The Battle of the River Plate
Still from the film
Directed by	Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger
Produced by	Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger
Written by	Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger
Starring	John Gregson Anthony Quayle Peter Finch
Music by	Brian Easdale
Cinematography	Christopher Challis
Editing by	Reginald Mills
Distributed by	Rank Film Distributors Ltd.
Release date(s)	November 30, 1956 UK
Running time	119 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Battle of the River Plate is a 1956 film by the British-based director-writer team of Powell & Pressburger. The film's U.S. title was Pursuit of the Graf Spee. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (864x690, 92 KB)John Gregson in scene from Battle of the River Plate This image is a screenshot from a copyrighted film, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by the studio which produced the film, and possibly also... Michael Powell film-maker. ... Emeric Pressburger in Paris. ... John Gregson (15 March 1919 - 8 January 1975) was a British actor. ... Anthony Quayle Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was an English actor and director. ... Peter Finch Peter Finch (September 28, 1916 - January 14, 1977) was an English-born actor with strong Australian connections. ... Brian Easdale (10 August 1909 - 1995) was a composer born in Manchester, England. ... Christopher Challis (born 18th March, 1919) is a distinguihsed British cinematographer who has worked on more than 70 feature films since starting in the industry in the 1940s. ... English editor Reginald Mills (1915 - 1990) graducated from Cambridge University with a degree in modern languages in 1934. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days remaining. ... See also: 1955 in film 1956 1957 in film 1950s in film years in film film // Events November 15 - The film Love Me Tender starring Elvis Presley (his first film) opens. ... See also: 1955 in film 1956 1957 in film 1950s in film years in film film // Events November 15 - The film Love Me Tender starring Elvis Presley (his first film) opens. ... Powell and Pressburger were a British film-making partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers. ...

The film portrays the Battle of the River Plate, a naval battle of 1939, between a Royal Navy force of three cruisers (HMS Exeter, Ajax and HMS Achilles) and the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee. It was the last film Powell and Pressburger made together through their Archers production company. Combatants Nazi Germany United Kingdom New Zealand Commanders Hans Langsdorff Henry Harwood Strength 1 pocket battleship (Panzerschiffe) Admiral Graf Spee 1 heavy cruiser 2 light cruisers Casualties 1 pocket battleship scuttled 36 killed 1 heavy cruiser Exeter heavily damaged 72 killed The Battle of the River Plate (December 13, 1939... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... USS Port Royal (CG-73), a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, launched in 1992. ... The fourth and best known HMS Exeter (68), was a County-class heavy cruiser of the York subclass that served in World War II. She was built by Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth, Devon. ... HMS Ajax was a Leander-class light cruiser. ... HMS Achilles (from 1941 HMNZS Achilles) was a Leander class cruiser of 7,200 tons built in Birkenhead, England and launched on 1 September 1932. ... Pocket battleship is an English language term for a class of warships built by German Reichsmarine in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. ... Admiral Graf Spee was a pocket battleship (Panzerschiff, later reclassified as heavy cruiser) launched by Germany in 1934 and named after the World War I Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee who died in the first Battle of the Falkland Islands on 8 December 1914. ...

Unlike many British war movies of its time, The Battle of the River Plate treats the Germans as honourable opponents rather than as cardboard cut-out "Huns". This was a recurrent theme in Powell and Pressburger's films, including The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) is a film by the British writer-director-producer team of Powell & Pressburger under the banner of The Archers, starring Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr and Anton Walbrook. ...

Plot

In the early months of WWII, the German Navy sent out various surface raiders to attack Allied merchant shipping. The Royal Navy sent out various hunting groups to find them. The group that found Admiral Graf Spee were very lightly armed in comparison, but went straight to the attack. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... The Kriegsmarine (or War Navy) was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945, during the Nazi regime, superseding the Reichsmarine. ... Pocket battleship is an English language term for a class of warships built by German Reichsmarine in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... Admiral Graf Spee was a pocket battleship (Panzerschiff, later reclassified as heavy cruiser) launched by Germany in 1934 and named after the World War I Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee who died in the first Battle of the Falkland Islands on 8 December 1914. ...

