Operation Snatch

For "Operation Snatch", the seizure of Doukhobor children by Canadian authorities, see Freedomites

Operation Snatch
Directed by	Robert Day
Written by	Alan Hackney Len Heath John Warren
Story by	Paul Mills
Produced by	Jules Buck
Starring	Terry-Thomas George Sanders Lionel Jeffries Jocelyn Lane
Cinematography	Geoffrey Faithfull
Edited by	Bert Rule
Music by	Ken Jones
Distributed by	Regal Films International (UK)
Release date	March 1962 (1962-03)(UK)
Running time	87 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Operation Snatch (also known as Top Secret ^[1] ) is a 1962 British comedy film starring Terry-Thomas and George Sanders and directed by Robert Day. ^{[1] [2] [3]} It was written by Alan Hackney, Len Heath and John Warren from a story by Paul Mills.

Plot

The story takes place in Gibraltar, and is based on a local legend: if the resident Barbary apes were ever to leave, the British would lose Gibraltar. This wartime comedy has Terry-Thomas as the keeper of the apes. When one of the apes goes missing, he is required to go behind enemy lines to capture another one, or be personally responsible for the loss of Gibraltar.

Cast

• Terry-Thomas as Lieutenant Wigg
• George Sanders as Major Hobson
• Lionel Jeffries as Evans
• Jocelyn Lane as Bianca Tabori
• Mark Eden as Mosquito pilot
• Mario Fabrizi as Tall Man
• John Gabriel as Major Frink
• Gerard Heinz as Colonel Waldock
• Bernard Hunter as Captain Baker
• Dinsdale Landen as Captain Wellington
• Howard H. Lang as P.T. Sergeant
• Angus Lennie as Vic
• Jeremy Lloyd as Captain James
• John Meillon as medical officer
• Warren Mitchell as contact man
• Lee Montague as Miklos Tabori
• Nyree Dawn Porter as W.R.A.C. officer
• John Scott as Lieutenant General Hepworth
• Mark Singleton as Prime Minister's secretary
• Graham Stark as soldier
• Michael Trubshawe as Colonel Marston
• James Villiers as Lieutenant Keen
• Ian Whittaker as Dyson
• Ronnie Corbett appears in an uncredited role disguised as a Gibraltar Rock Ape

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Clumsy British farce, in which a badly directed Terry-Thomas endeavours to extract laughs from a wan script which pins its faith in jokes about monkeys, bananas, thickly-accented spies and fatuous British espionage agents." ^[4]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, calling it "enjoyably daft," writing: "There are too many stock characters, but this does have several ridiculously funny scenes." ^[5]

See also

• Barbary macaques in Gibraltar § Legend

References

1. "Operation Snatch". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
2. Crowther, Bosley (25 September 1962). "Screen: Terry-Thomas and Slapstick; Gibraltar Is Setting of 'Operation Snatch' Picture Pits Comedian Against a Thin Plot". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
3. "Operation Snatch (1962)". BFI . Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
4. "Operation Snatch". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 29 (336): 54. 1 January 1962. ProQuest   1305823317.
5. Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 689. ISBN   9780992936440.

External links

• Operation Snatch at IMDb