Curd Jürgens

The Pre-title teaser shows three different events: first, a British nuclear submarine experiences a serious disruption of power. The captain (Bryan Marshall) looks through the periscope and sees something foreboding, however we do not see what he does. In Moscow, Colonel Gogol (Walter Gotell) hears from M (Bernard Lee) that the British sub has disappeared. Gogol becomes concerned, especially since his own government has lost contact with one of its own subs. He promises the aid of his government and calls his best agent, Anya "XXX" Amasova (Barbara Bach) to investigate. In Austria, James Bond is enjoying a romantic encounter in a remote cabin in the Alps when he's called back to duty by M. He dons his ski gear and leaves, his lover says she needs him to which James replies, "So does England!" As James skis away from the cabin, he's pursued by a group of Russian agents. James is able to evade his attackers and, using a ski pole that doubles as a type of rocket gun, kills one of them, a man who happens to be XXX's lover. Bond approaches a sheer cliff and skis over it, free falling several thousand feet until he opens a parachute decorated with the British Union Jack, escaping his attackers. XXX reports to Gogol in Moscow where she's given her new assignment - the search for missing submarines. Gogol also informs her that her lover was killed in an operation. Amasova is visibly shaken but says she'll dedicate herself to the mission at hand. Bond meets with M at a British naval yard where the mission path for the lost submarine is studied: Bond shows M, the Minister of Defense Frederick Gray (Geoffrey Keen) and others a transparency that shows the route had somehow been stolen. M orders Bond to Cairo on his first lead. In the Mediterranean Sea, two scientists who have developed a sophisticated submarine tracking device, meet with Carl Stromberg (Curt Jürgens), a rich and powerful businessman who lives in a specially designed city, Atlantis, that can submerge beneath the ocean surface. He thanks the two scientists for their invention, but before he allows them to leave, he deals with his secretary, who has stolen information from him; she enters his elevator & Stromberg opens the floor dropping her into a large water tank where a tiger shark eats her alive. As the two men leave by helicopter, Stromberg activates a bomb that destroys it and kills them. Stromberg also meets with two hired assassins, the fat Shandor and the tall Jaws (Richard Kiel), so named because he has steel teeth. Bond arrives in Egypt, meeting with a old contact Sheikh Hosein (Edward De Souza), an Arab sheikh and old friend of Bond; they were schoolmates at Cambridge, who tells him to find a man named Fekkesh (Nadim Sawalha). Bond goes to the man's house where a woman tells him Fekkesh isn't home and refuses to reveal his location. As Bond kisses her, Shandor tries to shoot him. Bond uses the woman to take the bullet and chases after Shandor, fighting with him & dangling him over the edge of the house's roof. He forces the assassin to reveal Fekkesh's location and then lets him fall off the building, killing him. Bond goes to Giza to meet Fekkesh at the pyramids where he sees XXX has already found the man. While the pyramid light show goes on, Fekkesh notices Jaws standing to the side. He quickly leaves, Jaws in pursuit. Jaws corners the man and kills him with a bite to his neck. Jaws also escapes Bond. In order to continue the investigation, Bond must meet with a man named Max Kalba (Vernon Dobtcheff) at his club in Cairo. Amasova also meets him there and the two meet with Kalba to obtain a valuable microfilm containing designs for the submarine tracking system that may have been used to abduct the missing boats. Kalba prepares to negotiate a price with the two government's agents when he's called away to the phone. Jaws kills him in the phone booth after obtaining the microfilm. Bond and XXX stow away in Jaws' van and he drives out to a site of ruins in the desert. The two agents chase Jaws through the ruins, finally cornering him and obtaining the microfilm. Bond and XXX escape in Jaws' vehicle and make it to a boat on the Nile. Bond examines the microfilm on board without Amasova's knowing and the two settle down for the journey. XXX renders Bond unconscious and takes the microfilm. Bond recovers and reports to another site of ruins where he finds Amasova, Gogol and M waiting. With the assistance of Q (Desmond Llewelyn), they examine the microfilm, which is worthless, a conclusion that Bond came to when examining it on the boat. However, they do find evidence of a symbol hidden in it that identifies Carl Stromberg. Their superiors order Bond and Amasova to investigate on the island of Sardinia, where Stromberg lives. The two travel there by train in a scene that recalls the train ride in From Russia With Love. They