This is a romantic movie set against the back drop of world war two starring Harrison Ford, Christopher Plummer and Leslie Anne Down. Written and Directed by Peter Hyams it is known for the splendid aerial fight sequences.
Set in London, Lieutenant David Halloran meets Margaret Sellinger at a tea stall near Hanover street and soon are attracted to each other. Margaret is very much married to a simple Paul Sellinger who is away at war; and she is attracted to the charismatic Halloran. Soon Halloran and Margaret meet clandestinely and fall rapidly in love irrespective of their other relationship.
Paul Sellinger is with the British intelligence, and is a simple school teacher who needs to prove himself. and is given an assignment of penetrating Nazi German Head quarters inn Lyons in France. He has to photocopy the list of all the double agents active in Britain. The task of delivering him across German lines falls in to the capable hands of Halloran.

The two men are not aware of each other and travel together to France. Here they are shot down and Halloran needs to help Sellinger who is grievously wounded. He agrees to accompany him on the mission and contact French Resistance troops. They get hold of an uniform and soon penetrate the German defenses and get hold of the papers.
But as luck could have it they are betrayed by a collaborator and flee with the papers with the SS hot on their heels. Halloran has worked out that Sellinger is the husband of Margaret and saves him from tight situations. So after many cliff hanger moments Halloran and Sellinger make it through not before Halloran giving up on his love.
Here Margaret in London comes to the conclusion that both the men she loves are in a mission together. Ultimately she manages to reach a wounded Sellinger and Halloran and has to choose between the two. Well no prizes for guessing who the lucky one is. Margaret says her good byes to Halloran and proceeds to look after her husband and her duties. Halloran who loves her so much to let her go, moves down Hanover street to his place.
Released in 1977 this movie was a commercial and critical failure. It is not hard to understand why, because the movie which harps so much on romance glosses over the attraction felt by the lead pair. The initial meeting scenes between the two doomed lovers are very irritating and clichéd that you feel like hitting them to get it over with. It dwells on the duties of husband and wife and its aerial fight sequences. It seems to have a quite a following for the action sequences, but as a romantic movie it is a dud.
Moreover the story is so predictable and moves at a snails pace that you almost feel sorry for Sellinger to have such a wife and friend. I wouldn’t recommend this tale of so called forbidden love, just watch some horror film instead. It will save you from ennui.

Irving Wallace was born in Chicago, to Jewish parents,Bessie and Alexander Wallace, who had Emigrated from Russia. He completed his studies in California and started out as a journalist at a tender age of 15. He studied creative writing at the Williams Institute in Berkley and from the mid-30s he worked as a free-lance correspondent. In 1941 he married Sylvia Kahn; they had two children. Irving Wallace served in the air force during world war two and later collaborated in several movies as a writer. His first book “Sins of Peter Fleming” did not attract much attention. But his second book influenced by the Kinsey report was abest seller. He has been a prolific churner of best sellers and his books have been adapted as major movies. He died on June 29, 1990.
The Seventh Secret is a book on the Nazi past and present with a question mark over the death of Hitler. A well written action thriller, it presents the scenario where Hitler is alive and still heading the SS. Dr. Harrison Ashcroft, a well known historian travels to Germany to excavate the bunker where Hitler has committed suicide. He gets a phone call which informs him that Hitler is alive and well in Germany waiting for the winds to change. But he is killed before he can complete his work. His daughter Emily Ashcroft travels to Germany determined to complete her fathers assignment. She is joined by Rex Foster a dashing Architect, Tovah Levine, a beautiful Mossad agent and Nicholas Kirvov, curator of the Hermitage of Leningrad.

Emily is dogged by unknown assassins as soon as she lands up in Germany and is gallantly saved by Rex Foster. Here Wallace deviates from the plot with the attraction subplot between Emily and Rex. This sexed up encounter take the sheen out of the story. Emily soon in search for clues meets up with Hitler’s dentist who gives her information about a lucky charm worn by Hitler and his latest dental caps which not found by the Russians. Soon with the help of Levine, Kirvov and Foster she comes to the conclusion that Hitler had survived the War and used the death of his double to blind fold the world.
Soon the plot unravels with the disappearance of Emily who seems to have been kidnapped. Foster looking for clues in the sixth bunker comes across a thin crack which on further investigation reveals to be the opening to the seventh bunker. There he finds Emily who informs him that it leads to a cafe run by Evelyn Hoffman. Foster drugs Evelyn who spills the truth that she in fact is Eva Brown, the wife of the German despot. Hitler did survive the war and was waiting for the opportune moment to assume power and unite Germany. He died on the same year as JFK and Evelyn has assumed the command of the Nazi’s. The story further throws in astonishing details of Hitler’s child who leads a peaceful life. Well all this digging for truth is useless because, the entire bunker detonates and Eva and her child escape. So with the proof gone Emily and Rex have only each other to cling to.
The story is loosely written with lot of loopholes fort the reader to latch on. The premise is good but the details are jarring. It is difficult to accept that the proof uncovered by the protagonists are not found by the leading investigative agencies. But still worth your free time if you have a lots of it.

