Attack on the Iron Coast

Cinematic account of Operation Chariot, aka the St Nazaire Raid

In late March, 1942, the Brits concoct an audacious operation to destroy the Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire in German-occupied France, which would involve 611 Royal Naval personnel & commandos in a surprise attack against an embedded German force of 5000. Lloyd Bridges and Andrew Keir star as the key officers in the raid.

"Attack on the Iron Coast" (1968) tackles what has been called ‘The Greatest Raid of All’ and is worthwhile if you don’t mind ‘B’ productions with unconvincing miniatures. I liked how the flick establishes that an operation like this is 78% planning, training, traveling and anticipation and 22% dynamic execution. I’m going by the fact that the actual raid in the movie involves only the final 18 minutes of runtime.

While it can’t compete with WW2 greats from the 60’s like “The Dirty Dozen” and “Where Eagles Dare,” or even quality ones such as “The Devil’s Brigade” or “Anzio,” it nevertheless gives you a good idea on what went down, not to mention keeps the memory of the bold raid alive.

It runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot at Millwall Dock, St Katharine Docks, and the London Docklands, along with studio work done at MGM British Studios in Borehamwood, northwest of London.

GRADE: B-