**_The more realistic precursor to Where Eagles Dare_**

During WW2, a resistant fighter in German-occupied Norway (Richard Harris) and an Oslo physics professor (Kirk Douglas) team-up to stop the Nazi operation of creating & transporting heavy water in order to produce the first atomic bomb and thus win the war.

“The Heroes of Telemark” (1965) debuted three years before “Where Eagles Dare” and is based on the true story of Norwegian heavy water sabotage. It’s more mundane and believable, but lacks the great score and all-around pizazz of that more well-know WW 2 film. The wintery Norwegian locations are certainly a highlight (listed below).

This was director Anthony Mann’s second to last movie. He would die a year and five months after its release from a heart attack in Berlin at the age of 60.

The film runs 2 hours, 10 minutes, and was shot in Norway (Telemark, Oslo & Tinnsjø) and England (Pinewood Studios, Winchfield station & Poole Harbour).

GRADE: B