Thrills and skills

NEIL Armstrong said it in 1969 on making the first manned lunar landing, and Jack Higgins picked it up as the title of his 1975 wartime adventure novel.

Iron Man 2

NEIL Armstrong said it in 1969 on making the first manned lunar landing, and Jack Higgins picked it up as the title of his 1975 wartime adventure novel, filmed a year later by John Sturges.

The Eagle Has Landed (Saturday, noon, 7Two) is about a Nazi plot to kidnap Winston Churchill, and is another of those films in which posh English actors - Anthony Quayle, Donald Pleasence, Michael Caine - talk in German accents. Those familiar with Alberto Cavalcanti's marvellous and sadly neglected war film Went the Day Well?, scripted by Graham Greene, will recognise a similar story.

The plan is for German commandos disguised as Polish paratroops to infiltrate the village of Studley Constable in Norfolk, kidnap Churchill and rendezvous with a boat off the English coast. You can safely assume the plot is foiled, thanks to the efforts of alert villagers and brave US officers played by Hollywood actors. A thrilling and absorbing yarn, directed by Sturges with unflagging pace and skill.

Seven's Anzac Day offering is All Quiet on the Western Front (Thursday, 2.30pm) - not the classic Lewis Milestone anti-war film from 1930 but a remake directed 50 years later by Delbert Mann, and conclusive proof of the folly of remaking a masterpiece. So choose carefully.

A safer bet in a thin week for films is Godzilla (Sunday, 6.30pm, 7Mate) - yes, another remake, but one with more modest pretensions. The Japanese started it all with their original Godzilla King of the Monsters in 1954 and followed it with no fewer than 10 sequels before Hollywood got into the act in 1998. Apocalyptic specialist Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) directed this lavish piece of idiocy about a giant mutant lizard invading Manhattan and causing more panic in the city's financial district than the global financial crisis. Certainly good for a laugh.

Those who can't wait to see Iron Man 3, opening this Thursday in cinemas, can content themselves with the second instalment, a sequel to the original 2008 hit based on the Marvel comic. Iron Man 2 (Saturday, 8.30pm, Ten) has the expected lavish quota of action and incident, with Robert Downey Jr again starring as the eccentric billionaire and titular hero, who discovers that his super-suit is wanted by the US government for military uses. Jon Favreau directs an impressive cast including Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell and Samuel L. Jackson.

My policy with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films is to restrict myself to naming the big songs, since the plots are generally ridiculous. The Gay Divorcee (Sunday, 2.15am, ABC1) has The Continental and Fred and Ginger's immortal dance routine Night and Day, and Follow the Fleet (Monday, 1.40am, ABC1) is the one with Let Yourself Go and the supremely elegant Let's Face the Music and Dance. Go for it.

BEST ON SHOW

The Eagle Has Landed (M)
3.5 stars
Saturday, noon, 7Two

The Gay Divorcee (G)
4 stars
Sunday, 2.15am, ABC1

Follow the Fleet (G)
4 stars
Monday, 1.40am, ABC1