Bernard Miles

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An Afghan outlaw finally saves a British officer at the cost of his own life. On the mountainous frontier between British India and Afghanistan, circa 1860s, Zarak Khan kisses Salma, the youngest wife of his father, Haji Khan. Outraged, his father orders Zarak to be flogged to death but spares his life at the urging of an elderly Mullah. Zarak now leaves his village and becomes a notorious outlaw, prompting the British to assign a Major Ingram to capture him. Zarak and Ingram have several encounters, developing a grudging respect for each other. When Ingram is captured by Ahmad, one of Zarak's rivals, Zarak risks his life to save the British officer. —dinky-4 of Minneapolis

In 1841, a sailor named Ishmael (Richard Basehart) arrives in the New England town of New Bedford, Massachusetts to find work on a whaling ship. Due to a shortage of local lodgings, he is forced to share his room at the inn with a Pacific Islander and harpooner named Queequeg (Friedrich Von Ledebur), whom he befriends after a tense first meeting. Queequeg did not know that he was sharing his room with Ishmael and attacks him when he finds Ishmael in his bed. The owner of the Inn Peter Coffin (Joseph Tomelty) helps straighten the matter out. Ishmael learns that as an outsider, he needs permission from the sailors of New Bedford to join a whaling crew. As the whaling rights belong to the natives of the town. Officers Stubb and Flask grant him the permission when Ishmael agrees to their rights over any profits from whaling. The town church is littered with epitaphs of crews and sailors lost to whale attacks over the years. The next morning, the two of them join the crew of Pequod (They were attracted to the ship as it was adorned with all sorts of ivory, skulls and bones from whale hunting) under the command of Captain Ahab (Gregory Peck), who is obsessed with hunting and killing a legendary, white-skinned whale named Moby Dick, who was responsible for severing Ahab's left leg. Peleg (Mervyn Johns) questions Ishmael's desire to join a whaling ship as he was in the merchant service before and has never thrown a harpoon at a whale. Peleg offers Ishmael a 300th part of the profits when Bildad (Philip Stainton) wanted to offer him only a 777th part. Queequeg is offered 60th part of the profits due to his harpooning skills. The ship is loaded with supplies and readied for departure. Just before their departure, Ishmael and Queequeg encounter a man named Elijah (Royal Dano), who delivers an ominous warning about Ahab and that all but one of the crew who follow him will find their deaths on this voyage. Elijah says that the whale marked Ahab's soul. He says that the crew will smell land where there is no land and that Ahab would fall, but then rise within the hour. And after that all but one crew will perish. Bildad and Peleg get off the ship before it sails. The ship carries Carpenter (Noel Purcell), Pip the cabin boy (Tamba Allenby), Daggoo (Edric Connor), Tashtego (Tom Clegg) (harpooner) and Perth the blacksmith (Ted Howard). As the ship casts off, and for some time afterwards, Ahab remains unseen until he finally appears to align his crew to the hunt for Moby Dick and sets course for the Bikini Atoll, where the whale is said to dwell. While the crew reaps a fair bounty of oil on their journey, Ahab's obsession with Moby Dick remains foremost in his mind. The crew learns that Moby Dick was the whale that took Ahab's leg. Ahab works the crew into a frenzy and makes them take an oath to hunt Moby Dick. The crew know that Moby Dick has killed over 1000 men so far, has a crooked jaw and has many harpoons stuck in its hump. Whaling process requires boats with harpooners to be lowered into the water. The boats are rowed next to the whales, where harpoons are thrust into the whale and the boats are attached to the harpoons with rope. The boats then follow the whale and continue to harpoon it till it sprouts blood and dies. The carcass is recovered and brought aboard to strip off the meat and the whale oil. The bones are stripped and thrown back into the sea. The oil from one whale can power 1000 homes for a year. Ahab has studied the migration patterns of the whales by looking at old shipping charts and knows the exact location where he can find the whales. Yet, he first wants Moby Dick. Ahab says that he predicts to find Moby Dick at Bikini Atoll as per his study of the charts. When the captain Boomer (James Robertson Justice) of a passing ship, who recently lost his hand to the white