Operation Pied Piper
Operation Pied Piper was the code name of the program the British did in World War 2 to get the children out of London and coastal areas and move them into the country during the Battle Of Britain and the Blitzkrieg. Some children had stayed in London. Some operations like this were done in Europe by private individuals to get Jewish refugees out of Axis occupied Europe and Asia. Some children were caught and sent to prison or concentration camps.
These are films ranging from animated musicals, to fantasy, to comedy, to gritty war dramas that deal with this part of WW2: how children lived through that war. I will include both sides of that war. Which one is your favorite? (I will start with the fantasy films showing part of Operation Pied Piper and then move to the more realistic and grittier war dramas.)
Follow the Piper here to discuss the topic.
Live poll: https://www.imdb.com/poll/QweiHZXe138/
These are films ranging from animated musicals, to fantasy, to comedy, to gritty war dramas that deal with this part of WW2: how children lived through that war. I will include both sides of that war. Which one is your favorite? (I will start with the fantasy films showing part of Operation Pied Piper and then move to the more realistic and grittier war dramas.)
Follow the Piper here to discuss the topic.
Live poll: https://www.imdb.com/poll/QweiHZXe138/
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- DirectorAndrew AdamsonStarsTilda SwintonGeorgie HenleyWilliam MoseleyWhile playing, Lucy and her siblings find a wardrobe that lands them in a mystical place called Narnia. Here they realize that it was fated and they must now unite with Aslan to defeat an evil queen.
- DirectorRobert StevensonWard KimballStarsAngela LansburyDavid TomlinsonRoddy McDowallAn apprentice witch, three kids and a cynical magician conman search for the missing component to a magic spell to be used in the defense of Britain in World War II.
- DirectorRobin BuddDonovan CookStarsBlayne WeaverHarriet OwenCorey BurtonIn London during World War II, this is the story of Wendy's daughter, Jane, who is kidnapped by Captain Hook and Peter Pan must come to the rescue.
- DirectorRalph NelsonStarsCary GrantLeslie CaronTrevor HowardDuring World War II, a man persuaded to live on an isolated island and spot aircraft finds himself responsible for a teacher and several students, all female.
- DirectorIrving JacobyStarsPaul AustadTina AustadWilfred BreistrandThis movie is based on a book by Marie McSwigan. It is 1940 in Norway, a neutral, peace-loving country that is invaded by Nazi Germany. A gang of Norwegian children do what Norwegian children like to do best - ski.It was sledding, not ski-ing as the summary states. The novel it is based on is still in print and is based on a true story.
In the back of the book, there is a 3 paragraph article titled “Did This Story Really Happen?” The real facts are that on June 28, 1940, one year after World War 2 started and Norway was invaded by the Nazis (I won’t call them Germans), the Norwegian Freighter Bomma docked at Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. And offloaded a cargo of what back then was $9,000,000 dollars worth of gold bullion. When asked how the gold was smuggled out of Nazis controlled Norway, the Captain told the U.S. officials Norwegian children smuggled the gold on their sleds to the freighter right past the Nazis solders. The captain had refused to name the fjord used for the smuggling in order to protect the children in that area should the Nazis ever learn of how this was done and decide to punish the children of the town. Other than what the Captain told officials that day, no other proof exists that this story is real. - DirectorPaul ShapiroStarsLoretta SwitRobert JoyKen PogueIt is 1943, and the students at a catholic boarding school decide to hide three Jewish children from the Nazis. To save the children, the members of the boarding school will have to find the courage to risk their own lives in the process.This is also based on a book that is still in print, “Twenty and Ten”.
- DirectorIrving PichelStarsMonty WoolleyRoddy McDowallAnne BaxterWhile traveling in France during the Nazi invasion of 1940, an Englishman is entrusted with the care of a group of refugee children.This story is fictional but some historical people really did it.
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsIngrid BergmanRobert DonatCurd JürgensA tenacious British woman becomes a missionary and runs an inn for travelling merchants in China during the Japanese invasion and the tumultuous years leading up to the Second World War.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsMillie PerkinsShelley WintersJoseph SchildkrautDuring World War II, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank and her family are forced into hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsSarah MilesDavid HaymanSebastian Rice-EdwardsBill, a young boy living on the outskirts of London experiences the exhilaration of World War II. During this period, Bill learns about sex, death, love, hypocrisy, and the faults of adults as he prowls the ruins of bombed houses.
- DirectorMark HermanStarsAsa ButterfieldDavid ThewlisRupert FriendThrough the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a German concentration camp, a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsChristian BaleJohn MalkovichMiranda RichardsonA young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during World War II.
- DirectorRoberto BenigniStarsRoberto BenigniNicoletta BraschiGiorgio CantariniWhen an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLiam NeesonRalph FiennesBen KingsleyIn German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
- DirectorBaz LuhrmannStarsNicole KidmanHugh JackmanShea AdamsIn 1939, an Englishwoman inherits a sprawling ranch in northern Australia and reluctantly makes a pact with a stockman to drive 2000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsMeryl StreepKevin KlinePeter MacNicolSophie is the survivor of Nazi concentration camps, who has found a reason to live with Nathan, a sparkling if unsteady American Jew obsessed with the Holocaust.
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsJude LawEd HarrisJoseph FiennesA Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad.I mean Sasha’s sub-story
- DirectorClaude BerriStarsMichel SimonRoger CarelPaul PréboistIn German-occupied France, a Jewish child is sent away from his family and conceals his religious affiliation from the anti-Semitic elderly man that takes care of him.(Suggested by Peter)
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsGaspard ManesseRaphael FejtöFrancine RacetteA French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. Occupying the next bed in the dormitory to the top student in his class, the two young boys begin to form a bond.(Suggested by Peter)
- DirectorRené ClémentStarsGeorges PoujoulyBrigitte FosseyAmédéeA young French girl orphaned in a German air attack is befriended by the son of a poor farmer, and together they try to come to terms with the realities of death.(Suggested by Peter)