BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE was released in the US as PURSUIT OF THE GRAF SPEE. Two weeks after the start of WW2, a powerful German pocket battleship, the Graf Spee, sails the South Atlantic destroying Allied merchant ships at will. Captained by one of Germany’s most brilliant naval officers, the Graf Spee, with her superior speed and artillery, appears and disappears, sinking ship after ship. When the Allies are finally able to pinpoint its location a trap is set, pitting British intelligence against a wily and powerful military opponent. In Color, 119 Minutes, War Drama, Not Rated, Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) Enhanced for 16×9 TVs. Bonus Extra: PROFILE OF BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE Includes interviews with John Brabourne (Production Manager), Christopher Challis (Director of Photography), Christopher Lee (Actor) and Ian Christie (Film Historian).Something of a swan song for the legendary Michael Powell-Emeric Pressburger partnership, 1956′s The Battle of the River Plate is their penultimate film together (the following year’s Ill Met By Moonlight was the last). Shot in a semi-documentary style that stands apart from the “magical realism” of much of their previous work–Canterbury Tales, A Matter of Life and Death, The Red Shoes–the film tells the story of the pursuit of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee by three British cruisers off the River Plate in Uruguay during November 1939.
Incorporating actual wartime footage adds to the authentic air, albeit one that sits uneasily with the obviously studio-bound look of the rest. Among the solid cast Peter Finch stands out as the beleaguered Captain Langsdorff of the Graf Spee, while John Gregson is his counterpart, the stalwart British hero type. Things get a bit odd when Christopher Lee pops up in the unlikely role of a Latin-American nightclub boss. It’s an atypical Powell and Pressburger picture and not exactly their best, but still a fine World War II picture that documents an important incident in the opening salvos of the war. –Mark Walker
Rating: 
(out of 10 reviews)
List Price: $ 24.95
Price: $ 22.49
