David Niven played Corporal Miller, the explosives expert, in The Guns of Navarone.
The 1961 film adapts Alistair MacLean’s 1957 novel and follows a small Allied commando team sent to destroy massive German guns on the fictional Greek island of Navarone. Niven’s Miller is a former chemistry teacher whose technical knowledge makes him essential to the mission.
Gregory Peck played Captain Keith Mallory, the team leader, while Anthony Quinn portrayed Colonel Andrea Stavros. Stanley Baker played Private Brown, another member of the group. These roles are sometimes confused because the film’s central characters work closely together throughout the operation.
The Guns of Navarone was directed by J. Lee Thompson and became one of the major epic war films of the early 1960s. It received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and won the Oscar for Best Special Effects for its large-scale action and miniature work.