''Tonight We Raid Calais'' is a 1943 American film directed by

John Brahm John Brahm (August 17, 1893 – October 12, 1982) was a German film and television director. His films include ''The Undying Monster'' (1942), '' The Lodger'' (1944), ''Hangover Square'' (1945), ''The Locket'' (1946), ''The Brasher Doubloon'' (19 ...

and starring John Sutton,

Lee J. Cobb Lee J. Cobb (born Leo Jacoby; December 8, 1911February 11, 1976) was an American actor, known both for film roles and his work on the Broadway stage. He often played arrogant, intimidating and abrasive characters, but he also acted as respectabl ...

, and Annabella.

Plot summary

Geoffrey Carter ( John Sutton), a young

commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

British intelligence officer, is sent into

Nazi-occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

as a one-man raid to destroy a munitions plant with help from a patriotic farmer, M. Bonnard (

). Carter confronts a French woman Odette Bonnard ( Annabella) who hates the British and the Germans.

Cast

* Annabella as Odette Bonnard * John Sutton as Geoffrey Carter *

as Bonnard *

Beulah Bondi Beulah Bondi (born Beulah Bondy; May 3, 1889 – January 11, 1981)According to the State of California. ''California Death Index, 1940–1997''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At ...

as Mme. Bonnard *

Blanche Yurka Blanche Yurka (born Blanch Jurka, June 19, 1887 – June 6, 1974) was an American stage and film actress and director. She was an opera singer with minor roles at the Metropolitan Opera and later became a stage actress, making her Broadway debu ...

as Widow Grelieu *

Howard Da Silva Howard Da Silva (born Howard Silverblatt, May 4, 1909 – February 16, 1986) was an American actor, director and musical performer on stage, film, television and radio. He was cast in dozens of productions on the New York stage, appeared in mo ...

as Sgt. Block *

Marcel Dalio Marcel Dalio (born Marcel Benoit Blauschild; 23 November 1899 in Paris – 18 November 1983) was a French movie actor. He had major roles in two films directed by Jean Renoir, ''La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and ''The Rules of the Game'' (1939). ...

as Jaques Grandet *

Ann Codee Ann Codee (born Anna Marie Vannuefflin, 5 March 1890 – 18 May 1961) was a Belgian actress with numerous hit films on her résumé, such as '' Can-Can'', ''Kiss Me Kate'', and ''Interrupted Melody''. Born in Antwerp, Belgium, her name was s ...

as Mme. Grandet *

Richard Derr Richard Derr (June 15, 1917 – May 8, 1992) was an American actor who worked on stage, screen, and television, performing in both starring and supporting roles. Early years Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Derr graduated from Norristown High ...

as German Captain (unbilled) * other unbilled players include Sven Hugo Borg

Reception

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

picked ''Tonight We Raid Calais'' as one of his five favorite

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

films. It was one of the films he discovered while doing research for his own World War II film, ''

Inglourious Basterds ''Inglourious Basterds'' is a 2009 war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger and Mélanie Laurent. The film tells an alter ...

''.

References

External links

* * * * 1943 films 1940s war films 20th Century Fox films American black-and-white films American war films Films about the French Resistance Films directed by John Brahm Films scored by Cyril J. Mockridge Films scored by Emil Newman Films with screenplays by Waldo Salt World War II films made in wartime American spy films 1940s English-language films {{war-drama-film-stub