The British were led by Commodore Harwood (Anthony Quayle), with Captain Woodhouse (Ian Hunter) commanding the Ajax, Captain Bell (John Gregson) the Exeter and Captain Parry (Jack Gwillim) the Achilles. Captain Langsdorff's (Peter Finch) Graf Spee was much better armed than the three cruisers and inflicted a lot of damage but was fooled by the tactics of the British. The Graf Spee sustained damage itself and took refuge in a neutral port, but according to international law, had to leave by a specified time. Falsely believing that an overwhelming British force was lying in wait, Langsdorff took his ship out with a skeleton crew and scuttled her. Admiral Sir Henry Harwood Sir Henry Harwood Harwood (19 January 1888 (London) - on 9 June 1950 (Goring-on-Thames)), British naval officer who won fame in the Battle of the River Plate. ... Anthony Quayle Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was an English actor and director. ... Admiral Sir Charles Henry Lawence Woodhouse KCB (1893 — 1978). ... Ian Hunter as Dr. Lanyon in MGMs (1941) Ian Hunter (b. ... HMS Ajax was a Leander-class light cruiser. ... John Gregson (15 March 1919 - 8 January 1975) was a British actor. ... The fourth and best known HMS Exeter (68), was a County-class heavy cruiser of the York subclass that served in World War II. She was built by Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth, Devon. ... Categories: Stub ... HMS Achilles (from 1941 HMNZS Achilles) was a Leander class cruiser of 7,200 tons built in Birkenhead, England and launched on 1 September 1932. ... Kapitän zur See Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff (March 20, 1894 – December 19, 1939) was a German naval officer, most famous for his command of the Panzerschiff (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee during the Battle of the River Plate. ... Peter Finch Peter Finch (September 28, 1916 - January 14, 1977) was an English-born actor with strong Australian connections. ... Admiral Graf Spee was a pocket battleship (Panzerschiff, later reclassified as heavy cruiser) launched by Germany in 1934 and named after the World War I Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee who died in the first Battle of the Falkland Islands on 8 December 1914. ... German battlecruiser Derfflinger scuttled at Scapa Flow. ...

Historic details

The attention to detail is impressive, including the bells ringing before each salvo, the scorching on the gun barrels after the battle, and the accurate depiction of naval procedures. The scene where Harwood meets with his captains on board Ajax is pure fiction, created for the movie in order to explain the situation to the audience. The only omission is that the battle is seen entirely from the perspective of the British ships, plus that of prisoners (captured from nine merchantmen) held on Graf Spee.

Production

Most of the action of the battle and prior to it takes place on real ships at sea. The producers had the advantage of having elements of the Mediterranean Fleet of the Royal Navy available for their use and USS Salem to play the part of Admiral Graf Spee (although she had the wrong number of main turrets). This meant that they didn't have to rely on extensive use of models like most Naval war films. Of course they couldn't scuttle the USS Salem so they had to use a model for the scuttling of Admiral Graf Spee. The British Mediterranean Fleet was part of the Royal Navy. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... The third USS Salem (CA-139) was a Des Moines-class heavy cruiser in the United States Navy. ...

Literature

• Dudley Pope (1956). The Battle of the River Plate. London: William Kimber, 259pp (illus).
• Ian Christie (1994). Arrows of Desire: the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. London: Faber & Faber, 163pp (illus. filmog. bibliog. index). ISBN 0-571-16271-1.

Michael Powell film-maker. ... Emeric Pressburger in Paris. ...

Ships used

• HMS Achilles played by herself (INS Delhi)
• HMS Exeter played by HMS Jamaica
• HMS Ajax played by HMS Sheffield
• Admiral Graf Spee played by USS Salem
• HMS Cumberland (which joined after the main battle) played by herself

External links

• The Battle of the River Plate at the Internet Movie Database
• The Battle of the River Plate at the BFI's Screenonline. Full synopsis and film stills (and clips viewable from UK libraries).
• Reviews and articles at the Powell & Pressburger Pages
• John Gregson - Website dedicated to the British actor

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about actors, films, television shows, television stars, video games and production crew personnel. ... The British Film Institute (BFI) is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to encourage the development of the arts of film, television and the moving image throughout the United Kingdom, to promote their use as a record of contemporary life and manners, to promote education about film, television and... screenonline is a website devoted to the history of British film and television, and to social history as revealed by film and television. ...

	Powell and Pressburger The films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
1930s	The Spy in Black | The Lion Has Wings
1940s	Contraband | An Airman's Letter to His Mother | Forty-Ninth Parallel | One of Our Aircraft is Missing | The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp | The Volunteer | A Canterbury Tale | I Know Where I'm Going! | A Matter of Life and Death | Black Narcissus | The Red Shoes | The Small Back Room
1950s	The Elusive Pimpernel | Gone to Earth | The Tales of Hoffmann | Oh... Rosalinda!! | The Battle of the River Plate | Ill Met by Moonlight
1960s	Peeping Tom (not Pressburger) | They're a Weird Mob | Age of Consent
1970s	The Boy Who Turned Yellow