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The Avengers (1942)
Solid piece of wartime entertainment
8 December 2002
Horse race tipster and journalist Metcalfe is picked for the job of foreign correspondent in Norway when Hitler invades Poland. On the way to Norway his boat is attacked by a German U-Boat, however when he tells the navy about it they disbelief him and, to make matters worse, he is removed from his job. When German forces invade Norway, Metcalfe returns determined to uncover what is going on and stop the Germans in their tracks.

1940's British cinema is understandably packed with wartime propaganda pieces. This film doesn't stand out from the pack but it is still worth a watch. The basic plot is interesting and provides tense drama towards the end, even if it gets all confused at times in the middle and some of it didn't quite hang together for me. The action is a little stilted at times and the film never misses a chance to show how very selfish and foolish the German officers are. This is a little heavy handed but what did you expect from a propaganda film? However it is badly done at times and seems heavy handed.

The cast are mainly good. Williams is typical of the stiff upper lip English heroes of this type of film. Again it seems a little stiff but it's the usual sort of English gentleman that we wanted to see at the time – especially when compared to the slimly cowardly Germans shown here. The support cast are OK despite the very, very iffy Norwegian accents, but this doesn't matter too much.

Overall this film is typical British wartime propaganda. The Brits save the day, the Germans are cowardly, sacrifice is made but the greater good is served. As a Brit this is a solid bit of entertainment for a rainy Saturday afternoon, but probably not much more capable than that.
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