Ill Met by Moonlight

Infobox Film
name = Ill Met by Moonlight
(Night Ambush)


image_size = 215px
caption = theatrical poster
director = Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
producer = Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
writer = W. Stanley Moss "(novel)"
Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
starring = Dirk Bogarde
Marius Goring
David Oxley
Cyril Cusack
music = Mikis Theodorakis
cinematography = Christopher Challis
editing = Arthur Stevens
distributor = Rank Film Distributors Ltd.
released = 4 March fy|1957 "(UK)"
24 April fy|1958 "(NYC)"
July 1958 "(US)"
runtime = 104 min. / 93 min. "(US)"
country = United Kingdom
language = English
budget =
gross =
imdb_id = 0049357

"Ill Met by Moonlight" (1957), also known as "Night Ambush", is a film by the British writer-director-producer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, the last film they made together through their Archers production company. The film,which stars Dirk Bogarde and features Marius Goring, David Oxley and Cyril Cusack, is based on the 1952 book "Ill Met by Moonlight: The Abduction of General Kreipe" by W. Stanley Moss, an account of real events in the author's service on Crete in World War II. The title is a quotation from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

Plot

During World War II, the Greek Mediterranean island of Crete is occupied by the Nazis. A group of British officers led by Major Patrick Leigh Fermor (Dirk Bogarde) land on the island and, with the help of local resistance in April 1944, kidnap German General Heinrich Kreipe (Marius Goring), the commander of the island. They take Kreipe across very rough country to a secluded cove on the far side of the island, where they are picked up and taken to Cairo.

Cast

*Dirk Bogarde as Major Patrick "Paddy" Leigh Fermor aka "Philedem"
*Marius Goring as Major General Heinrich Kreipe
*David Oxley as Captain W. Stanley "Billy" Moss, M.C.
*Dimitri Andreas as Niko Soldan Emeris
*Cyril Cusack as Captain Sandy Rendel
*Laurence Payne as Manoli
*Wolfe Morris as George
*Michael Gough as Andoni Zoidakis
*Rowland Bartrop as Micky Akoumianakis
*Brian Worth as Stratis Saviolkis
*Paul Stassino as Yanni Katsias
*Adeeb Assaly as Zahari

Cast notes:
*Christopher Lee and David McCallum have small parts in the film, Lee as a German officer in the dentist scene, and McCallum, in his film debut, as a sailor on the ship that picks the group up. Lee's part was edited out in the fy|1959 re-release of the film. [TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=17677&category=Misc%20Notes Misc. notes] ] There's also a "John Houseman" in the cast, but it appears that this is not the well-known actor, director and advertising icon John Houseman. [imdb name|1208738|John Houseman]
*Marius Goring had appeared in three other Powell and Pressburger films: "The Spy in Black" (fy|1939), "A Matter of Life and Death" (fy|1946) and "The Red Shoes" (fy|1948). [IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0330961/ Marius Goring] ] Goring replaced Curt Jürgens, who was the original choice to play the part of General Kreipe.

Production

"Ill Met By Moonlight" was filmed at Pinewood Studios in England, with location shooting in the Alpes-Maritimes in France and Italy, and on the Côte d'Azur in France. [IMDB [http://imdb.com/title/tt0049357/locations Filming locations] ] [ [http://www.powell-pressburger.org/FAQ/FAQ25.html#IllMet P&P Filming Locations] ]

Parody

The story was affectionately parodied by Spike Milligan in the 1957 "Goon Show" episode, "Ill Met by Goonlight".

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Christie, Ian. "Arrows of Desire: the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger". London: Faber & Faber, 1994. ISBN 0-571-16271-1. 163pp (illus. filmog. bibliog. index).
* Fermor, Patrick Leigh. "Words of Mercury". John Murray, 2004. ISBN 0-719-56105-1.
* Moss, W. Stanley. "Ill Met by Moonlight". London: Harrap, 1952. ISBN 0-304-35259-4.
* Moss, W. Stanley. "A War of Shadows". London: T.V. Boardman , 1952. OCLC: 2057976. 240pp (illus. 21 cm). [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2057976?tab=details]
* Powell, Michael. "A Life in Movies: An Autobiography". , 1986. ISBN 0-434-59945-X.
* Powell, Michael. "Million Dollar Movie". London: Heinemann, 1992. ISBN 0-434-59947-6.

External links

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* [http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/57_IllMet Reviews and articles] at the [http://www.powell-pressburger.org Powell & Pressburger Review Pages]
*. Full synopsis and film stills (and clips viewable from UK libraries).