Crisply directed in England by America's José Ferrer, this tremendously exciting war film, based on fact, sees Royal Marines go on a secret mission to destroy enemy shipping. Ferrer also leads the fine cast, which includes Trevor Howard, Anthony Newley and Dora Bryan, and commands the intense nightime raid on the Bordeaux docks. Ferrer and Howard strike well against each other as the unorthodox major and resentful captain, and the training scenes are imaginative and effective. The movie was a big hit at the time, and was reissued as the top half of a double bill with the multi-Oscar-winning From Here to Eternity; this necessitated the optical adjustment of the latter into a widescreen format so that it wouldn't look too shabby alongside this film!

During WW2, German ships are "safely" docked upriver at Bordeaux, but the British send a team of kayakers to attack them.