Sink the Bismarck! (1960)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Lewis Gilbert

Writers:

Edmund H. North (story)
Edmund H. North (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 February 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

Personal! Powerful! Human! Heroic!

Plot:

A true WW2 story: the British Navy must find and destroy a powerful German warship.

Plot Keywords:

German | Navy | Naval | British | Royal Navy

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Kenneth More	...	Captain Shepard
Dana Wynter	...	Anne Davis
Carl Möhner	...	Captain Lindemann (as Carl Mohner)
Laurence Naismith	...	First Sea Lord
Geoffrey Keen	...	A.C.N.S.
Karel Stepanek	...	Admiral Lutjens
Michael Hordern	...	Commander-in-Chief - 'King George V'
Maurice Denham	...	Commander Richards
Michael Goodliffe	...	Captain Banister
Esmond Knight	...	Captain - 'Prince of Wales'
Jack Watling	...	Signals Officer
Jack Gwillim	...	Captain - 'King George V' (as Jack Gwillam)
Mark Dignam	...	Captain - 'Ark Royal'
Ernest Clark	...	Captain - 'Suffolk'
John Horsley	...	Captain - 'Sheffield'

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) | 4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved (certificate #19353) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

First film of 'Peter Ceiler'.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When the Norwegian spy spots Bismarck exiting the Baltic Sea, Bismarck is heading the wrong direction. When viewed from Southern Norway, Bismarck should be headed east to west (left to right on screen), but the scene shows Bismarck heading right to left (west to east).

Quotes:

Captain, 'Prince of Wales': [after the sinking of HMS Hood] Yeoman... Make Admiralty from Prince of Wales. Tell them... Tell them the Hood has blown up.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dak miu mai shing (2001)

Well done . . . with a major flaw

The British have made war and historical movies with an unrivaled consistency of quality, and Sink the Bismarck is no exception. The details are meticulous, the casting first-rate (except for a hokey voice-impersonation of Churchill), and the battle sequences marked by accuracy and fine special effects.

This otherwise fine film is marred, however, by the false depiction of one of the major characters, Admiral Lutjens, commander of the Bismarck. In the film, he is stereotyped as the typical Nazi - a Hitler sycophant, careerist and wild-eyed fanatic. This was most certainly not the historical Lutjens, who was by no means a Nazi fanatic. Lutjens was a naval hero from World War I, who served out of duty and dedication, not Nazi conviction. (Lutjens protected Jews under his command, and members of his family were in trouble for their anti-Nazi views.) This is at complete odds with his depiction in Sink the Bismarck, which I find inexcusable, given that the above information was certainly available to the production. In fact, an accurate depiction of Lutjens would have, in my opinion, added interest to the plot.

Nevertheless, Sink the Bismarck is eminently watchable and a fine addition to any war movie collection, if you bear in mind the above caveat.