The Guns of Navarone

"The greatest high adventure ever filmed!"

1961 2h 40m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

🔥

92%

CERTIFIED FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.5

IMDB

★7.3TMDB · 916🍅92%Rotten Tomatoes●72Metacritic★7.5IMDB · 57,924

AdventureDramaWar

Synopsis

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A team of allied saboteurs are assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.

“The greatest high adventure ever filmed!”

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Cast

Gregory Peck
Capt. Keith Mallory
David Niven
Cpl. John Anthony Miller
Anthony Quinn
Col. Andrea Stavros
Stanley Baker
Pvt. 'Butcher' Brown
Anthony Quayle
Maj. Roy Franklin
James Darren
Pvt. Spyros Pappadimos
Irene Papas
Maria Pappadimos
Gia Scala
Anna

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: J. Lee Thompson
Writers: Carl Foreman
Languages: Greek, English, German
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 160 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.8× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

65 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Greek, English, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Navarone Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by J. Lee Thompson, shot by Oswald Morris. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

J. Lee Thompson directs. Oswald Morris behind the camera. Dimitri Tiomkin scores. Alan Osbiston cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in Greek, English, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 160 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Made its money back 4.8× over at the box office.
365 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Greek, English, German.
5International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
6Part of the "Navarone Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
7Directed by J. Lee Thompson, shot by Oswald Morris. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by Dimitri Tiomkin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Alan Osbiston shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Gregory Peck and David Niven and Anthony Quinn carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "The greatest high adventure ever filmed!".
12IMDB entry: tt0054953 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
13Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Oswald Morris
Original score: Dimitri Tiomkin
Editing: Alan Osbiston
Production design: Geoffrey Drake
Makeup / hair: Joan Smallwood
Stunt coordinator: Joe Powell
Runtime: 160 min · 2h 40m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,000,000
Box office: $28,900,000
Return: 482% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Rotten Tomatoes: 92% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 72/100
IMDB rating: 7.5/10 · 57,924 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 4 wins & 12 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Special Effects

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Navarone Collection

Film series about an Allied command operation against the German army in World War 2, based on novels by Alistair MacLean.

Also by

J. Lee Thompson

Stills · wallpapers

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-04-08
★ 9/10
Biffo - Bammo - Boffo! A team of army specialists are assembled with the task of infiltrating a German held Greek island. Then they have to destroy the mighty twin guns up in the hills that blight the British operations on the Aegean waters. Adapted from the Alistair MacLean novel, it's directed by J. Lee Thompson and stars Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle, Stanley Baker and James Darren. Music is scored by Dimitri Tiomkin and cinematography by Oswald Morris. Watching it now it seems oh so very formulaic, but it was rarely the norm back than for war films to always follow this brand of high end adventure staples. The makers take a bunch of men from the various social spectrum and thrust them together for an impossible mission. We have the stiff backed guys with moral reasoning at their core, the rough and tumble men, all face fuzz and machismo seeping from every pore, and a young baby faced youngster blossoming into a man by the day. They will be put through the mangler at regular intervals, faced with scenarios to test their metal, all while the group view each other with suspicions of motives and reasonings. Here the character sub-plots, their hang-ups and frets, do not bog down the fun or the excitement, they enhance the narrative. We also get two ladies entering the group (Irene Papas/Gia Scala), and they too add some meat into an already beefy stew. Action is a plenty, suspense equally so. While of course there's twists and turns to input some mystery and pot boiling character dynamics. Elsewhere, Tiomkin provides a robust Golden Globe Winning score, and Bill Warrington & Chris Greenham's special effects won the Academy Award in that department - they look at times a bit weak now, but who cares right? The array of screen work, matte paintings and miniatures blend superbly with the outdoor location photography, which points us to a time when film makers worked their socks off to create the magic up there on the screen. Oh and the scripted dialogue is just wonderful and beating an intelligent heart. One of the quintessential boy's own - men on a mission movies, The Guns of Navarone, still a treat over 55 years since it was first shown in theatres, and crucially, it's still influencing other film makers as well. 9/10

Production companies