are attacked by Jaws, however, Bond is able to fight him off and expel him from the train. Upon arriving in Sardinia, Bond and XXX meet Q who has brought Bond's car, a Lotus Esprit. The two meet with Stromberg's assistant, Naomi (Caroline Munro), who takes them out to Atlantis. Bond poses as a marine biologist and meets with Stromberg, who tells him of his love of the sea and how an underwater city (like the model he has in his private chamber) may be the only hope for the future of humanity. As they leave, Naomi is telling Anya about Stromberg's largest ship, a supertanker named the Liparus. Bond remarks that the design of her bow is unusual. As they speed away in Bond's Lotus, they are attacked by Stromberg's men, led by Jaws. Bond is able to throw off their pursuit using the car's defenses. They are also attacked by Naomi in a helicopter. As the chase continues, Bond drives off the end of a pier and converts his car to a small submarine. He uses a small missile to destroy Naomi's helicopter, killing her. He proceeds to Atlantis, now submerged. Unable to find anything conclusive from outside, they prepare to leave and are attacked by several frogmen and mini-subs. Bond destroys them all with the Lotus' defenses, however, they are forced to surface on a beach when the Lotus is damaged by an underwater mine. Back at their hotel, the two plan their next moves. When Bond lights one of Anya's cigarettes, she notices that the lighter he uses is from the city near where her lover was killed. She confronts Bond on the issue, to which Bond replies that he acted in self-defense when he killed the man. Anya vows revenge as soon as their current mission is over. The two spies next find themselves on an American submarine monitoring the Liparus. While surveying it, the sub is rendered inoperable and is swallowed by the Liparus; the bow of the Liparus opens, revealing a large submarine dock inside. The crew are forced out of the sub and taken prisoner. Bond and XXX are identified almost immediately and are also taken prisoner. Stromberg plans to use the nuclear missiles aboard both the American and Russian subs to ignite a nuclear war between the superpowers. The resulting nuclear holocaust will destroy the surface world, leaving Stromberg the opportunity to rule an underwater kingdom. Stromberg departs for Atlantis with XXX, leaving his crew to begin the assault. Bond escapes before he can be imprisoned and frees the British, Russian and American sailors. They lead an assault on the Liparus' bridge, successfully transferring the coordinates of each submarine to the other, causing them to destroy each other. The remainder of the crews board the British sub and escape the Liparus before it explodes and sinks. They set course for Atlantis, which has been ordered to be destroyed. Bond argues that Anya is still on Atlantis and should be rescued first. He is given a wet-bike (an early Jet-Ski) and arrives at Atlantis ahead of the sub. Searching for Anya, he encounters Jaws and outwits him, using an electromagnetic crane to seize his metal teeth and drop him into the shark tank. The shark is no match for it's namesake; Jaws quickly bites and kills it. Bond next finds Stromberg in his massive dining room. Stromberg attempts to kill Bond with a harpoon gun located under the dining table but misses. Bond returns fire, hitting the villain in the chest, killing him. Bond finds Anya in a torture room slowly filling with water. The two escape from Atlantis in a pod that surfaces. Jaws himself is also seen escaping the stricken Atlantis and swims off. The escape pod is found by a British vessel which captures it. M, Minister of Defense Gray and Moneypenny find the two agents in the midst of a romantic encounter inside.

In London in the early 1900s reporter Sonya Winter (Diana Rigg) is researching the possibility of assassins using newspaper articles that serve as signals to high-profile murders that have been occurring. Winter shocked to find that businessman Ivan Dragomiloff (Oliver Reed) runs an assassination bureau, an organization that, for a price, will kill anyone in the world, but mostly certain high-profile transgressors. Sonya is a staunch supporter of womans rights and as a way of making a political statement that she can report in her newspaper, she offers to pay Ivan an enormous amount of money if he will have his bureau kill him. Ivan readily agrees thinking that the stunt will be good public relations and a boost to his business. But Lord Bostwick (Telly Savalas) wants control of the business Ivan has established and attempts to make sure that the contract is fulfilled and Ivan taken out of the way. As Winter follows Dragomiloff to report on his eventual demise, they fall in love and she finds herself reversing her feelings about his bureau, but it may be too late to avoid the onslaught of assassins.

