THE GUNS OF NAVARONE

UK, 1961, 156 minutes, Colour.
Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Baker, James Darren, Anthony Quayle, Irene Papas, Gia Scala, Richard Harris, James Robertson Justice.
Directed by J. Lee Thompson.

The Guns of Navarone is one of the best known of Alistair Mac Lean's novels and probably the most successful of the film versions of his books.

The film shows Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn at their most typical. The story is also a typical Mac Lean story - high adventure, an impossible task, heroic hero and a spy who is the least suspected person. This film also offers some spectacular scenery and big sequences such as the scaling of a cliff and the destruction of the guns.

1. Good adventure? Structure - days and hours, maps. introductory narrative, suspense? Greek settings - visual beauty, sense of authenticity? Impact of themes - war, responsibility, group work, loyalty, betrayal, courage?

2. Was the mission too far-fetched? Given the fact of the men on Keros, what risks had to be taken to get the men off? Were the risks to destroy the guns worth the lives of the saboteurs? How did the comment by the Australian pilot add to the moral significance of the choices to be made? The speculation by Jensen about the success of the mission and the lives to be lost?

3. Were the people chosen for the mission interesting characters? Comment on their personalities and backgrounds. Could the audience identify easily with each of them? Mallory: Gregory Peck type hero, language, mountain climbing qualification, leadership qualities, the decision he had previously made, especially on Crete, relationship to Andrea. to Franklin? A trustworthy person? What prospect of success did he see?
Franklin: his luck, sense of responsibility and ambition, friend ship for Mallory, contribution to the mission? Andrea: Cretan, war record, death of his family, attitude towards Mallory: devotion to waging war.. deadliness?
Brown: professional war killer, abilities.. growing disillusionment.. nervousness with himself?
Miller: professional and educational background. abilities with explosives. lack of ambition for promotion, cynicism. attitude of non-involvement, antagonism?
Pappadimos: native of Keros, Greek background, American background, a killer with killing in his blood?
Comment on the interaction of each on the other, especially
towards Franklin as leader, towards Mallory as the expert who had to take over leadership, as regards the decisions that Mallory made - especially the criticisms of Miller. Brown's taking hold of himself. Franklin's dependence on them during his injury. Andrea's knowledge of the Cretans and his kind of leadership?

4. Was the plan an interesting possibility? Human endurance for fulfilment? Motivation that thousands of lives had to be saved?

5. The voyage to Keros. the boat itself, the encounter with the German and the demand on nerves before the mission started? The storm sequences, saving themselves and the weapons?

6. Climbing the cliff; difficulty, ease? Franklin hurting himself? The initial encounter with the Germans on the cliff and the realisation that the mission was real?

7. How were the Germans presented in the film? As real People waging a war; as ordinary soldiers, doing their job? Were the German soldiers presented well in contrast with the SS torturer?

8. What motivated the resistance on Keros? Did the Greeks have any other choice? (The background of Anna's torture. picturing of the arrests and threatened torture; torture of Franklin.) How well organised were the resistance?

9. Did Mallory make the right decision in giving Franklin false information? In leaving him to be tortured by the Germans? What right did he have to do this - Franklin's life and suffering compared to the rest of the group, with the men on the island?

10. The dramatic impact of the events on the island; getting towards the town? Hiding in the hills? Being pursued by the Germans? Arrest of Andrea, of Mallory and miller in the town square?

11. Maria and her brother being reconciled, women in the resistance? Anna - her torture and being dumb? Maria's determination to resist and her admiration for Anna? Were you surprised that Anna was the traitor? Was there any alternative to execution? Why did Mallory find it difficult after Miller's taunts? The significance of Maria' shooting Anna?

12. The importance of Andrea's performance during their arrest and their subsequent escape? Far-fetched or authentic?

13. The changing of the plan and the use of the German uniforms? Was the loss of German life necessary for this plan?

14. Why was the final confrontation between Mallory and Miller important? How did it throw the themes of the adventure into central focus? Did Miller have truth on his side? Did Mallory? Or did Miller capitulate to Mallory too easily? Did this make the whole thing too heroic?

15. How exciting was the final execution of the plan; getting into the gun area, Miller's ingenuity in setting up the guns for explosion, their escape, the actual blasting of the guns -with the suspense because it didn't happen at first?

16. Why did Brown and Pappadimos get killed? Were they killed by the Germans or by their own temperament - fears and lust for killing?

17. Were you glad that the ending was a happy one? What had been achieved by the end of the film? Are films like this too heroic? or do they show something of human endurance and courage?