The Heroes of Telemark is a 1965 British war film directed by Anthony Mann based on the true story of the Norwegian heavy water sabotage during the Second World War from Skis Against the Atom, the memoirs of Norwegian resistance soldier Knut Haukelid. The film stars Kirk Douglas as Dr. Rolf Pedersen and Richard Harris as Knut Straud, along with Ulla Jacobsson as Anna Pederson. It was filmed on location in Norway. Plot The Norwegian resistance sabotage the Vemork Norsk Hydro plant in the town of Rjukan in the county of Telemark, Norway, which the Nazis are using to produce heavy water, which could be used in the manufacture of an atomic bomb. Kirk Douglas plays Rolf Pedersen, a Norwegian physics professor, who, though originally content to wait out the war, is soon pulled into the struggle by local resistance leader Knut Straud (based on Knut Haukelid), portrayed by Richard Harris. They both sneak out of Norway on a passenger steamship to Britain that they hijack so they can deliver microfilmed plans of the hydroelectric plant to the British. Then they return to Norway by parachute to plan a commando raid against the plant. When a British plane carrying a force of Royal Engineers to undertake the raid is shot down over Norway by the Germans, Pedersen and Straud lead a small force of Norwegian saboteurs into the plant. The raid is successful, but the Germans quickly repair the equipment. The Germans then plan to ship steel drums of heavy water to Germany. Pedersen and Straud sabotage a ferry carrying the drums, and it sinks in the deepest part of a fjord. Besides this sequence, the raids (Operations Grouse, Freshman and Gunnerside) and the final attack are filmed on-site, with mountainous and snowy Norwegian locations serving as a backdrop for the plot. Cast Kirk Douglas as Dr Rolf Pedersen Richard Harris as Knut Straud Ulla Jacobsson as Anna Pedersen Michael Redgrave as Uncle David Weston as Arne Sebastian Breaks as Gunnar John Golightly as Freddy Alan Howard as Oli Patrick Jordan as Henrik William Marlowe as Claus Brook Williams as Einar Roy Dotrice as Jensen Anton Diffring as Major Frick Ralph Michael as Nilssen Eric Porter as Josef Terboven Wolf Frees as Sturmbannführer Knippelberg Karel Stepanek as Professor Hartmüller Gerard Heinz as Professor Erhardt Victor Beaumont as German Sergeant George Murcell as SS Oberscharführer Mervyn Johns as Col. Wilkinson Barry