The film opens during the Battle of France in May 1940, with RAF pilots evacuating a small airfield in advance of the German Blitzkrieg. The pilots, along with British and French military, leave just as German aircraft arrive and execute a heavy strafing attack. RAF Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding (Laurence Olivier), realizing that an imminent invasion of Great Britain will require every available aircraft and airman to counter it, stops additional aircraft being deployed to France so that they are available to defend Britain. The camera looks over of the deserted beaches of Dunkirk while the BBC relays British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's declaration that "what General Weygand called the battle of France is over, the Battle of Britain is about to begin". Albert Kesselring arrives to inspect a large German airfield in captured France. Hundreds of Heinkel bomber aircraft are stationed under his command. Luftwaffe commanders are stunned when the Fuhrer informs them that the British are not their "natural enemy" and delays their attack while attempting a diplomatic settlement. In neutral Switzerland, the German ambassador (Curt Jürgens) officially proposes new peace terms to his British counterpart (Ralph Richardson), stating that continuing to fight the "masters" of Europe is hopeless. The Briton replies that his country will fight on. In England, commanders celebrate their good fortune, using the delay to build up their strength and continually train their pilots and ground controllers. The wait finally ends when Luftwaffe pilots receive orders to move to the front, where troops are preparing for a sea-borne invasion. The campaign begins with the Luftwaffe launching an early morning assault on "Eagle Day". The plan is to destroy the RAF on the ground before they have time to launch their Spitfire and Hurricane fighters. The Luftwaffe is aware of the British radar installations, and plan to attack them with their Stuka dive bombers. The fighter pilots question this, wondering if it is better if the British are warned by radar and come up to fight, where they can be shot down. Eagle Day proves highly successful, knocking two radar stations out of action and heavily bombing a number of the British airfields. British losses are relatively light, but the RAF is in the process of building its strength, and many of the pilots who lack combat experience are shot down. The airfields are heavily damaged, with many aircraft destroyed on the ground, and their ability to repair and rearm seriously affected. Adding to the RAF's problems is a battle between the commanding officers of 11 Group, Keith Park (Trevor Howard), and 12 Group, Trafford Leigh-Mallory (Patrick Wymark). 12 Group is tasked with protecting 11 Group's airfields while 11 Group meets the enemy, but in raid after raid 12 Group aircraft are nowhere to be seen. Called to meet Dowding, Leigh-Mallory explains that the "Big Wing" tactic takes time for form up, while Park complains that the tactic simply isn't working. Dowding ends the debate by pointing out it makes little difference; the problem is not the tactics but a critical shortage of pilots. Dowding wearily remarks, "We're fighting for survival, and losing". The turning point occurs when a squadron of German bombers becomes lost in bad weather at night and drops bombs on London. In retaliation, the RAF launches an attack on Berlin. Though the damage is negligible, Adolf Hitler is enraged, and publicly orders London to be razed. Hermann Goring (Hein Riess) arrives in France to personally lead the attack, confident that the end of the battle nears. Their first attack skirts the RAF, who are still defending their airfields to the south, and they bomb unopposed. Nighttime attacks follow, and London burns. Meanwhile, to supplement Commonwealth forces, the RAF has been forming units of foreign pilots who have escaped German-occupied countries; the main difficulty is their lack of English-language skills. While on a training flight, a Free Polish squadron accidentally runs into a flight of German bombers without escort. Ignoring the commands of their British training officer, they peel off one by one and shoot down several of the bombers. Park rewards them by elevating them to operational status, leading Dowding to do the same for the Canadian and Czech squadrons as well. While discussing the day's events, Park and Dowding examine the German switch to London. Given a respite, Park notes that he will be able repair his airfields and bring his squadrons back to full strength. Dowding adds that 12 Group units north of London are now all within range, while enemy fighters are at the extreme edge of their own range. He concludes that "turning on London could be the