| Operation Amsterdam | |
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Original cinema poster |
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| Directed by | Michael McCarthy |
| Produced by | Maurice Cowan |
| Written by | John Eldridge Michael McCarthy |
| Starring | Peter Finch Eva Bartok Tony Britton |
| Music by | Philip Green |
| Cinematography | Reginald Wyer |
| Editing by | Arthur Stevens |
| Studio | Maurice Cowan Productions & Rank Organisation[1] |
| Distributed by | Rank Organisation (UK) 20th Century Fox (US)[1] |
| Release date(s) | 12 January 1959 (UK) 6 July 1960 (US)[2] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Operation Amsterdam is a 1959 British action film, directed by Michael McCarthy, and featuring Peter Finch, Eva Bartok and Tony Britton. It is based on a true story [3] as described in the book Adventure in Diamonds, by David E Walker. The action of the story covers a few days in May 1940 when the Germans invaded the Netherlands. The composer Philip Green composed two original pieces of music for the film, the Pierement Waltz and the Amsterdam Polka. [4]
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In May 1940, as the German invasion of the Netherlands is underway, the British government decides to send a team to the Netherlands on board HMS Walpole [5] to secure stocks of industrial diamonds before the invaders can get to them. Accordingly, two Dutch diamond experts, Jan Smit (Peter Finch) and Walter Keyser (Alexander Knox) with a British Army Intelligence officer, Major Dillon (Tony Britton), are dropped by ship off the Dutch coast. Dodging German bombs and suspicious Dutch police and soldiers, they commandeer a car driven by Anna (Eva Bartok), whom they have just saved from trying to commit suicide. The four of them drive to Amsterdam.
They meet Jan's father at his diamond business house and he agrees to try to persuade other dealers to bring their diamonds later that day for transport to Britain. But as many of the stones are stored in a time-locked bank vault which won't open for 24 hours, they recruit a group of sabotage experts to break in.
With the Dutch police, including suspected fifth columnists, on their trail, the group manage to break into the vault and recover the diamonds. The three visitors make their escape whilst the armed Dutch helpers hold down the police and soldiers. They drive back to the coast, barely dodging German bombers.
As they embark on a commandeered tugboat to take them back to the waiting ship, Anna elects to remain in the Netherlands and work with the nascent resistance movement.
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