The B.Z.: “COMPLETE CHAOS IN POLAND – GERMAN FAMILIES FLEE – POLISH SOLDIERS PUSH TO EDGE OF GERMAN BORDER!” The 12-Uhr Blatt: THIS PLAYING WITH FIRE GOING TOO FAR – THREE GERMAN PASSENGER PLANES SHOT AT BY POLES – IN CORRIDOR MANY GERMAN FARMHOUSES IN FLAMES!”
On my way to Broadcast House at midnight I picked up the Sunday edition (August 27) of the Voelkischer Beobachter. Across the whole top of the front page were inch-high headlines:
WHOLE OF POLAND IN WAR FEVER! 1,500,000 MEN MOBILIZED! UNINTERRUPTED TROOP TRANSPORT TOWARD THE FRONTIER! CHAOS IN UPPER SILESIA!
There was no mention, of course, of any German mobilization, though, as we have seen, Germany had been mobilized for a fortnight.
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
“Poles are in state of full readiness”
or not.
"Although it’s based on the real-life World War II exploits of Eddie Chapman, a British spy, Terence Young’s Triple Cross (1966) seems a great deal like an early James Bond picture. This only makes sense since Young preceded his work on the film by directing Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), and Thunderball (1965). Producer Jacques-Paul Bertrand intended for Young to infuse Chapman’s story with a certain debonair flair, and the two men stacked the deck in their favor by casting the casually suave Christopher Plummer as Chapman. Yul Brynner, Trevor Howard, Romy Schneider and Gert Frobe (the title villain of Goldfinger, 1964) fill out the supporting roles.
Plummer’s Chapman is a relatively amoral safecracker who is jailed on a remote island that’s taken over by the Germans during the War. He eventually convinces the Third Reich to let him spy for them. But he turns the tables when he informs the British of his activities, thus becoming a double agent. Plummer infuses Chapman with an enviable arrogance, even when he’s trying to put one over on Hitler’s minions. His adventures aren't particularly believable, even if they're based on fact, but they're fun to watch.
Given his past exploits, Chapman, strangely enough, was still living when Triple Cross was being filmed, and Young badly wanted him as his technical advisor. However, French authorities wouldn’t allow Chapman into the country because, for reasons that were never really ascertained, he had once kidnapped the sultan of Morocco."
The Germans continue to bend over backwards to avoid war, while the French and Poles continue to prepare for battle. Here, Forster even invites the Polish leader to a luncheon, and is spurned.