The previous comment on this indeed very fine and intense movie has to be rectified in at least one important aspect: fortunately enough it DOES exist on VHS, more particularly in the series "British Classics Collection". For one or another strange reason though, the manufacturer of this video labeled it as "Crime", while it rather is a "Political action thriller" (even if we don't get much ideological explanations about the motives of the saboteurs.)
After blowing up a ship at London Docks, a group of (communist) saboteurs decide to hit a far more important target, the Battersea Power Station.(For those not acquainted with this tall building which provided grateful Londoners with electricity during the Blitz, it is that somewhat sinister looking power plant used on the cover of Pink Floyd's "Animals" LP from 1977. The band's promotion stunt of attaching a gigantic pig-shaped balloon to one of the chimneys became a quite famous one)
The idea behind the raid against Battersea is of course to destabilize temporarily the City, by provoking a large scale power cut. Scotland Yard in the meantime has found evidence on board of the SS Asia Star which clearly indicates that the explosion was not an unfortunate accident, but a deliberate act of sabotage. Bit by bit, Special Branch manages to close in on the saboteurs. In a very fascinating and intense finale, a large scale battle between the cops and the saboteurs takes place inside the "heart" of Battersea.
It's really a fine action movie with a staccato rhythm, taking place in and around the superb location of an almost mythical building, that somehow managed to survive several attacks by Heinkel and Dornier bombers. Ben Vanhees Berchem Antwerp Belgium
After blowing up a ship at London Docks, a group of (communist) saboteurs decide to hit a far more important target, the Battersea Power Station.(For those not acquainted with this tall building which provided grateful Londoners with electricity during the Blitz, it is that somewhat sinister looking power plant used on the cover of Pink Floyd's "Animals" LP from 1977. The band's promotion stunt of attaching a gigantic pig-shaped balloon to one of the chimneys became a quite famous one)
The idea behind the raid against Battersea is of course to destabilize temporarily the City, by provoking a large scale power cut. Scotland Yard in the meantime has found evidence on board of the SS Asia Star which clearly indicates that the explosion was not an unfortunate accident, but a deliberate act of sabotage. Bit by bit, Special Branch manages to close in on the saboteurs. In a very fascinating and intense finale, a large scale battle between the cops and the saboteurs takes place inside the "heart" of Battersea.
It's really a fine action movie with a staccato rhythm, taking place in and around the superb location of an almost mythical building, that somehow managed to survive several attacks by Heinkel and Dornier bombers. Ben Vanhees Berchem Antwerp Belgium