Ill Met by Moonlight (Intelligence Service) (Night Ambush)

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Ill Met by Moonlight (Intelligence Service) (Night Ambush) Photos

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Movie Info

Eschewing the Shakespearean original title (it's a quote from A Midsummer Night's Dream), the British Ill Met by Moonlight was released stateside as Night Ambush. This superb Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger concoction is set during World War II on the island of Crete. Dirk Bogarde and David Oxley play Major Paddy Leigh Fermer and Captain Billy Stanley Moss, two British officers whose job it is to kidnap Nazi general Karl Kreipe (Marius Goring) and spirit him off to Cairo. The motive of this mission is to weaken German morale on Crete and to provide hope to the enslaved locals. With the help of a group of resistance fighters, Fermer and Moss manage to trap the general; now they must transport their captive back to their own lines, avoiding German patrols every inch of the way. Originally 104 minutes, Ill Met by Moonlight was cut to 93 minutes by its American distributor. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense
Directed By:

Michael Powell
In Theaters:

Jun 1, 1958 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Aug 16, 2011
Runtime:

104 minutes
Studio:

VidAmerica

Cast

Dirk Bogarde
as Maj. Paddy Leigh-Fermor "Philidem"

Marius Goring
as Gen. Karl Kreipe

David Oxley
as Capt. Billy Stanley Moss

Cyril Cusack
as Sandy

Laurence Payne
as Manoli

Wolfe Morris
as George

Michael Gough
as Andoni Zoidakis

Roland Bartrop
as Micky Akoumianakis

Brian Worth
as Stratis Saviolkis

Paul Stassino
as Yanni Katsias

Adeed Assaly
as Zahari

John Cairney
as Elias

Dimitri Andreas
as Niko

John Houseman

David McCallum

Christopher Rhodes

Christopher Lee
as German officer at dentist's

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Critic Reviews for Ill Met by Moonlight (Intelligence Service) (Night Ambush)

All Critics (2)

Any impression of actuality or of sharp conflict is missing, the direction relying mainly on a coating of naive boisterous humour and the personalities of the leading players.

Feb 4, 2018 | Full Review…

MFB Critics
Monthly Film Bulletin
Exciting WW II drama.

Jun 13, 2009 | Rating: B | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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Audience Reviews for Ill Met by Moonlight (Intelligence Service) (Night Ambush)

Sep 08, 2011

A true story about a group of British agents and Greek resistance fighters performing an audacious operation right under the noses of the cream of the German armed forces. Beautifully played and paced in an endearingly modest and understated British manner this film is something of a classic.... And if anyone doesn't know - the title is a quote is from A Midsummer Night's Dream by another famous Brit.

The S Super Reviewer