Slushy wartime weepie which changes (for the better) into an adventure flick in its final third.

barnabyrudge

Still relatively new to the scene, Harrison Ford takes the romantic leading role for this remarkably old-fashioned wartime soap opera. For much of the film Ford looks plainly ill at ease, not all all suited to the slushy love story in which he is participating. Similarly, the director (action specialist Peter Hyams) finds the romantic aspects that dominate the first half of his film difficult to deal with. Instead of creating a convincing on-screen love story, Hyams overdoes things almost to the point of self parody, asking grand gestures of his actors and an absurdly overbearing score of composer John Barry. At the hour mark, there won't be many viewers left with the willpower to remain tuned in. But just as the film threatens to collapse completely, Hyams (who also wrote the film) suddenly shifts his narrative to something that he, and Ford, are much better at. The second half of Hanover Street redeems the film, as it drops the mock-romantic weepie approach and becomes an engaging escape melodrama.

American bomber pilot David Halloran (Harrison Ford) is stationed in England during World War 2. One day during an air raid he meets a beautiful nurse, Margaret Sellinger (Lesley Anne Down), and the pair of them are instantly attracted to each other. Margaret is already married but her relationship with husband Paul (Christopher Plummer) lacks passion and excitement. She is, therefore, swept hopelessly off her feet by her romantic encounter. Halloran's devil-may-care attitude towards his dangerous occupation begins to soften now that he has something to live for, but he is still chosen to fly a British spy over enemy lines as part of a dangerous parachute drop. By the most incredible chance, the spy turns out to be Paul, taking on an audacious raid behind enemy lines in a bold gesture to win back the respect of his wife. When the plane is hit by enemy fire, Halloran and Paul are forced to bail out together deep in enemy country. In an ironic twist of fate, the unwitting love rivals become survival buddies, both relying upon the other to get out of the perilous predicament they are in. They have many adventures as they attempt to steal a document from the Gestapo HQ in Lyon and make it back alive to the woman they love.

This is the only wartime film Hyams has made, and in the later stages he demonstrates a proficiency for the genre that makes one rue his decision to make the film in the mould of a tearjerker. If he had just gone for a full-on wartime thriller - something along the lines of Where Eagles Dare - he might have made a rather good film. Alas, the soppy opening hour cannot be erased from the memory, nor can it be forgiven, and it really does cheapen the whole effect of the film. Down performs quite well under the circumstances, trying hard (and with moderate success) to make her love dilemma involving even though the script defeats her with overwroughtness. But she is the only one who seems to give a damn during the first half - Ford looks totally desperate throughout this section, and Hyams simply lacks the finesse to make it work. Even Plummer cannot do much during the opening hour, his role reduced to that of a boring cuckold with a handful of scenes in which to make his mark. One thing that does work nicely throughout the entire film is the photography (by David Watkin), which captures the desired period feel rather accurately. To summarise, Hanover Street is shamelessly old-fashioned tosh in which the action bits are handled with infinite more conviction than the romantic ones.

score 5/10

barnabyrudge 26 August 2007

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1718800/