German's biggest blunder." The next German daytime raid is met by a massive response; watching his formations build up in 11 Group's operations room, Wing Commander Willoughby (Robert Flemyng) wryly states "this should give them something to think about." RAF fighters are arranged into large groups and attack with all force, overwhelming the Germans and breaking up their raid. Goring is incensed, ordering his fighters remain with the bombers, an order the pilots hate. Losses continue to mount on both sides. The climactic air battle of 15 September 1940 arrives, with Winston Churchill in attendance at 11 Group's operations room. In the underground bunker, British ground control personnel order every squadron into the air to meet the massive attack. Intense combat over the London sky follows, with both sides taking heavy losses. The outcome is so confused that Dowding refuses to pass comment on the events. The next day the RAF anxiously await a raid that never comes. Two German anti-aircraft gunners, who had earlier protected a French port teeming with Kriegsmarine vessels and landing barges, now observe a deserted harbor basin. Goring leaves the front, accusing his commanders of betrayal. As the campaign draws to a close, the words of Winston Churchill appear onscreen: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

After being discredited as a coward, a 19th century seaman lives for only one purpose: to redeem himself. James Burke, after distinguishing himself as a midshipman in the British merchant marine, rapidly rises to the rank of executive officer, second in command of a ship. A broken foot necessitates that he be put ashore to heal. After his recovery, the very proud Jim - his pride rooted in his competence, which had made him a highly respected and admired naval officer - signs on as the executive officer of the Patna, a rusty tub manned by a third-rate crew overseen by a barbarous captain, that is transporting a group of Muslim pilgrims to Mecca. During a severe storm that causes the unseaworthy ship to founder, Jim abandons ship with the rest of the white crew without even lowering the other lifeboat for the passengers. The fleeing crew are prepared to swear they saw the Patna sink with all its passengers; however, in what Jim believes is a cosmic joke upon himself, it is revealed when they get into port on their lifeboat that the Patma did not sink but had been salvaged by a French vessel. In the ensuing inquiry that he himself sought to do penance for his sins (the ultimate sin for a naval officer being to abandon ship particularly when passengers or crew are still on-board), Jim is admonished after confessing his cowardice, chastised for bringing shame upon those to whom he belongs, the British merchant marine. His chief judge asks him why he did not "bury himself 20 feet deep" rather than seek the inquiry and humiliate himself and all professional British sailors. Jim does succeed in "burying himself 20 feet deep" by becoming a drifter and common laborer in various southeast Asian ports, though he never can completely escape into anonymity. The burden of his sin follows him everywhere. Racked by guilt over abandoning his ship, the proud Jim seeks atonement, a second chance, which comes in the guise of running arms and gunpowder to a tribe of indigenous peoples oppressed by a ruthless and brutal warlord. The warlord knows that the difference between a hero and a coward is not as thick as a piece of paper. What will this mean for Jim, now committed to a heroic path for a people whom he does not even know? The man the natives soon call "Lord Jim" is about to face his destiny, which is relentless and inescapable. —Jon C. Hopwood

A commander receives a citation for an attack on Erwin Rommel's headquarters, which is actually undeserved, as the commander is unfit for his job. On top of that, unbeknownst to him, his wife is having an affair with one of his officers. In North Africa during World War II, Major David Brand is assigned to lead a British commando raid into German-held Benghazi to retrieve whatever documents they can lay their hands on at the German headquarters. His number two will be Capt. Jimmy Leith who speaks Arabic fluently and knows Benghazi well. Brand also learns that his beautiful wife Jane and Leith were lovers before the war, creating tension between the two. Brand is untested in battle and freezes at a critical moment, losing the respect of his men. After the raid, the trek back is arduous and takes its toll on the men. It also results in only one of the two senior officers surviving. —garykmcd Unfit commander receives an undeserved citation for an attack on Rommel's headquarters. Unbeknownst to him, his wife was once in love with one of his officers. —frankfob2@yahoo.com