Chess on the classic set

Classic actioner

The 1961 multi-Oscar-nominated war film “The Guns of Navarone” looks splendid in this two-disc restored version, and it’s still enthralling. The story follows six Allied military specialists on an “impossible” mission into Nazi territory to destroy two huge field guns and prevent the deaths of 2,000 British soldiers. Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn and David Niven star.

Extras: New audio commentary; new shorts on heroism, the score and the restoration; original musical intermission; music-only prologue. From an earlier DVD release: director’s commentary; good stars’ retrospective (Quinn hooked everyone on chess, and his co-stars cheered his loss to Niven’s teenage son); likable short of star James Darren and his wife’s honeymooning on Rhodes during shooting breaks.

Here is the full story.