GUNS OF NAVARONE, THE 149
bomb- proof caves on Navarone. The Allied forces then bring together a group of
six operatives to land on Navarone and neutralize the weapons. Major Roy Frank-
lin (Anthony Quayle) leads the team, made up of Franklin’s best friend, Corporal
Miller (David Niven), a bomb expert; Captain Keith Mallory (Gregory Peck), a spy
and mountaineer; Greek Col. Andrea Stavrou (Anthony Quinn); Greco- American
Spyros Pappadimos ( James Darren), a native of Navarone; and “Butcher” Brown
(Stanley Baker), an engineer and knife expert. Posing as fishermen from Greece
aboard the Maria, a small fishing boat, they make their way across the Aegean Sea
to Navarone, killing the sailors on a German patrol vessel when it attempts to board
their vessel. During the sea voyage, Mallory tells Franklin that Stavrou plans to
murder him after the war is over as retribution for mistakenly killing Stavrou’s
spouse and children. The soldiers shipwreck on the island of Navarone during a
tempest, and Mallory brings the crew up a steep cliff to safety. Franklin falls dur-
ing the climb and injures his leg, which eventually becomes gangrenous. Once in
the mountains, Franklin resolves to commit suicide so as not to be a burden on
his comrades but Mallory saves Franklin by telling him a lie, claiming that their
orders have changed and the Navy will attack the Navarone coastline, far from the
gun emplacements. The unit meets up with some local re sis tance combatants: Spy-
ros’s sister Maria (Irene Papas) and her friend Anna (Gia Scala), who became mute
after being tortured by the Germans. The troops are then taken prisoner while look-
ing for a doctor to assist Franklin. Stavrou makes a scene during their interroga-
tion, giving his comrades time to overtake their enemies. They get away using
German uniforms, moving on without Franklin in the hopes that he will be treated
for his injuries. The Germans soon inject Franklin with scopolamine (aka “Dev il’s
Breath,” a mind control drug) and he tells them the incorrect information supplied
by Mallory, as anticipated; the main fort is emptied to prepare for the assault. After
invading Navarone, Miller finds that the majority of his bombs have been com-
promised, possibly by Anna. The unit questions Anna, and she admits that she is
not mute, but is actually a German in for mant working towards her own release.
Mallory goes to kill her, but Maria beats him to it. The team splits up. Mallory and
Miller make a move towards the weapons while Stavrou and Spyros come up with
diversions throughout the town and Marian and Brown procure a boat to aid their
escape. As the mission proceeds, Spyros and Brown are killed. Mallory and Miller
are able to break into the gun emplacement, but mistakenly trip an alarm as they
close the doors to the cave area. Miller rigs the guns with explosive devices and
places even more explosives below the weapons on an ammunition hoist, with a
trigger device set into the hoist’s wheels. German soldiers force their way into the
gun emplacement, but Miller and Mallory are able to escape by swimming to the
boat stolen by Marian and Brown. Stavrou, badly injured, is lifted onto the boat by
Mallory, which erases all ill will between them. The Germans notice the explosives
on their weapons and choose to send their shells towards the Allied forces, but as
the guns fire, the ammunition hoist falls low enough to trip the hidden explosives.
The fortress blows up, along with all of the weapons housed within it. Mallory’s unit
meets up with the other British forces, but Stavrou opts to go back to Navarone with
Maria. Miller and Mallory go back home, glad of their successful mission.