Dunkirk | |
---|---|
![]() DVD poster | |
Directed by | Leslie Norman |
Written by | J. S. Bradford (book) Ewan Butler (book) David Divine (screenplay) |
Produced by | Michael Balcon |
Starring | John Mills Richard Attenborough Bernard Lee |
Cinematography | Paul Beeson |
Edited by | Gordon Stone |
Music by | Malcolm Arnold |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 134 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | $1,025,000 [1] or £400,000 [2] [3] |
Box office | $2,060,000 [1] |
Dunkirk is a 1958 British war film directed by Leslie Norman that depicts the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II, and starring John Mills, Richard Attenborough, and Bernard Lee. [4] [5] The film is based on the novels The Big Pick-Up by Elleston Trevor and Dunkirk co-authored by Lt Col Ewan Butler and Major J. S. Bradford. [6]
In 1940, English journalist Charles Foreman, in search of propaganda, strives to warn his complacent readers of the dangers posed by the build-up of German forces in western Europe. He rails against the Ministry of Information for suppressing the truth. Most of his compatriots, including his neighbour John Holden, have been lulled by the lack of significant fighting during the "Phoney War". Holden owns a garage, with a profitable side-line manufacturing belt buckles for the British Army.
The Battle of France begins, and the Germans advance rapidly, trapping Allied forces along the Channel coast. Lieutenant Lumpkin, Corporal "Tubby" Binns and a handful of men of the British Expeditionary Force return from blowing up a bridge to find their division has withdrawn. The lieutenant speaks to a driver left behind for them, but both are killed in a Luftwaffe aerial attack before Binns can be apprised of the situation, leaving him in charge of four men, Privates Barlow, Bellman, Fraser and Russell, with no idea where their unit has gone. They witness an aerial attack on refugees and reach a Royal Artillery battery camp. Fraser is killed when the battery repulses a German tank force. The officer commanding the battery orders Binns to head north with his men and two stragglers, Privates Harper and Miles, and try to find their unit. Just after they leave, the battery is wiped out by Stuka dive bombers.
Meanwhile, the situation has become so desperate that BEF commander General Gort ignores orders to counterattack and instead positions his units for evacuation from Dunkirk. In England, Vice-Admiral Ramsay directs Operation Dynamo; the Admiralty begins commandeering all suitable civilian boats, including those owned by Foreman and Holden, to sail to Dunkirk to help evacuate troops from the beaches. The boats are marshalled at Sheerness. Foreman insists on taking his motorboat Vanity to Dunkirk himself, despite warnings of the danger. Other boat owners follow his example. After initial reluctance, Holden decides to take his boat Heron too, assisted by his teenage apprentice Frankie.
Binns and his men spend the night in an abandoned farmhouse, but at dawn, a German unit arrives; in the ensuing firefight, Bellman is badly wounded. The men escape, but Binns is forced to leave Bellman behind so he can receive medical attention. Later, after slipping past a German camp under cover of darkness, they stumble upon an RAF lorry, manned by Airmen Froome and Pannet, and go with them to Dunkirk, where Allied troops are being subjected to regular aerial bombing and strafing. Binns and his men manage to board a ship, only for it to be bombed as it departs; they are forced to jump overboard as it sinks. Their prospects of rescue are made worse by the Admiralty's decision to withdraw its destroyers. Ramsay argues against the withdrawal, and the Admiralty reluctantly agrees to send them back.
Foreman and Holden ferry many soldiers to the larger vessels, but Foreman's boat is sunk by a bomber, killing Joe.[ clarification needed ] Foreman is picked up by Holden. With harbour operations no longer possible, thousands of Allied troops gather on the beaches. In the next attack, Barlow is wounded and taken to an aid station. Heron's engine breaks down just off the beach. While Russell, a motor mechanic in civilian life, effects repairs, Foreman and Frankie go ashore to survey the scene. Next day, during church parade, Foreman is killed in an aerial attack. Russell completes his repairs, and Binns' group and six more soldiers board. Holden sets sail for home. At sea, the engine breaks down again and the boat drifts towards the German-held port of Calais. Fortunately, they are spotted by a destroyer and taken back to England.
Owners of small boats were tracked down for production and the cast featured genuine army officers. [7] Approximately twenty minutes was cut for the U.S. release. Popular wartime British music hall performers Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen portray themselves, performing "We’re Going to Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line." The film was shot on location in France and at M-G-M's British Studios. Stock footage is used from The Cruel Sea (1953) to show a destroyer being sunk at the mole. [8] Beach sequences were shot at Camber Sands near Rye, East Sussex, and Dunkirk town centre was recreated using part of Rye Harbour. A canal-type bridge was temporarily constructed over the upper harbour, leading on to the quayside. It was over this bridge that the refugees and troops poured into the "town centre". Several scenes take place at this location, particularly a tracking shot following two British Army officers as they discuss the situation. In the background, the viewer can make out Rye Church and some old warehouses, still extant, albeit in much restored condition. One of the warehouses was used as the interior for the "Barn Scene".[ citation needed ] Tibbs Farmhouse, Udimore was used for the scene of the soldiers taking refuge in a French Farmhouse. The scene where the bridge was blown during the early part of the film was on the River Medway at Teston Bridge, Teston in Kent. [9]
Director Leslie Norman later recalled: [2]
Dunkirk was bloody difficult to make from a logistics point of view. Yet it was made for £400,000 and came in under budget... I was the council school boy who became a major in the war, and that had a lot to do with the way I felt about Dunkirk. I didn't think that Dunkirk was a defeat; I always thought it was a very gallant effort but not a victory.
