World War Two espionage/commandos

[Atridis]

I'm not sure this is the right thread, but I'm trying to come up with a list of movies (or tv shows, I suppose) about espionage and/or commando missions during World War Two (OSS, SOE, French Resistance, etc). some number of them will be used as player-prep material for a d20 game. I'd love to hear about good books too, if only for my own edification, but I don't think I can fairly demand that my players read 2 to 4 novels before beginning play (some of them might do it on their own, of course).

movies that I've seen:
- Charlotte Gray
- Where Eagles Dare
- One Against the Wind
- Casablanca
- Shining Through
- Force 10 From Navarone
- The Dirty Dozen

books that I've read:
- A Man Called Intrepid
- Charlotte Gray (light-years better than the movie, imho)
- Night Soldiers (not WWII, precisely, but the same time period)
- various & sundry books about World War Two, none specific to espionage

 

[Reg Dword]

Bridge on the River Kwai - Alec Guiness,William Holden,Jack Hawkins. Directed by David Lean. It remains one of my all time favorites.

 

[Tars Tarkus]

Bataan
A Bridge to Far
The Great Escape
Stalag 17
Guns of Navarone (great movie, much better than Force 10)
Objective Burma
Solider of Orange
The Devils Brigade

 

[Aaron2]

I finished a book called Greek Entanglements about OSS/partisan operations is Greece. This seemed to me to be a great setting for a WW2 game. Reasons ....

- You start out fighting low-class Italian troops and then move up to fighting Germans

- Many sabotage operations were carried out by small teams of Americans and British; the partisans simply provide a safe base of operation.

- There are multiple partisan bands competing for supplies, each with their own post-war adjenda. Adds a political element.

- Most importantly, most players will not have a very good knowledge of the situation which will limit meta-game thinking. The first chapter of the book would make a good mission brief (of course, the entire situation changes after the first drop). Once the players land in Greece, they meet a few low ranking partisans and are gradually introduced to more and more big-time movers and shakers.


Aaron

 

[Atridis]

I finished a book called Greek Entanglements about OSS/partisan operations is Greece.

This sounds cool, for me as the GM if not for the players. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't seem to have anything under that name. Do you recall the author?

 

[Sir Whiskers]

A couple obscure ones:

Cockleshell Heroes, with Mel Ferrer
13 Rue Madelaine, with James Cagney

 

[Alcareru]

A couple obscure ones:

Cockleshell Heroes, with Mel Ferrer
13 Rue Madelaine, with James Cagney

Hmm a couple more :

Adventures of Tartu (1943) A British espionage film produced during the height of World War II. Donat plays a spy who works with the Czechs as they scheme to destroy a Nazi poison gas factory. (stars Robert Donat of Goodbye Mr Chips fame).


Betrayed (1954) In Nazi-occupied Holland, Dutch Colonel Pieter Deventer is aligned with the British forces and searching for a traitor in his ranks. Three screen legends, Gable, Turner, and Mature, team up for this espionage thriller. Gable and Turner for the last time. (kinda alot of love story but a nice old fashioned thriller mystery)

O.S.S. (1946) Ace Allied agents assemble an arsenal of anti-Nazi intelligence in occupied France, with a little romance and intrigue added in. Based on extensive research about the actual covert operations of the Office of Strategic Services. Stars Alan Ladd.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

612 WWII Movies

Movies:
There's also a sequel to The Dirty Dozen (The Next Mission, I think it's titled?)

Kelly's Heroes is commando-ish -- great inspiration for a gaming session. Donald Sutherland is a role model for every tanker I know

The Eagle has Landed is a good flick, speculative about German commandoes in England who are there to kidnap Churchill (based on a book by Ken Follet).


Books:

Look for nonfiction on Merrill's Marauders or the 1st Special Service Force (the unit the film The Devil's Brigade was about).

Ken Follet's The Eagle Has Landed

Commando Extraordinaire: Otto Skorzeny

Edit: How could I forget the ultimate espionage/commando movie: Top Secret!

 

[GreyShadow]

Hogan's Heroes might be useful.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Ha! I knew I'd be the first one to bring up the music video for Pat Benatar's Shadows of the Night!

Starring Judge Reinhold and Bill Paxton!

(Apparently, Bill Paxton learned to speak German for his role as a Nazi radio operator. Which is kinda weird, given that it's a music video, so there's no dialogue... )

-Hyp.