COCKLESHELL HEROES

UK, 1955, 97 minutes, Colour.
Jose Ferrer, Trevor Howard, Anthony Newley, Victor Maddern.
Directed by Jose Ferrer.

Cockleshell Heroes is another of those well made war stories of the 1950's paying its tribute to some branch of the services or commemorating some historical incident of the war. This time it shows a special group chosen to go by canoe into Bordeaux harbour in 1942 to destroy German shipping. There is nothing particularly new here; the work is well done, although frequently seen.

Depending on moods, these films are entertaining and interesting, and raise the usual issues of war.

1. What is real war heroism?

2. War itself - the sense of it, the heroism and risk it asks and why?

3. The perennial question of the professional versus the amateur, the lenient man versus the disciplinarian. Who is proved right in this film? How? Why?

4. What is the result of lenience here on morale? Loyalty? Effectiveness?

5. What is the nature of true leadership?

6. What was conventional in the action and heroes of this film? What was original?

7. Would a film like this be made in later decades? How?