Introduction

Operation Swallow: The Battle for Heavy Water (original title: Kampen om tungtvannet, French title: La Bataille de l’eau lourde) is a Norwegian-French film from 1948.

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Outline

The history is based on the best known commando raid in Norway during World War II, where the resistance group Norwegian Independent Company 1 destroyed the heavy water plant at Vemork in Telemark in February 1943.

The film is basically a reconstruction of real events, a docudrama, with many of the participants playing themselves in the film. It was filmed on location in Norway.

Cast

• Jens-Anton Poulsson as himself.
• Johannes Eckhoff.
• Arne Kjelstrup as himself.
• Claus Helberg as himself.
• Claus Wiese as Joachim Rønneberg.
• Henki Kolstad as Einar Skinnarland.
• Knut Haukelid as himself.
• Fredrik Kayser as himself.
• Hans Storhaug as himself.
• Torstein Skinnarland as himself, the dam keeper.
• Rolf Sørlie as himself.
• Knut Lier-Hansen as himself.
• David Knudsen.
• Harald Schwenzen.
• Raoul Dautry.
• Frédéric Joliot-Curie.
• Lew Kowarski.
• Sigrid Gurie.

Trivia

It was the second most popular film at the French box office in 1948.

Other Versions

• The 1965 British film The Heroes of Telemark, starring Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris, was another version of the story.
• Ray Mears presented a documentary called The Real Heroes of Telemark in 2003.
  • Despite mainly sticking to the factual evidence, some scenes in the documentary were partly dramatised, focusing on the survival skills involved in the operation.
• Kampen om Tungtvannet is a 2015 mini-series based on the events.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s):
  • Jean Dréville.
  • Titus Vibe-Müller.
• Producer(s):
  • Nino Constantini … producer.
  • Arild Feldborg … producer (as A. Feldborg).
• Writer(s):
  • Jean Marin … (scenario and adaptation).
  • Arild Feldborg … (collaboration).
  • Diana Robertson … (collaboration).
  • Knut Haukelid … (military advisor).
  • Jens A. Poulsson … (military advisor).
  • Pierre Laroche … (commentary).
  • Haakon Bugge Mahrt … (commentaries) (uncredited).
• Music:
  • Gunnar Sønstevold.
• Cinematography:
  • Hilding Bladh.
  • Marcel Weiss.
• Editor(s):
  • Jean Feyte.
  • Titus Vibe-Müller.
• Production:
  • Hero Film.
  • Trident.
• Distributor(s):
  • Filmsonor (1948) (France) (theatrical).
  • Fotorama (1948) (Norway) (theatrical).
  • Fotorama (1952) (Norway) (theatrical) (re-release).
  • Fotorama (1961) (Norway) (theatrical) (re-release).
  • Statens Filmsentral (1990) (Norway) (VHS).
• Release Date: 05 February 1948 (Norway) and 13 February 1948 (France).
• Running Time: 98 minutes.
• Rating: Unknown.
• Country: Norway and France.
• Language: Norwegian.

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