War Movie Theatre

For the second week running, we're with Australian troops, this time in the 1941 defence of Tobruk. Desert Rats took its name from a different unit, and quite a few liberties with the history, but it also delivered a some terrific scenes of commandos sneaking through the enemy lines on do-or-die missions, and caught Richard Burton as he was on the brink of stardom. And then of course there's James Mason, James Masoning. Next week: Malta Story.

Peter Weir's 1981 Gallipoli set both him and Mel Gibson on a path to Hollywood glory, and also helped establish the popular narrative for a campaign that is crucial to Australia's national identity. Which is hardly a surprise, as it's one of the greatest films about the Great War. Even though -- or because -- it actually doesn't feature that much war. Rob and Duncan are joined by Chris Kempshall, historian of the First World War and Star Wars (though not both at once), and consultant on the forthcoming Gallipoli game, to discuss why the film is a great teaching aid, why posh Aussies sounded just like Brits in 1915, and why synth music was the obvious soundtrack for a 100m race in 1981 movies.Trigger warning: This podcast contains references to both England and Australia batting performances in the first Ashes test that some listeners may find distressing.Next week: The Desert Rats.

A beloved British hero, an evil German, a super-weapon, and... a time-travelling 1980s New York executive? How did everyone get it so wrong when it came to putting WW1 flying ace Biggles on the big screen? It was supposed to be a rival to Raiders of the Lost Ark, then it was going to be the new Back to the Future. In the end it was a war crime. And that's before we get to the music. Rob and Duncan are joined by Biggles fanboy Mark Wallace to discuss what might have been, why Biggles stories are far tougher than many people understand, and why a fictional pilot played a real role in the Battle of Britain.Next week: Gallipoli.

Is this the war movie that explains all war movies? Rob and Duncan watch the first version of All Quiet On The Western Front, made barely a decade after the First World War ended. Somehow, it turns out to be a chance to talk about Starship Troopers again.[Apologies for a fat-finger error that led Rob to delete the first five minutes of this episode when we first uploaded it. All fixed now, we hope, and Duncan is working on a suitable punishment.]Next week, we continue Great War Month with Biggles.

Live from the Imperial War Museum's Podcast Festival, we kick off Great War Month by watching Sam Mendes's men-with-a-mission trench-running bonanza, 1917, with John Crace of the Guardian. Is this the operation that changed the course of the Great War? Should they have searched that farmhouse? Might there, in fact, be a better way to get the message through? All this and more.

Adored by Stanley Kubrick and studied at the Pentagon, 1966's The Battle of Algiers is a film quite unlike any other. Is it a guide to how to run an insurgency, or how to fight one? Supported by the newly independent Algerian government, it doesn't shy away from the violent realities of the independence movement's terrorist campaign. There's never been anything quite like it.Next week, we'll be watching 1917, if we can successfully record our appearance at the Imperial War Museum's podcast festival.

Is this the film that changed the course of the SAS? Helicopters on the roof as we watch some of the worst spying in cinema history, followed by some of the best embassy-storming. Released as "The Final Option" in the US, this is the film that failed to turn Lewis Collins into James Bond. We're joined by Paul Bavill of the History Rage podcast, and he's not even the angriest person featured. That turns out to be listener Russell Phillips, who got in touch to complain about one scene in the film before we'd even recorded the episode. You can read his blog on the film here. Next week: The Battle of Algiers.

This week, we're hunting Nazis through Canada as we watch Powell and Pressburger's 1941 breakthrough movie 49th Parallel. Would the submarine crew on the run have made it further if they hadn't felt the need to kill everyone who was rude about Hitler? And what was the frankly appalling reason the US censor demanded so many cuts? We're joined by Terry Stiastny, author of Believable Lies: The Misfits Who Fought Churchill's Secret Propaganda War.Next week, we're storming the US embassy in Who Dares Wins.

Zut alors! This week we're popping over the Channel to watch the Frenchest war movie ever made, the true story of the frantic arguments on both sides about how to save - or destroy - the city. Featuring effortlessly cool members of the Resistance, battles of bicycles, and a furious Fuhrer. Rob and Duncan are joined by former Labour party policy man Karim Palant, whose entire street WhatsApp group was mobilised to find a cable that would let him watch his DVD. Next week, we're off to Canada to watch 49th Parallel.