The Battle of the River Plate

The Battle of the River Plate (The Battle of the River Plate in the original, distributed as Pursuit of the Graf Spee in the United States) is a 1956 British war drama film co-directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who were also screenwriters for the same; with Peter Finch, Anthony Quayle, John Gregson, Ian Hunter and Jack Gwillim in the lead roles. It was nominated for the 1957 BAFTA Awards for Best British Film, Best Screenplay, and Best International Film. It is based on the Battle of the Río de la Plata.

Plot

It tells the true story of the end of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff (Peter Finch), which during World War II was pursued by a Navy flotilla British Royal Commanded by Commodore Henry Harwood (Anthony Quayle), made up of the light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles and the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter, under the command of Captains Charles H.L. Woodhouse (Ian Hunter), W. E. Parry (Jack Gwillim) and Frederick Secker Bell (John Gregson) respectively.

On December 13, 1939, the German battleship entered into combat with them in the Río de la Plata estuary, to, after causing significant casualties and damage to the three British warships, and in turn suffering some damage of consideration, choose to seek refuge for 72 hours in the neutral port of Montevideo, Uruguay for repairs. Faced with diplomatic pressure from the United Kingdom, the Uruguayan government forced the German ship to set sail, knowing that due to its damage it did not have much chance of escaping the encirclement of the British ships that were waiting a few miles away. This action was complemented by a stratagem based on transmitting false messages regarding the formation of an important British squadron, which was not such, since the available ships were the same ones that had been seriously damaged in combat.