The Battle Of The River Plate [DVD] [1956]

A must see for anyone interested in the war

As described

In DVD format can be watched whenever you like. One of our evergreens.

Entertainment and education. The pocket battleship Graf Spee had the best actor ever playing Captain Lansdorff. Peter Finch superb .Hans Lansdorff deserved that. His actions at the end of the battle saved hundreds of lives .We don't know what the German high command said about that but Lansdorff commited suicide in a Buenos Aries hotel room very soon afterwards. My heart bleeds for him and his family. He had treated his prisoners very well.

NOTHING TO DISLIKE ABOUT THIS FILM ! STARS THAT WE ALL LOVED TO SEE ON THE SCREEN !

Apart from the use of American warship for filming ( only to be expected at the time of filming ) good drama and Dialogue.

I bought this DVD for my wife who enjoys films of this genre. She thoroughly enjoyed it. This purchase arrived in good time and was packaged securely.A good purchase.

Powell & Pressburger's next to last film this is the WW2 story of Royal Navy ships pursuing the Graf Spree, a German battleship that in 1940 was raiding British freighters and even a cruise ship off the coast of Uruguay. It may not be considered Powell & Pressburger's greatest but it is an exciting true war story beautifully filmed, as one would expect from this brilliant team.

This is the 1975 well-done restoration of the 1946 original version, “Pursuit Of The Graf Spee”, which is also available (Region 2). It is available in Blu-Ray (2006) for Region 1.This is an account of British Naval action in the South Atlantic, December 1939, early in the war with Germany. Germany had sent their Battleship “Graf Spee” to the South Atlantic months earlier, in preparation for the war (Sept. 1), to act as a shipping raider on the route to India. The Graf Spee had been stopping British freighters for some time, taking the crews prisoner, and sinking the ships. It had also commandeered a British cruise ship (with passengers) for carrying prisoners of war. A disguised freighter (Altmark) re-supplied the Graf Spee with fuel and food. Because the encounters were sudden, the victims were mostly unable to send distress radio signals. Consequently it was three months before Britain became aware of the situation. Britain’s response was to send three Navy ships to investigate, a Heavy Cruiser (Exeter) and two Cruiser-class ships (Ajax & Achilles), none of them a match for the Graf Spee.In mid-December the British fleet encountered the Graf Spee, at a distance of several miles, near the coast of South America. The British commander chose to use the element of surprise and ordered an immediate attack. All four ships were heavily damaged in the action. As a result of heavier fire at close range, the Graf Spee eventually suffered a disabling hit (fuel line), broke off the action and escaped toward the neutral port of Montevideo. (Consult a map at this point.) The two lesser damaged British cruisers followed suit, but the heavily damaged Exeter sailed south to the British Falkland Islands for repair. The above is the essence of the first hour of the two-hour film.The second hour covers the next three days and features British machinations to delay the Graf Spee’s departure, pending arrival of more British ships. Under international law, war ships can enter neutral ports for only a limited time, and can not refit, subject to being impounded. The British, facing the same restrictions, took the opportunity to visit the Graf Spee and meet the captain. The captain of the Graf Spee chose to release his crew, and the prisoners taken aboard, and scuttle the Graf Spee outside the harbor. Also told is how the American reporter, Mike Fowler, commandeered the only telephone circuit to the USA to broadcast the event, live, for the American radio network.This latter is the event that concerns me because I remember, as a child of 7 years, hearing that broadcast, Montevideo being in a time zone 1-hour earlier for the East coast.(Note: The Altmark was captured by the British Navy in February 1940, near Norway, and the prisoners repatriated. News Reel from that era, along with Winston Churchill’s speech are available on the internet by searching “Graf Spee Sinking”, but I have not found the Mike Fowler broadcast. The American public, remembering their involvement in WW-I, took no sides in the matter. )

Great service I was sent an email regarding arrival at post office and all was good with DVD thank you

I was a young boy when I first watched this movie that came out some 45 years ago. It made a lasting impression on me and I was thrilled to finally find its copy on DVD. I was even more delighted to see that the movie is just as excellent as I remembered.The battle of the River Plate was the first major engagement between the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine in 1939. Just before the outbreak of war, the pocket battle ship Graf Spee had been sent to the South Atlantic to sink British merchant vessels. It was engaged by a British task force consisting of cruisers HMS Achilles, HMS Ajax, and HMS Exeter. Although outgunned by the powerful guns of the German, the British ships engaged the battle and hit the German battleship who ran and sought refuge in neutral Uruguay. Under international law, the German ship could stay no longer than the time necessary to make her seaworthy. While everyone expected the Graf Spee to come out of the River Plate with all her guns firing at the British, the battle never took place. Graf Spee was scuttled at the limit of international waters, and admiral Langsdorff committed suicide. This was a prelude to the war at sea where the Royal Navy was never to be challenged directly by the powerful German battleships and was always to engage German war ships regardless of the odds.Made at a time when memories of WWII were still very much vivid, the movie presents a balanced portrait of the main characters in the drama. Admiral Langsdorff is not pictured as a Nazi thug but as a sailor who fought decently according to the law of the sea. (Incidentally, one can note that he never gives a Hitler salute throughout the movie). The production of this relatively old movie is just magnificent. There are beautiful images of the sea and of real ships, not models. For the occasion, the Royal Navy loaned some of its ships, including Achilles to the producers of the movie. For all those who are still fascinated by the battles at sea before the time of satellite surveillance and GPS, or those who simply like a good action movie, this is a movie not to be missed.

I love how they used actual warships not like modern movies which is just CGI. Nothing will ever beat these classics

Movie received in good order and condition. An outstanding telling of a moment in history. Well produced and acted.