Less than a decade after the end of the Second World War, a steady stream of films were already helping to contextualise what had happened during those seismic six years and the British role in ending the threat of Nazi Germany, if not of Communism. Dirk Bogarde and Denholm Elliott, the stars of 1954’s ‘They Who Dare’, had both served and seen action. Bogarde wrote about his experiences in his many volumes of autobiography. Elliott had been in the RAF and survived being shot down, only to spend the remainder of the war incarcerated inside a prisoner of war camp. There is something haunting about watching that generation of actors playing their contemporaries in stories about a conflict they had been directly involved in.
‘They Who Dare’ takes its name from the motto of the Special Air Service (SAS), “Who Dares Wins”. Dirk Bogarde plays Lieutenant Graham, who is put in charge of Operation Anglo. His mission is to bring his men secretly to Rhodes, and to use Greek officers and local guides to help them navigate the difficult terrain. Splitting into two parties, they are tasked with blowing up German airfields. They must then make the difficult journey back to where they came ashore and make good their escape at sea. The problem beyond the difficult topography is that the whole island is teeming with Italian soldiers. In summary, their mission is daring, risky, and almost impossible to successfully pull off. But orders are orders.
At this stage in his career, Dirk Bogarde was a well-established leading man, and one year earlier he had played a Lancaster Bomber in ‘Appointment in London‘. In his mid-30s at the time, gloweringly good-looking and rather saturnine, he was the natural choice to play driven, slightly obsessive young men. His rapport with Denholm Elliott, which carries an often below-the-surface tension for most of the film, is what makes the movie succeed and retains interest in it for fans of their work. There are other notable actors appearing too. It is pleasing to see Bogarde and Elliott share a lot of screen time with a fresh-faced William Russell, some years before he starred in ‘The Great Escape’ and then became the first ever ‘Doctor Who’ companion (alongside Jacqueline Hill) in 1963. There are opportunities for the Greek actors to shine, and Akim Tamiroff is especially memorable as one of the Captains.
The film is directed by Lewis Milestone, a two-time Academy Award-winner, who was behind the camera for ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (1930), ‘Ocean’s 11’ (1960) and ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ (1962). Although not Milestone’s most stand-out work, it’s clearly the product of an assured and competent director. He makes a relatively small budget go a long way. Behind the scenes, Milestone was a hard taskmaster, ensuring that the actors’ backpacks for carrying their military equipment were loaded with significant weights, believing that they would not pull off acting as if they were heavy. Bogarde later recalled that, “…we all struggled into them and we fell flat on our faces before him.”
One element that can detract from audience’s viewing pleasure is the purple hue that saturates the screen for protracted “day for night” shooting. For the story to make sense, much of it has to be set after dark, but of course filming in such conditions is difficult and expensive, even more so back then. Despite that, the Cypriot locations are well-chosen and add an additional layer of character to the film. There is also the feeling that Robert Westerby’s script has undergone a lot of redrafting, and the action takes on a meandering pace at times. Although Bogarde and Elliott play well-written parts, there is not enough convincing camaraderie among the supporting actors to fully flesh out the film with characters you care about. It is, however, as explained by military historian Saul David in the extra feature interview, a fairly faithful telling of the events of Operation Anglo, and for that, the film deserves more credit than it gets.
If you like action adventure and testosterone-driven (women appear only fleetingly, and invariably stereotypically) World War Two movies from the period just after the war itself, then ‘They Who Dare’ has plenty to recommend it. The fascinating interview with Saul David puts the historical events depicted in the film into context. Restoration work on the film print makes it look sharper than ever before, though as with almost all British films of the era, the colour contrast dates it. I’ve always found Dirk Bogarde a compelling actor, and his central performance, and sparring chemistry with Denholm Elliott ensure that ‘They Who Dare’ can still captivate audiences almost seven decades after it was filmed. ‘They Who Dare’ is a welcome addition to Studiocanal’s Vintage Classics collection.
Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Denholm Elliott, Akim Tamiroff, Gerard Oury, William Russell, Sam Kydd Director: Lewis Milestone Writer: Robert Westerby Certificate: PG Duration: 107 mins Released by: Studiocanal Release date: 5th September 2022 Buy ‘They Who Dare’
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