Watch Operation Amsterdam For Free

Thanks for the memories!

best movie i've ever seen.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

"Operation Amsterdam" is an excellent movie about a little known espionage mission and rescue raid early in World War II. The movie is based on true events from a novel by David E. Walker. Walker was a war correspondent and was connected with British military intelligence. After the war, he wrote 10 novels. Most were war-related. The most famous of his works was "Adventure in Diamonds," on which this movie is based. It went through 30 printings in four languages from 1955 to 1980. The story is about a special mission put together hastily to get the industrial diamonds out of Amsterdam after the Germans invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940. Amsterdam then was the diamond capital of the world – handling the bulk of the world's uncut diamonds. Today, that distinction goes to nearby Antwerp, Belgium. One wonders if author Walker had something to do with the operation, or if he just learned of it in his intelligence and journalist functions. Anyway, it's a nice plot with excellent technical production and other values. At least one other reviewer commented about the starkness of the street scenes and reality of the scenes around the harbor. I agree. This movies was made within 14 years after the end of the war, when it was possible to stage such scenes, and when the lay of the land hadn't changed so much form the war years. There were yet no modern buildings, ships and other things that one would see today. One or two people found it a slow-moving film. Well, if one expects lots of war action, that's true. But that's not what the story was about. I think the director and others did an admirable job in portraying the sense of uneasiness mixed with fear, confusion and worry among the people in Amsterdam as they awaited the German occupation. The cast are all very good. The leads especially are excellent. Peter Finch is Jan Smit, Eva Bartok is Anna, Tony Britton is Major Dillon Alexander Knox is Walter Keyster, Malcolm Keen is Johan Smit and Christopher Rhodes is Alex. I think the film showed very well what we learned in history – how many of the Jews were conflicted about giving up their wealth which might be used for bargaining chips later on. At that time, the Holocaust was just beginning and there was little knowledge of what would happen. To most people then, it probably seemed so heinous as to be unbelievable. But for our hindsight today, most people living now may have felt and believed as they did then. Even with the warnings of the persecution and oppression of Jews since Kirstallnact of 1933, many people couldn't fathom the depths of depravity to which the human race could fall in the ensuring Nazi pogrom. One other aspect of this movie is noteworthy. This film, made in 1959, depicts an ugly side of some of the Dutch population at the outbreak of the war. A significant number of people were sympathizers with Germany, if not with the Nazi party. And, there were quite a few collaborators. A couple of other later movies about the Dutch Resistance during the war bring that point home. It was in Amsterdam that a family hid Anne Frank's family, but a suspicious neighbor eventually betrayed the Franks and their protectors. In this film, a sizable number of the Dutch military in Amsterdam seem to have been won over to the German cause. German paratroopers were used to take some key places and foment disorder, but it's not likely that they replaced so many Dutch soldiers in uniform.While not a film with lots of action, there is considerable suspense and intrigue in "Operation Amsterdam" to keep viewers on the edge of our seats. It's historical value make it an important film to include in any serious World War II film collection.

I wanted to like Operation Amsterdam, but for some reason I could never get absorbed into it the way you have to to enjoy a movie. It had a good cast, led by the excellent Peter Finch and the beautiful Eva Bartok. Alexander Knox was there, too. His presence is usually an asset, but in this one he was given little to do. I was hoping to see him as a Dutch fifth columnist baddie, since nasty was what he did best, but he played a bland little fellow with few lines. His character was in practically every scene but seemed to have no real function.The World War II intrigue story showed much promise. Dutch diamond merchants (Finch and Knox) with a British special forces officer (Tony Britton) sneak into the Netherlands at the time Amsterdam is about to fall to invading German forces. Their purpose is to smuggle all of the diamonds they can back to England in order to keep these invaluable industrial items out of German hands. The two main hurdles to overcome will be convincing all of the Dutch diamond dealers to hand over their goods and to keep from being shot by one of the groups of "fifth columnists", Nazi sympathizers in regular Dutch army uniforms, who are roaming the streets. With loyal soldiers around, too, it is hard to tell friend from foe. The diamond commandos are aided by the beautiful Bartok driving her beautiful Mercedes automobile like a bat out of you-know-where and an underground resistance group, strangely well-organized and well-armed considering that the Nazis have not yet taken over their government.The cinematography was good, though not outstanding. Being a sucker for the black & white widescreen movie, a format which was not popular for a very long period, is one of the reasons I bought the DVD of Operation Amsterdam. The wide screen is used very well, especially in panoramic shots of civilians fleeing down a dike road and in the street fighting scenes. There is lots of action with all of it well staged and some effective suspense.So why did I not like this movie better. Flabby direction by Michael McCarthy and sloppy editing were two problems. Tony Britton was simply not up to the pivotal role of the tough British secret service officer. He just was not dynamic enough. It is a shame we couldn't have had Trevor Howard or Richard Harris, both of whom excelled at this type of role. Worst for me, was the jazzy score by Philip Green. Rather than enhancing the action and the suspense, it was irritating and inappropriate for the historical period.Well, maybe it was just me. My grouchy old wife, who is usually more picky about movies than I am, liked it better than I did, and so did most others who have reviewed it and posted on the message board. It was sincere and historically authentic, typically good points of British movies from this era. It was over all pretty good, but should have been much better. With Trevor Howard and a Dimitri Tiomkin score -- who knows?

This movie has a premise with a lot of potential: a small group of agents has a just 14 hours to get into Amsterdam and take out all the industrial diamonds there. But the movie is ruined by three gigantic flaws.First, it is incompetently edited. It is obvious that some key scenes were left out and as a result, the plot is hard to follow. For example, at one point the agents go off to visit the mother of one of them. The next time we see them, they are back from the visit and have a new character, Willem, with them. All we get is a one sentence explanation for who he is and why he is with them.Second, the motivations of the various Dutch army units are baffling and never explained. Some of them help the agents while others try to kill the agents. At some points, different Dutch army units shoot at each other. We are never told why some of them are trying to kill the agents. Are they disloyal soldiers trying to help the Germans? Or do they believe that the agents are working for the Germans? Or do they think the diamonds should stay in Holland even if it is overrun by the Germans? Or do they think the Germans will fail to capture Amsterdam and, thus, it is unnecessary to take the diamonds out? Third, a group of about a dozen Dutch civilians help the agents get diamonds out of a bank safe and blow up a oil storage facility. It is never explained who these people are. They are not the Dutch underground. That was formed only after the Germans overran Holland; but this movie is set before they'd captured Amsterdam.

Operation Amsterdam is a pleasant surprise. It has both a strong story and some unusual cinematic touches to keep the viewer interested.The story of the British secret service agents who are sent to Amsterdam to recover industrial diamonds before the German invasion is a familiar one, and their eventual safe escape is predictable enough.What interested me was the atmosphere of fear and bleakness that the producers manage to convey. The empty streets, in bright sunlight; the columns of fleeing people; the confusion of not knowing who are enemies or friends, makes for a better than average effects.Added to this a score made only with drums, and some very abrupt editing that is almost painful to watch, makes this a worthwhile watch.