The Heroes of Telemark (1965) on Netflix
Approved19652h 11mActionDramaHistory
Knut Straud draws physicist Rolf Pedersen into a plan to destroy the Rjukan plant that makes heavy water for Germany's atomic bomb program. Rolf's ex-wife Anna also joins the effort.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.5/109,219 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes67%
Trailer
Plot summary
Norway is under German occupation, and the Vemork plant at Rjukan, in Telemark, produces heavy water for the German atomic program. Rolf Pedersen, a professor of physics, had been content to wait out the war until Knut Straud, a resistance fighter, pulls him into the work against the plant. Rolf's ex-wife Anna takes part in the resistance as well, and her uncle is with them, and Rolf and Anna, who were married before, draw close to one another again. Rolf and Knut seize a passenger steamship and cross to Britain with microfilm of the plant's layout, which the British value highly. The pair then parachute back into Norway to prepare an attack on the plant.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Heroes of Telemark (1965)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Stephen Boyd later sued Mann for $0.5 million when funding for the initial project fell apart in early 1964: "I missed out on four good roles and plenty of money when he signed me without financial backing and then dropped the project", he said.
- The movie was originally titled The Unknown Battle and was to have starred Stephen Boyd and Elke Sommer; later Anthony Perkins was announced as a star, though he withdrew, and eventually Kirk Douglas signed as the lead.
- The same story was covered in the 1948 Franco-Norwegian film Kampen om tungtvannet, which was quite faithful to the real events and even had many of the original Norwegian commandos starring as themselves.
SPOILER
Unlike the scenes in the film, the saboteurs had already left the area when the bomb exploded; also omitted is the death of 18 Norwegian civilians in the sinking and the rescue efforts of local fishermen.