whale, informs Ahab of Moby Dick's latest whereabouts near the coast of Madagascar, Ahab immediately breaks off a particularly successful hunt, unsettling his crew, particularly his chief mate Starbuck (Leo Genn) (2nd in command). Starbuck argues that hunting a dumb brute that acted out of instinct is not wise. But Ahab is adamant that his ego is worth more to him. Starbuck asks his fellow officers Stubb (Harry Andrews) (2nd mate) and Flask (Seamus Kelly) (3rd mate) for help wresting command of the Pequod from Ahab, which the two refuse. As the Pequod nears the atoll, a top-man falls from the ship's mast into the sea and disappears. Right afterwards, the Pequod is stuck in slack water for days. Casting bones to read his future, Queequeg foresees his death and orders the ship's carpenter to make him a coffin, before he sits down to await his demise. When one of the crew prepares to cut Queequeg's skin for fun, Ishmael rises to his friend's defense, prompting Queequeg to break his death reverie and defend Ishmael. Just then, Moby Dick briefly appears before the ship and escapes before the Pequod crew can pursue him. After rowing the ship out of the becalmed area, Ahab resumes the hunt. To motivate the crew, Ahab offers his own 10% of the profits from the entire voyage to the crew if they kill Moby Dick. They encounter the Rachel, another whaler from New Bedford, whose captain, Gardiner (Francis De Wolff), asks Ahab to help search for his son, who was carried off by Moby Dick. Ahab refuses his aid and departs. When the Pequod hits a typhoon, Ahab uses the gale to speed the chase, endangering the ship. Starbuck attempts to kill Ahab in anger but relents when in a rare humane moment Ahab reminisces about his self-destructive obsession for revenge. The ship is stuck by St. Elmo's fire (a type of Northern lights effect), but Ahab douses it and continues hunting for Moby Dick. Right after this conversation, a strange omen portends the fulfillment of Elijah's baleful prophecy (Ahab smells land in the middle of the ocean and the smell was coming from Moby Dick), which Ishmael recounts to Ahab. The captain seems affected but shakes off his doubts when Moby Dick reappears moments later. The Pequod crew sets out in their boats to bring him down. In the chaotic altercation, Moby Dick destroys Ahab's boat, but Ahab climbs onto the whale's back and stabs him until Moby Dick submerges, entangling Ahab in the harpoon lines on his back and drowning him. Starbuck has a chance to abandon the hunt but chooses instead to avenge Ahab. Moby Dick attacks the boats, smashing them and killing the men; he then rams and sinks the Pequod before disappearing. Ishmael, the only survivor, manages to cling onto Queequeg's coffin until he is found and picked up by the Rachel.

At an RAF base the control tower reports one aircraft is missing as a squadron returns from a nighttime sortie. A title screen takes the viewer back 15 hours earlier. Veteran officer George has volunteered for one last mission, he replaces an American sergeant as tail gunner. The crew have their lunch, the officers in the wardroom and the non-coms in their mess. The Yank is upset and gives his $3 nylon stockings to another airman Wellington medium bomber B for Bertie takes off at 21:40 hrs to bomb the Mercedes-Benz plant in Stuttgart. The crew settles in for the long flight. Gunners load their weapons. They joke about German girls, a few familiar with Stuttgart from before the war. They pass over the Dutch coast. Flak guns rock the plane. They pass over the railroad to Cologne and dump a load of leaflets. They fly into searchlights, the gunners shoot down at the lights. They watch a city in flames being bombed. They open the bomb bay doors and lower altitude, drop the load and turn to home. The starboard engine is hit, the navigator plots a straight route home over Mainz. The pilot tries to evade the constant ack-ack. They make it to Holland. Now the port engine dies, they decide to bail out. They plan to follow the rail-line and join up later. The pilot John gives the jump command one by one, he slips out last. All bail out. The plane recovers and flies on by itself. In the morning the crew gather in a wooded area. They have a smoke, George takes command as Bob is missing, John seems to be in over his head. They check a map and look to the coast. George prepares and strips off his uniform tunic. Some local kids arrive, their dog barks. One flyer knows some Dutch and is able to determine the kids are friendly. The kids show their resistance symbol safety pins, and offer to