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The Guns of Navarone Overview:

The Guns of Navarone (1961) was a Action - Adventure Film directed by J. Lee Thompson and Alexander Mackendrick (uncredited) and produced by Carl Foreman, Cecil F. Ford and Leon Becker.

Academy Awards 1961 --- Ceremony Number 34 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonNominated
Best Film EditingAlan OsbistonNominated
Best Music - ScoringDimitri TiomkinNominated
Best PictureCarl Foreman, ProducerNominated
Best WritingCarl ForemanNominated
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The Guns of Navarone BlogHub Articles:

Alastair MacLean's The Guns of Navarone

By Rick29 on Jun 14, 2020 From Classic Film & TV Cafe

A long movie that doesn't seem long is a carefully-crafted motion picture. Such is the case with The Guns of Navarone (1961), which clocks in at a brisk 158 minutes. Based on Alastair MacLean's 1957 novel, it tells the story of a small military team tasked with destroying two huge German guns. Th... Read full article

The Guns of Navarone (1961)

By Beatrice on Jul 14, 2017 From Flickers in Time

The Guns of Navarone   Directed by J. Lee Thompson Written by Carl Foreman from a novel by Alastair MacLean 1961/USA Columbia Pictures Corp/Highroad Productions Repeat viewing/Netflix rental This is a solid war movie with a fantastic cast and lots of explosions. Mallory (Gregory Peck) is a multi... Read full article

The Guns of Navarone

By Alyson on Mar 12, 2010 From The Best Picture Project

Action and adventure await six men on a dangerous mission to destroy the two powerful guns on German occupied Navarone.  These guns control the fate of the seas and nearby Greek islands, including one full of trapped British troops.  No one can get to or leave the island, not even by plane and mor... Read full article

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The Guns of Navarone Quotes:

Cohn: Do you think they've got any chance at all, sir?
Commodore Jensen: Frankly, no. Not a chance in the world. I should be very surprised if they get even halfway to Navarone. Just a waste of six good men. However, I suppose that doesn't matter, considering how many have been wasted already. I'm glad it's not my decision; I'm only the middleman... Still, they may get there, and they may pull it off. Anything can happen in a war. Slap in the middle of absolute insanity people pull out the most extraordinary resources: ingenuity, courage, self-sacrifice. Pity we can't meet the problems of peace in the same way, isn't it? It would be so much cheaper for everybody.
Cohn: I never thought of it in just that way, sir. You're a philosopher, sir.
Commodore Jensen: No. I'm just the man who has to send people out on jobs like this one.
Maria Pappadimos: They're burning Mandrakos in punishment.
Commodore Jensen: Gentlemen, these men have a special interest in Navarone. I got your radio report, but I thought perhaps you could be more specific.
Squadron Leader Howard Barnsby RAAF: I'll be specific! As you can plainly see, it was ruddy awful. But we'd love to go back. Wouldn't we, boys?
[His boys give several loud cheers]
Squadron Leader Howard Barnsby RAAF: Just as soon as we can! BUT - we've got one condition. We want the joker who thought this one up to come with us. And when we get there, we're gonna shove him out at ten thousand feet - without a parachute.
Squadron Leader Howard Barnsby RAAF: BAD? It can't be done, not from the air, anyway!
Commodore Jensen: You're quite sure of that, Squadron Leader? This is important.
Squadron Leader Howard Barnsby RAAF: So's my life! To me, anyway, and the lives of these jokers here, and the eighteen men we lost tonight!
Sessler: [indicating the wounded Franklin] Where are the explosives? I want an answer now, otherwise I shall personally rearrange this officer's splints.
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The Guns of Navarone Facts
According to the 50th anniversary book about the RAF's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight the Flight's Lancaster appeared in the film.
There was reportedly much tension between many of the stars (particularly Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn) early in the film's production, but the cast gradually bonded over endless games of chess.
J. Lee Thompson's handling of intimate drama on Tiger Bay and of large scale action setpieces on North West Frontier landed him the director gig.
When Mallory says of Stavros: "He's from Crete; those people don't make idle threats", he's inverting the famous quote by the Cretan philosopher Epimenides, that "all Cretans are liars". The end of the movie reveals which of the two is right.
With a budget of $6 million, at the time, this was one of the most expensive films ever made.
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