Just perfect...

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"Operation Amsterdam" from 1959 stars Peter Finch, Alexander Knox, Tony Britton and Eva Bartok in a Rank film based on a true incident. In 1940, there was a British move to get industrial diamonds out of Holland so that the Germans could not make use of them.A British Major (Britton) travels to England with two diamond experts (Knox and Finch) to persuade diamond merchants in Amsterdam to give over their industrial diamonds, which would be brought to England.There is danger all around them, with soldiers, shootings, and bombings everywhere. At a harbor, a young woman, Anna (Eva Bartok) tries to drive into the water to commit suicide after her fiancée's parents are killed, as she blames herself for inadvertently causing their death. The men are able to stop her and make use of her car, and her knowledge of Amsterdam, all the while not sure if they can even trust her. No one, in fact, can trust anyone, since German parachuters are disguised as Dutch soldiers.Jan (Finch's) father, who is a diamond merchant in Amsterdam, appeals to his circle to relinquish their stashes so that the major and the men can bring them to a destroyer on which Churchill is allowing them to travel. The time is short -- will the merchants cooperate? Or have they come a long way for not very much? I found this film very exciting and very moving. The atmosphere was tense throughout. Peter Finch gives a wonderful performance as Jan, and he was so handsome and had good chemistry with the beautiful, mysterious Anna of Bartok. Alexander Knox seemed to be an afterthought, not given much to do.Knowing what the Dutch suffered during the war made this an emotional experience watching the courage of the people who helped the men along the way. This wasn't the officially formed resistance, but an earlier group who didn't want the Nazis in Holland and probably were the core people when the official Resistance began.Highly recommended. I think the story is compelling enough to overcome editing criticisms, the time of release criticisms and the like. Powerful stories are timeless.

Unseen Nazi jackboots are marching into Holland in the darkest days of WWII and Churchill's government is worried about all the industrial diamonds lying around in Amsterdam that could be used for the German war effort. Being British, we're obviously not going to rely on Frenchy to nip across and spirit the city's entire stock away before the invading hordes arrive so we send a rather colourless secret agent in the form of Tony Britton, the son of an Amsterdam diamond merchant (Peter Finch) and another chap who just seems to be along for the ride (Alexander Knox, who looks worrying dispensable throughout but somehow manages to emerge from the entire escapade unscathed).Our unlikely heroes hitch a lift to Amsterdam from a distraught Eva Bartok who has just witnessed her boyfriend's boat being bombed by the Luftwaffe and is about to drive into the harbour waters to look for him. At first they fear she might be a fifth columnist, but she turns out to be a plucky heroine, picking up the machine gun of a fallen resistance fighter to sullenly strafe the enemy at one point.Operation Amsterdam is one of those films that deserves to be better known because it's really quite good. The location photography of an eerily near-deserted Amsterdam is effective, and the tension is ramped up quite nicely until the whole thing seems to run out of steam in the final reel as our heroes make their getaway. The problem is that nobody is really aware that they are in fact getting away because their exploits haven't yet been uncovered. Anyway, when the film isn't testing our heroes it's commenting on the unenvious position in which the City's diamond merchants – many of whom are Jewish and only too aware of the treatment meted out to their creed by the Nazis. One old chap tries to bargain a place on the boat back to Britain for his sick, elderly wife but is gently rebuffed.Perhaps the film's main weakness is the suspicion that something wasn't quite right during post-production. Midway through, the film seems to take a disconcerting leap forward, and suddenly there's little Melvyn Hayes sitting in the back of a car with our fellows. Now where did he come from? A neighbour of hero number three's mum, apparently (so that's why he tagged along), although we're never see this mother-and-son reunion – even though you suspect the scenes were filmed.

The 'flaws' noted above are not really that serious. Firstly, yes the sudden appearance of Willem suggested a cut scene, a frequent occurrence in many movies, owing to pacing and duration considerations - could have been better handled, but it was explained briefly. Secondly, the various groups of Dutch soldiers, some fighting each other, was fully explained several times in the dialogue - the city has been infiltrated with German fifth columnists, and nobody is sure who is friend or foe! In the battle scene by the canal the late arrivals have been sent by the man at the government department, to help the 'good guys'. Thirdly, you are correct that the OFFICIAL Dutch resistance was not yet organised, but the resistance fighters in the story are early volunteers who are trying to hamper the German occupation of Amsterdam, and will no doubt form the nucleus of the resistance movement that would soon follow. So, you see, not really serious flaws at all!

Operation Amsterdam is a pleasant surprise. It has both a strong story and some unusual cinematic touches to keep the viewer interested.The story of the British secret service agents who are sent to Amsterdam to recover industrial diamonds before the German invasion is a familiar one, and their eventual safe escape is predictable enough.What interested me was the atmosphere of fear and bleakness that the producers manage to convey. The empty streets, in bright sunlight; the columns of fleeing people; the confusion of not knowing who are enemies or friends, makes for a better than average effects.Added to this a score made only with drums, and some very abrupt editing that is almost painful to watch, makes this a worthwhile watch.