take them to the school marm who knows English. In the village the crew are left in one room while the locals discuss. Els Meerten comes in and introduces herself. She grills them and says no plane has crashed nearby. She asks for proof they are who they say, suspecting they are a German trick. Frank shows a news clipping of his wife's upcoming broadcast. She leaves and they then note the orange flowers and the hidden picture of their queen, indicating their national loyalty. They are taken in to see the others. It's friendly and a pile of food is on the table, the men tuck in and are given Bols aqavit. Everyone wonders where Bob is, Els is worried if the Germans find him. They are 58 km from the coast. The Dutch offer to take them to their Catholic Church, part of the way there, two Brits are hesitant as they are Protestants. The Dutch will also dig up the parachutes and hide them better. A couple of the men are disguised as Dutch women with clogs. George gets a proper suit. They make fake travel papers. The large group bicycles down a road past windmills. A German armored car tears past with a siren. They arrive at church and sit in the pews. A man comes in and passes the word Bob's parachute has been found. A vehicle approaches, noisy Germans are outside. The priest continues the Latin rites as an Officer enters. A woman has a bit of RAF parachute under her skirt, they manage to hide it. The German looks around then leaves without a word. The organist starts up and all sing loudly. They make up another travel pass to be a wedding party. The Aircrew have a nice meal and drinks at a large house. Their host complains about quislings, upset his son is earning money from the traitors, bringing phonograph records to the Germans. The quisling DeJong comes in talking tough. George pulls his gun and the Dutch man is taken prisoner. Outside they hear their anthem playing from the German barracks. De Jong is worried the Germans will be after him for slipping the Dutch records . The older host is happy now realizing his son pulled a trick on both the quisling and the invaders. Another travel pass is made to attend the football game. The crowd surrounds a pitch but a German patrol car announces only 200 can gather. As the crowd mills about the German loudspeaker retracts and allows the Dutch to watch their game. The Brits see their lost mate Bob there. The six ride in the back of a lorry with a cow, they arrive by the North Sea. The truck drives through a heavy fortified area. Jo de Vries meets them to guide, the Germans trust her as an ally. The men sneak in a warehouse loft above a group of singing and laughing Germans. It is a barracks for 200 soldiers. de Vries takes them to her quarters, they drop in from the attic. They all relax, she has a radio and tells them to only open the door to her special V code knock. The men listen to Frank's wife singing on the BBC. The men get dressed in their uniforms. de Vries returns, Frank kisses her hand in thanks. She asks them to see her husband in London, he is an announcer for Radio Orange. She explains they just need to wait for an air raid so they can escape to a rowboat. They have to wait. The next day de Vries dresses up and toasts the men with drinks. Her family motto is We Can Take It. George graciously thanks her on behalf of the crew and promises they will sweep out the Germans. Suddenly the air raid sirens wail, the Germans run for shelter. Jo heaps scorn on the Germans wishing the rest of Europe could see how they duck and cover. The crew head downstairs for the rowboat. The Dutch woman needs to distract a couple of Germans. The Brits silently take out another enemy officer arriving in the cellar. George goes and takes out the other two Germans. de Vries gives some final guidance and says she will take care of the three bodies, wishing the Bertie crew good luck. In the dark they row down a river and must pass a guardpoint. The Germans open a swing bridge to let out fishing boats. As the bridge starts to close George gives the order to row, the German guard above whistles away his troubles. He then notices the rowboat and fires his rifle. They make it far enough away but George has been hit. They then make it to a rescue buoy out at sea. Two MTB approach. The Brits have two prisoners in the floating container but think the boats are Germans. It's the RN though, and after some inter-service ribbing they take the buoy in tow to Dover as George is too weak to be moved. Three months later PO George Corbett is OK and assigned to a Lancaster, ready to fly a sortie to Berlin.