This movie directed by Jeremy Kagan starred Henry Wrinkler and Sally field. The other notable name was Harrison Ford who played a disturbed Vietnam veteran before his big box office draw days. This movie portrays the angst and depression faced by the veterans who are forgotten after the pageantry of war.
Jack Dunne played by Henry Wrinkler is a Vietnam veteran who is haunted by the depressive memories of the war. He is confined to a mental asylum from where he breaks out to go on a journey in search of his war time buddies. The film starts with a clownish Dunne pottering around in Times Square, where he tries to stop a sergeant in enlisting some kids. He is sent back to the asylum from which he breaks out to go on a road trip. He plans to establish a worm farm along with his veteran buddies.
Dunne the clown meets the Miss proper, Carol Bell who is also in the bus just to think about her engagement. She is unsure about her goals and about her relationship. Dunne initially gets on her nerves by his happy go lucky ways but soon Carol develops a soft corner for Dunne. She soon supports and encourages him in his ventures. And Dunne confides his plans and fears to her.

But the world around them has its horrors from which even they are not immune. Dunne reaches each buddy who has fallen prey to depression, sadness, suicides and disappearances and he just cannot take it any more. His dreams of a worm farm above all a shared world with his comrades in arms are in tatters. Only Carol who comes to the reality that she does not love her fiancée anymore is with him.
Harrison Ford plays a small part as his distant buddy Ken Boyd who is a stock car driver who is in his extreme mania keeps a stolen machine gun in his vehicle. A tender moment happens with friends when they share once again their friendship by building a small rabbit cage. But largely the film belongs to Wrinkler who had immortalized himself as “Fonzie” in the TV sitcom Happy Days. Both Sally Field and Henry Wrinkler with this movie move on to the serious actor roles.
The most memorable part of the movie is the song which plays at the ending – “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas. For many the movie is worth watching for this haunting rock melody and the recent DVD raised quite a storm for editing out this song. This movie is considered one of the war time classics and earned Henry Wrinkler a Golden Globe nomination.
All said and done this movie moves the viewer to the plight of men who have demons raging within them, men who fought the worst things in life, men who see others die, men who have to kill to survive and men who survived to be haunted by brutal memories. A movie for the real world even today.

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. MacLean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Floodgate is the second book of Alistair MacLean to be set in Holland. The first was puppet on the chain which dealt with the Netherlands underground drug mafia. He brings in the familiar detective Peter van Effen who continues his sleuthing in this book.
Schipol airport in Amsterdam is flooded and the planes are floating around aimlessly. The dykes which kept the north sea out has been breached and the sea has devoured Schipol completely and the authorities are completely baffled. Peter Van Effen, the detective par excellence is brought in by the authorities. Soon FFF, an Irish Liberation force calls in claiming responsibility and threatens to carry on more strikes against the dykes. This pours in the panic as a breach through the dykes would submerge Holland completely under water.

Van Effen goes in to action and checks in all the employees of the airport. He suspects informants among the staff would have helped the terrorist. In the mean time the terrorist have acquired nuclear weapons and threaten to detonate them in the sea triggering a tsunami to submerge Holland.
He is ably assisted by beautiful assistant Annemarie Meijer, an heiress to a large fortune and other beautiful women. Van Effen is very close with to the dreaded underground gang the Krakers and enlist their help to combat the terrorist. Soon the game starts to outwit the terrorists. The FFF has to be stopped for the interest of Holland.
Soon the action hottens up with Agnelli the head of the Krakers gang along with his brothers infiltrate the gang and pass on information to Van Effen. Soon many operatives like Anne Marie and Marie are captured and held for ransom. The leader of the terrorist Samuelson is supposedly an earl who is motivated by revenge for the killing of his sons. Sometimes you feel that MacLean just awakens sympathies for his character even when he planning in human ways to kill.
But the ultimate action is ingenious, although a little tame for such a grand operation. Van Effen successfully gases all the terrorist unconscious and arrest all of them and rescue the hostages. Anne Marie and he predictably fall in love with each other and walk in to the sunset.
This may not be MacLean’s best books of the time but the plot is the winner. A very cleverly thought out action plan with with a tame ending is Floodgate. Still I would recommend it for its sheer clever storyline from MacLean.