The Heroes of Telemark Overview:

The Heroes of Telemark (1965) was a Action - Drama Film directed by Anthony Mann and produced by Benjamin Fisz.

BlogHub Articles:

Anthony Mann's The Heroes of Telemark

By Rick29 on Jan 7, 2019 From Classic Film & TV Cafe

If not for a small band of Norwegian commandos, Adolf Hitler might have had an atomic bomb before the U.S.--leading to a very different outcome for World War II. The Norwegians' exploits form the basis for the fascinating premise of Anthony Mann's The Heroes of Telemark (1965). The film opens in ... Read full article


See all The Heroes of Telemark articles

Quotes from

No Quote for this film.

Facts about

The real mission code-names for the Telemark operations in World War II were Operation Freshman, Operation Grouse and Operation Gunnerside. The raid was originally scheduled for October 1942 but was not conducted until February 1943, fourth months later. Operation Grouse established an advance team of four Norwegians above the hydro plant at the Hardanger Plateau. Operation Freshman was unsuccessful and resulted in the deaths of British paratroopers when gliders crashed and any survivors were captured, interrogated, tortured and shot by the Nazi Gestapo. Its aim was to rendezvous with the Norwegians from Operation Grouse and proceed to and then raid the Vemork hydro station. Operation Gunnerside was the successful second attempt of Operation Freshman.
Although this movie takes liberties with some historical facts, some technical details are surprisingly correct given that it was made 20 years after the war: The car used by the Norwegians is fitted with a "generator" converting wood to natural gas. As petrol was in short supply, civilian cars were not allowed to run on real petrol.
A documentary about the mission called The Real Heroes of Telemark was later made two years shy of forty years after this movie was made. This documentary was apparently made to clear are some of the fictionalization of this movie which portrayed some inaccuracies, variations and differences compared to the events and circumstances of the true World War II Telemark raid.
read more facts about The Heroes of Telemark...
Share this page:
Visit the Classic Movie Hub Blog CMH
Also directed by Anthony Mann




More about Anthony Mann >>
Related Lists
Create a list


See All Related Lists >>
Also released in 1965




See All 1965 films >>
More "World War II" films



See All "World War II" films >>