| Invasion Quartet | |
| Producer: | Ronald Kinnoch |
| Director: | Jay Lewis |
| Starring: | Bill Travers Spike Milligan |
| Music: | Ron Goodwin |
| Cinematography: | Geoffrey Faithfull Gerald Moss |
| Editing: | Ernest Walter |
| Distributor: | Metro Goldwyn Mayer |
| Runtime: | 91 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Invasion Quartet is a 1961 British World War II comedy-drama film directed by Jay Lewis and starring Bill Travers and Spike Milligan.[1] It was publicised as a parody of The Guns of Navarone.[2]
The plot has similarities to the exploits of Commando Sgt Peter King and Pte Leslie Cuthbertson.
Two wounded officers, one British and one French are deemed unfit and surplus to requirements. They abscond from their hospital and, together with an explosives expert suffering from mental illness, and a Colonel, thought too old to serve in the Army, make their way to France to destroy a long range German artillery piece.
According to MGM records, the film made a loss of $119,000.[3] However in May 1962 MGM's head of British production Lawrence Bachmann claimed the film was in profit.[4]
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Here is a story with almost unlimited possibilities for satire including, as it does, references to all the standard British war film themes, from Kwai to Navarone. Regrettably, its makers have taken the easy way out. Instead of pursuing all the debunking opportunities to their logical conclusion, they have fallen back on well-tried slapstick situations and hoary verbal gags. Even on this level, the production is often forced and heavy and, from a generally ill-directed cast, only Spike Milligan's brand of zany humour emerges reasonably intact. "[5]