sequence of sabotage actions, by the Norwegian resistance movement—as well as Allied bombing—ensured the destruction of the plant and the loss of the heavy water produced. These operations—codenamed "Grouse," "Freshman," and "Gunnerside"—finally managed to knock the plant out of production in early 1943.In Operation Grouse, the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) successfully placed four Norwegian nationals as an advance team in the region of the Hardanger Plateau above the plant. Later in 1942 the unsuccessful Operation Freshman was mounted by British paratroopers; they were to rendezvous with the Norwegians of Operation Grouse and proceed to Vemork. This attempt failed when the military gliders crashed short of their destination, as did one of the tugs, a Halifax bomber. The other Halifax returned to base, but all the other participants were killed in the crashes or captured, interrogated, and executed by the Gestapo.In 1943, a team of SOE-trained Norwegian commandos succeeded in destroying the production facility with a second attempt, Operation Gunnerside. Operation Gunnerside was later evaluated by SOE as the most successful act of sabotage in WWII .These actions were followed by Allied bombing raids. The Germans elected to cease operation and remove the remaining heavy water to Germany. Norwegian resistance forces sank the ferry, SF Hydro, on Lake Tinnsjø, preventing the heavy water from being removed.