Operation Snatch
| Operation Snatch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Robert Day |
| Written by | Alan Hackney Len Heath John Warren |
| Story by | Paul Mills |
| Produced by | Jules Buck |
| Starring | Terry-Thomas George Sanders Lionel Jeffries Jocelyn Lane |
| Cinematography | Geoffrey Faithfull |
| Edited by | Bert Rule |
| Music by | Ken Jones |
| Distributed by | Regal Films International (UK) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 87 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Operation Snatch (also known as Top Secret [1]) is a 1962 British comedy film starring Terry-Thomas and George Sanders and directed by Robert Day.[1][2][3] It was written by Alan Hackney, Len Heath and John Warren from a story by Paul Mills.
Plot
[edit]The story takes place in Gibraltar, and is based on a local legend: if the resident Barbary apes were ever to leave, the British would lose Gibraltar. This wartime comedy has Terry-Thomas as the keeper of the apes. When one of the apes goes missing, he is required to go behind enemy lines to capture another one, or be personally responsible for the loss of Gibraltar.
Cast
[edit]- Terry-Thomas as Lieutenant Wigg
- George Sanders as Major Hobson
- Lionel Jeffries as Evans
- Jocelyn Lane as Bianca Tabori
- Mark Eden as Mosquito pilot
- Mario Fabrizi as Tall Man
- John Gabriel as Major Frink
- Gerard Heinz as Colonel Waldock
- Bernard Hunter as Captain Baker
- Dinsdale Landen as Captain Wellington
- Howard H. Lang as P.T. Sergeant
- Angus Lennie as Vic
- Jeremy Lloyd as Captain James
- John Meillon as medical officer
- Warren Mitchell as contact man
- Lee Montague as Miklos Tabori
- Nyree Dawn Porter as W.R.A.C. officer
- John Scott as Lieutenant General Hepworth
- Mark Singleton as Prime Minister's secretary
- Graham Stark as soldier
- Michael Trubshawe as Colonel Marston
- James Villiers as Lieutenant Keen
- Ian Whittaker as Dyson
- Ronnie Corbett appears in an uncredited role disguised as a Gibraltar Rock Ape
Reception
[edit]The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Clumsy British farce, in which a badly directed Terry-Thomas endeavours to extract laughs from a wan script which pins its faith in jokes about monkeys, bananas, thickly-accented spies and fatuous British espionage agents."[4]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, calling it "enjoyably daft," writing: "There are too many stock characters, but this does have several ridiculously funny scenes."[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Operation Snatch". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
- ^ Crowther, Bosley (25 September 1962). "Screen: Terry-Thomas and Slapstick; Gibraltar Is Setting of 'Operation Snatch' Picture Pits Comedian Against a Thin Plot". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ "Operation Snatch (1962)". BFI. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ "Operation Snatch". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 29 (336): 54. 1 January 1962. ProQuest 1305823317.
- ^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 689. ISBN 9780992936440.