THEY RAID BY NIGHT (1942)

Norway has been occupied by the Nazis, and the Germans are hunting down members of the Free Norwegians resistance movement. In England, Capt. Robert Owen (Lyle Talbot) is put in charge of a mission to parachute into Norway to free General Heden whom the Nazis are holding in prison. Owen insists on informality and on being called Bob by his two partners, Eric and Harry, and the three parachute into Norway with the cover story of being friends up in the mountains on a vacation. When they are caught by Gestapo agents in the apartment of a resistance fighter, the three commandos turn the tables, tie up the Nazis, and dress in their uniforms in order to enter the prison and free Heden. They wind up hiding out in the woods before meeting a boat which is to take them to England. However, Heden is injured in the escape and Eric goes back into town to find a doctor. He meets his former fiancée Inga; bitter over the death of her father when Eric escaped before the occupation, she's become a collaborator and contacts the Gestapo. Eric is captured and tortured, and eventually tells the Nazis where their rescue boat will be. How many members of our trio will survive, and will Heden get his freedom?

This is a Poverty Row thriller which means the physical production will remind you of an Ed Wood movie—cheap sets and uninspired camerawork. But the proceedings were intriguing enough for me to stick with it, despite some weaknesses in writing. The script feels like it was being written day by day as the movie was being shot. They never really get a chance to use their mountaineers cover story, and the circumstances of Eric's background with Inga are vague. But things move along at a decent clip, and the actors are competent. Talbot, an old pro, was past his prime but does a good job as the chipper American (his character is supposed to be Canadian, but I never bought that), Nordic-looking George Neise (Eric) is believable as the less-experienced freedom fighter, and Charley Rogers (Harry) is used mostly as comic relief with his Cockney accent. June Duprez is Inga, Victor Varconi is the chief Nazi, and Sven Hugo Bork is Dalberg, a German officer who plays in important role in the climax. The occasional background music is silly or inappropriate (often Beethoven trotted in for no reason) but if you like these cheapies, it's worth a viewing. Pictured from left: Rogers, Neise and Talbot. [YouTube]