Ill Met by Moonlight (1957)
Directed by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

Film Review

Ill Met by Moonlight is the film that marked the end of the long and fruitful collaboration of the legendary director-writing team Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.  A humdrum, pretty inconsequential wartime drama, the film lacks the stylistic touches, dramatic focus and scale of previous Archers productions, but is passable entertainment - if you can live with the jarring mismatch between the real location and the unconvincing studio mock-ups.

Still shackled with the smooth nice guy image he fashioned for himself in the Doctor films, Dirk Bogarde is a bizarre casting choice for the part of a murderous maverick soldier and, far from being the butch action hero, he appears distinctly camp in certain scenes.  Fortunately, P&P regulars Marius Goring and Cyril Cusack are on hand to bring a touch of realism to the proceedings and prevent the whole thing from degenerating into a mincing pantomime.  Whilst not the best film to come out of the Powell and Pressburger stable, and a substantial letdown after the epic Battle of the River Plate (1956), Ill Met by Moonlight still has a certain whimsical appeal.

Film Synopsis

During the Second World War, the Greek island of Crete is under Nazi occupation, although the resistance groups on the island are determined that this will only be a temporary situation.  With the help of a British contingent led by Major Patrick Leigh-Fermor, one of these groups intends kidnapping the German Commander-in-Chief, General Kriepe, and taking him to Cairo.  Thanks to the resourcefulness of the British captain Stanley Moss the night-time abduction goes off as planned, but getting the General across the island without alerting the German patrols proves to a greater challenge than anticipated.  Kriepe is a wily adversary and has no intention of allowing himself to be smuggled off the island.  Meanwhile, the occupying Germans threaten to take reprisals if the General is not returned unharmed...