Every now and then, whilst trawling the old wartime files at the National Archives or reading a book about WWII, one comes across a story that has an enthralling fascination about it; a story that grips you immediately from the beginning and one that doesn’t let go. That is what happened when I first read Dorothy Baden-Powell’s book, Pimpernel Gold, a part factual story on the rescuing of the Norwegian gold bullion from the Germans in April 1940.
Early research indicated that there was more to the story, and that there were eyewitnesses to the event who wanted to tell their side of the story. Naturally, I wanted to know more.
Well and truly bitten by the story I began delving through the many files at the National Archives at Kew. Early results were good with stories of the gold being mentioned frequently. One such story was when a Royal Marine ‘liberated’ a thousand coins whilst onboard HMS Glasgow…he was caught of course! Interviews with veterans from the ships` crews and one from the last surviving Norwegian soldier from the transport followed swiftly and already I could see that the story was very special; spies, Quislings, collaborators, German paratroopers, the dubious motives of an Admiral, and a mysterious U-boat were all adding significantly to the story.
Aside from the UK archives, several visits to Norway gave much of the story and it was here that I first traced the route from Oslo to Åndalsnes and Molde. I wanted to step into the history, to retrace the dramatic route of the gold transport and feel the story and it was in Åndalsnes that I found a story of a German spy who was caught red-handed close to the bullion with his radio set. He was taken away and never seen again…
It was now very apparent that the story was a real thriller from start to finish and in my mind`s eye I was visualizing a film starting with scenarios of the last lorry load of gold being driven out of Oslo as the German marched proudly in the centre of Oslo just a few hundred metres from the bank, the gold transport lorries battling again the elements and the Germans to get the gold to safety, but the book needed to come first.
The story of the rescue of the Norwegian gold transport was written and published originally in Norwegian in 2010, titled as Redd Gullet!, and now in English by Casemate UK, titled as Gold Run; and I am still gripped by it. I cannot yet put it to bed.
Desiring to try and script for a film, I started to research how to write a script. This led me to Final Draft – industry standard software used by scriptwriters and producers all over the world. The software was reasonably cheap and easy to download. The format permitted me to detail various aspects of the transport – lead and secondary characters, places, transport, background etc. In essence, I could layout the story`s major points and include secondary detail that would flow from scene to scene. However, I still had to learn how to script write in a concise and engaging manner. Subsequently, I purchased a copy of Ian Fleming`s `Goldfinger` that had been scripted by Paul Dehn, a British Oscar-winning screenwriter who had worked with Fleming during WWII at Camp X in Canada, From this, I could judge how from a thriller film that every single word and action had to be clear, precise and useful to pushing the story forward.
During the summer of 2014, I made contact with a young Norwegian producer who had expressed great interest in the story. We met at the Cultural Museum in Oslo, where the story of the gold transport was being displayed, along with some of the rescued gold coins and agreed that the story was immense, a thriller and a major part of British and Norwegian wartime history, and it just has to be told in film. We shook hands and I agreed to email him the story I had constructed thus far.
To date, we have agreed on a lead character who is with the story from the moment the Germans invaded Norway until the gold is handed over to the Bank of England and have begun to script the story as accurately as we can. There will be moments of poetic license of course to keep the flow, but the aim is to remain as true as we can to the original story and to those who made it all happen. Currently, a synopsis of the film is with the Norwegian Film Commission. We await the outcome. I will endeavor to keep you up to date of developments as they occur.
Robert Pearson
Robert Pearson is the author of the upcoming book ‘Gold Run’ which is due to be printed soon. You can preorder your copy from the Casemate UK website by buying it as normal.
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