RELEASED IN 1975 and directed by Lewis Gilbert, "Operation: Daybreak" tells the true story of Britain sending a trio of Czech-born commandos (Timothy Bottoms, etc.) to Czechoslovakia in 1942 to assassinate SS-General Reinhard Heydrich (Anton Diffring), Hitler's buddy, infamously known as "the butcher of Prague." Unfortunately, the Czechs paid heavily with the SS eradication of the innocent village of Lidice, as well as (not shown) Lezhaky, the village where the parachutists dropped and received aid in the first act.The movie plays like a docudrama with a haunting synth-based score, which some love and some hate (regardless, there's some period music as well). The story is a mix of drama, suspense, thrills and tragedy. It's not a typical WW2 movie due to the covert mission. It's more akin to "The Guns of Navarone" (1961), "36 Hours" (1964), "The Eagle has Landed" (1977) and "Valkyrie" (2008), although of course the story is totally different.One element of the plot will tick you off, but it happens (I'm not going to give it away). Nicola Pagett is jaw-dropping beautiful. The authentic Czech Republic locations are a plus. This really happened; and the ending chronicles what happened to the Czechs.THE FILM RUNS 118 minutes and was shot in the Prague area. WRITERS: Ronald Harwood (screenplay) & Alan Burgess (novel).GRADE: B

Film based on the true story of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague and was adapted from the book Seven Men at Daybreak by Alan Burgess . During World War 2 , in 1942 Czechoslovakia, SS-General Reinhard Heydrich (he was 38 when he was shot but Anton Diffring who was in his late fifties) is appointed by Hitler (George Sewell plays two parts in this movie; he is a German officer, seen at the film's climax and also, briefly he plays Hitler) to become the Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia , he is known as "The Butcher of Prague". As a squad of Czech expatriates formed by three soldiers : Jan Kubis (Timothy Bottoms) , Karel Curda , (Martin Shaw) and Jozef Gabcík (Anthony Andrews) are parachuted into Czechoslovakia in order to assassinate the German governor Reinhard Heydrich . The group is assigned a dangerous mission called Operation Daybreak ; it was designed by the Allies to eliminate a high-ranking Nazi (it is believed that Admiral Canaris passed crucial information to Allies for organizing the attack) . They are helped by partisans as Janák (Joss Ackland) , Anna (Nicola Pagett) and Pyotr (Vernon Dobtcheff) .On 27 May 1942, Heydrich proceeded on his daily commute from his home to Prague Castle. Gabčík and Kubiš waited at the tram stop at a tight curve . The spot was chosen because the curve would force the car to slow down . As Heydrich's open-topped Mercedes-Benz reached the curve, Gabčík stepped in front of the vehicle, trying to open fire, but his Sten gun jammed. Heydrich ordered his driver, SS-Oberscharführer Klein, to stop the car. When Heydrich stood up to try to shoot Gabčík, Kubiš threw a modified anti-tank grenade at the vehicle, and its fragments ripped through the car's right-rear fender, embedding shrapnel and fibres from the upholstery into Heydrich's body, even though the grenade failed to enter the car . The assailants initially hid with two Prague families and later took refuge in an Orthodox church dedicated to Saints Cyril and Methodius in Prague. The Germans were unable to locate the attackers until Karel Čurda of the "Out Distance" sabotage group was arrested by the Gestapo and gave the names of the team's local contacts for a bounty .The assassination of Heydrich was one of the most significant moments in the history of the resistance in Czechoslovakia and is considered to be the strongest act of defiance throughout occupied Europe. The act had such an impact that it led to the immediate dissolution of the Munich Agreement as signed by Great Britain and France, as well as Germany's ally Italy. Britain and France agreed that after the Nazis were defeated the annexed territory (Sudetenland) would be restored to Czechoslovakia. As Heydrich was one of the most important Nazi leaders, two large funeral ceremonies were conducted. The first one was in Prague, where the way to Prague Castle was lined by thousands of SS men with torches. The second was in Berlin attended by all leading Nazi figures, including Hitler, who placed the German Order and Blood Order medals on the funeral pillow. The betrayer Karel Čurda, after attempting suicide, was hanged in 1947 for high treason .It is based on the novel by Alan Burgess and on a true story that also was adapted by Fritz Lang, in 1943 'Hangmen Also Die' , Hitler's Madman (1943) and Atentat (1964). It explores the preparations, execution, and aftermath of this operation and the bloody revenge on the Lidice village . Operation Daybreak shows the operation leading up to Heydrich's death as well as the massive German reprisals that followed it . This movie was one of the few productions who took the time and the effort of duplicating WW2 German Tiger tanks, and since the film was set in the Czech republic, the filmmakers made use of Czech army equipment .One of the best things about this interesting film results to be its excellent recreation , shot in Prague and authentic scenarios, we have the full details of the events, the arrival of the command, the plan of attack, the realization of it, the Nazis retaliated with physical elimination of Lidice, and as they surrounded the Church of St. Cyril by the treachery of one of the components of the command . The picture contains an intriguing but inappropriate original music by David Hentschel composed by means of synthesizer . Furthermore a functional and atmospheric Cinematography by magnificent French director of photography Henri Decaë . The motion picture was professionally directed by Lewis Gilbert . Lewis was a craftsman and expert on all kind of genres such as comedy : ¨Shirley Valentine , Educating Rita , The admirable Chricton¨ ; Adventure : ¨The seventh dawn , The adventurers ¨ ; James Bond movies as as : ¨Moonraker , The spy who loved me , You only live twice¨ ; Drama : ¨Alfie , A cry from the streets¨ and wartime : ¨Damn the Defiant , Sink the Bismark¨ .

We visited Prague last month as part of a tour of the "Blue Danube" which included Vienna and Budapest. Prague is one of the most fascinating and beautiful cities we've ever seen, and the tour guides showed us the church where the commandos took refuge, and also mentioned the legend of the crown of Saint Wenceslas (where Heydrich puts in on his head) at Prague Castle. Since we returned I've been reading up on the incident, and ordered the DVD from Korea. For an older, low budget film, they did a very good job in sticking to the true story. The music was a little annoying, and it's too bad they didn't have subtitles for the German characters. I'm reading a book on the fate of Lidice, and found an excellent publication from the Czech Ministry of Defense web site called "Assassination: Operation Anthropoid 1941-42". It can be downloaded at www.army.cz.

I have studied the Heydrich assassination at some length as an historian, and the film does take some liberties with the facts. However this is to be expected as this is drama – not a documentary. The battle at the end does contain some errors such as the end of the agents in the main church, one was fatally wounded and the other two took poison, instead of being killed in the gun battle, but this in no way detracts from the overall accuracy of the film.The battle in the crypt likewise ended with the four agents committing suicide by gunshot, rather than a mixture of enemy action and suicide.I have been in the crypt many times and have never failed to be impressed by the astounding courage of these men.'In their darkest hour they lit a beacon that illuminated the world'