Battle of the River Plate (1957)

Diplomatic maneuvering and naval gunpowder make a fine Powell and Pressburger movie

If you'd like to see how talk and diplomatic maneuvering in the hands of two masterful filmmakers can turn what could have been a routine action movie into something special, try Powell and Pressburger's The Battle of the River Plate. It's late 1939 and WWII has started. The German pocket battleship Graf Spee is wreaking havoc with British shipping. Three British cruisers led by Commodore Henry Harwood (Anthony Quayle) are in pursuit. Harwood makes an educated guess that Captain Hans Langsdorff (Peter Finch) will head toward South America for one last series of kills before returning home. He's right, and the first part of the movie is a brutal sea battle between the Graf Spee, which has 11-inch guns and hits harder, farther and faster than anything the British have, and HMS Exeter, HMNZS Achilles and HMS Ajax. They are determined to kill the Graf Spee, even though they only have 6-inch and 8-inch guns. The result? Exeter is badly damaged and must try to make it to the Falklands. Achilles and Ajax are damaged, too, but so is the Graf Spee. Langsdorff disengages and heads for neutral Montevideo, trailed by Achilles and Ajax.

And now we get to the heart of the movie. Under the laws of the sea, Langsdorff has two days to make the Graf Spee seaworthy before he must return to sea. He is low on ammunition. If he leaves the harbor with guns blazing he just might be able to take out Ajax and Achilles. After first working to insure Langsdorff is given no more time to affect repairs, the British realize that there is a chance that at least one British ship, a heavy cruiser, could arrive in time for battle. That would change the odds dramatically against Langsdorff. So now the British cleverly set false rumors that British warships are just beyond the horizon and ready for battle. They've placed Langsdorff in a crucial dilemma. If, he thinks, he leaves harbor now he faces a strengthened British force and will probably loose. If he waits for further repairs the situation won't improve. He could make a dash for Buenos Aires, not far away. Although Argentina is neutral it is friendly to Germany. But the channel is narrow and shallow. If the Graf Spee goes aground it will be a sitting target for the reinforced British. Langsdorff has no stomach for the fiery and pointless death of his sailors. All this is played out in meetings, telephone conversations and messages, all swirling around the diplomats of three countries, Britain, Germany and Uruguay. Langsdorff has little time to decide. Thanks to the British setting up false rumors, his choices all seem poor. But perhaps, in Langsdorff's mind, an immediate attempt at escape might be the least unattractive. He realizes there is a further choice, which is unexpected.

Powell and Pressburger have given us a clever film without clichés. No tearful wives, no anxious or two-timing sweethearts, no sailors used as lower-class comedy relief, no noble sacrifices to save others and no slimy Nazis. Powell uses the device of captured British captains held on the Graf Spee as a way to give us matter-of-fact interplay between the British and the Germans. One captured captain is used as a means for Langsdorff to explain to him (and Powell and Pressburger to explain to us) what the Graf Spee does, how strong it is, how it is supplied and the kind of man Langsdorff is. Powell and Pressburger use the discussions between Harwood and his fighting captains to help us understand Harwood's strategy and the battle tactics he's employing. The battle itself, filmed in the Mediterranean using ships from the navies of Britain and other countries, including a heavy cruiser from the U.S. to stand in for the Graf Spee, is dramatically and efficiently filmed. Almost no models were used except at the explosive conclusion.

But it is the "inaction" half of this action movie which is so cleverly worked out. Powell and Pressburger manage to keep us highly involved with the diplomatic to-and-froing. The fact that the people of Montevideo were fascinated with this giant German pocket battleship in their harbor is played to the hilt. The fate of the Graf Spee at the conclusion of the movie is watched from the harbor walls by thousands, all the while an American broadcaster is giving to radio listeners a description of what is occurring. It's quite an effective scene...and it actually happened.

The Battle of the River Plate, if made by anyone other than Powell and Pressburger, might well be seen as a quirky classic of its genre. But the great films of these two were in the past. They would make one more movie the next year, a film Powell called nothing more than a programmer, and they would then go, still friends, their separate ways. The partnership that gave us The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Matter of Life and Death, The Red Shoes, I Know Where I'm Going, A Canterbury Tale and Black Narcissus was over. We're left with these great and wonderful films. If The Battle of the River Plate is not one of them, it still is an effective, professional and clever movie, and so typical of the way these two men avoided conventionality.

The Region 2 DVD has received digital restoration and looks first rate. The Technicolor glows. The sea battle could be a lesson in how a director can keep the audience emotionally excited and involved, yet still insure that they understand what they're seeing. Incidently, at the time these comments were posted, AmazonUK was selling this DVD at a terrific bargain price March 2, 2008

A movie worth watching!

Definitely a good movie, Battle of the River Plate, brings to the screen the story of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee and its encounter with the HMS Exeter, the HMS Achilles, and the HMS Ajax, off the coast of Uruguay in South America.
The setting is 1939. German and British naval forces are fighting it out across the world, and for the British finding the Graf Spee could make all the difference between survival and capitulation.
All the actors carry out their performances very well.
The only major setback is that Battle of the River Plate is a 1957 film and compared to modern films, or even epics of the time such as Guns of Navarone and other war movies, falls short of being a masterpiece.
Nevertheless, the film combines drama, action, and adventure, making it highly enjoyable.
The setting, the music and the costumes are all wonderful, though the dialogues could have been better.
History, Intrigue, Duty, and Honor, are all about.
Battle of the River Plate is a movie worth watching, especially for those with a soft spot for History!
June 28, 2006

One of the Best

This is one of the best World War II films ever made. Based on a real episode of the naval war in the Atlantic, it is an entirely accurate account of the battle between the German Battle Cruiser Graf Spee and her British pursuers. Filled with exciting naval action the movie uses actual film (not models) of the engagement. A first rate cast (including Anthony Quayle, John Gregson and Peter Finch) gives excellent performances all around. March 23, 2006

Nice angled shots of Navy ships, not much else.

The movie makes up for its short comings for the great atmosphere and fantastic shots of warships. It has a good cast but they arent developed and are sanatized. Great for a military buff though. January 11, 2006

Classic British WW2 Movie

This is a fine film based on real events. Late in 1939, a few months after Britain's entry into the war, three small Royal Navy cruisers go after the Graf Spee, a powerdul Germany battle crusiers, in the South Atlantic. They are successful due to good tactics and peristence in the face of withering fire. The acting is excellent as are the characterizations. British and German naval officers are depicted in a human and balanced way, not always the case with mid-1950's war movies. Chivalry was not dead during this battle and the film makers respectfully acknowlege that.

Some of the battle scenes employing models may semm a bit shaky to those who are used to computer enhanced images. Also, as another reviewer has noted, the use of a U.S. cruiser, replete with national markings, as a stand in for the Graf Spee is a bit of stretch. November 9, 2004

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