The musical score is by Malcolm Arnold, which may account for the fact that many of its segments sound very much like his Academy Award-winning theme from The Bridge on the River Kwai , made the previous year (1957), or Heroes of Telemark (1965)[ citation needed ].
The world premiere was at the Empire, Leicester Square, in London on 20 March 1958. [10]
The film was the third most popular production at the British box office in 1958, after Bridge on the River Kwai and The Vikings. [11] [12] (Other accounts say it was the second, making $1,750,000. [13] )
According to MGM records it earned only $310,000 in the US and Canada but $1,750,000 elsewhere; after distribution costs were deducted MGM earned a profit of $371,000. [1] Michael Balcon admitted the film did not do well in the US but it "did wonderfully well in other parts of the world." [14]
Bosley Crowther, in his New York Times review, praised the performances of the leads and supporting cast. [15]
Later reviews give positive to mixed feelings on the film. [16] A review for "The Movie Scene" gave the film three out of five stars, praising the performances of the leads, and the effects. [17] Nerdly.co.uk notes the film has "a level of authenticity that is surprisingly truthful, even about the mishandling of events by the British". [18] The critic Derek Winnert noted that the film was "long, ambitious, engrossing, intelligent and informative film, and not nearly as celebrated as it should be." [19]
A review for The Spinning Image noted that "while it was a hit in its day and went onto be a staple of television broadcasts for many years, you can't but mention it was overshadowed by Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk in 2017 which applied twenty-first century techniques to a nineteen-forties plot and was one of the biggest movies of the twenty-tens, but the '58 version had a power of its own, and should not be dismissed." [20] Another reviewer said that the film "pales beside Nolan’s film, but in many respects, it more accurately reflects the British attitude in the immediate post-World War II period and is a good complement to it." [21]
The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screenplay are almost entirely fictional, but use the construction of the Burma Railway, in 1942–1943, as their historical setting. The cast includes William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, and Sessue Hayakawa.
The Horse Soldiers is a 1959 American adventure war film set during the American Civil War directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers. The screenplay by John Lee Mahin and Martin Rackin was loosely based on the Harold Sinclair (1907-1966) 1956 novel of historical fiction of the same name, a fictionalized version of the famous Grierson's Raid by Federal cavalry in April–May 1863 riding southward through Mississippi and around the Mississippi River fortress of Vicksburg during the Vicksburg campaign to split the southern Confederacy by Union Army Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
The Army Game is a British television sitcom that aired on ITV from 19 June 1957 to 20 June 1961. It was the first ITV sitcom and was made by Granada, and created by Sid Colin. It follows the exploits of Hut 29, a dysfunctional group of soldiers and their National Service conscription into the British Army during the post war years.
Guns at Batasi is a 1964 British drama film starring Richard Attenborough, Jack Hawkins, Flora Robson, John Leyton and Mia Farrow. The film is based on the 1962 novel The Siege of Battersea by Robert Holles and was directed by John Guillermin. Although the action is set in an overseas colonial military outpost during the last days of the British Empire in East Africa, filming was done at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom.
Teston or is a village in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. It is located on the A26 road out of Maidstone, four miles (6.4 km) from the town centre. There is a narrow stone bridge over the River Medway here.
Bellman and True is a 1987 film based on the novel of the same name by Desmond Lowden. The film was written and directed by Richard Loncraine. It stars Bernard Hill, Derek Newark and Richard Hope.
Dad's Army is a 1971 British war comedy film and the first film adaptation of the BBC television sitcom Dad's Army (1968–1977). Directed by Norman Cohen, it was filmed between series three and four and was based upon material from the early episodes of the television series. The film tells the story of the Home Guard platoon's formation and their subsequent endeavours at a training exercise. The film version of the television series comprises the following cast members: Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn, John Laurie, Arnold Ridley, Ian Lavender and James Beck.
The Trench is a 1999 war film written and directed by William Boyd and starring Paul Nicholls and Daniel Craig. It depicts the experiences of a group of young British soldiers in the 48 hours leading up to the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
The Guns of Navarone is a 1961 action adventure war film directed by J. Lee Thompson from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, based on Alistair MacLean's 1957 novel of the same name. Foreman also produced the film. The film stars Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn, along with Stanley Baker, Anthony Quayle, Irene Papas, Gia Scala, Richard Harris and James Darren. The book and the film share a plot: the efforts of an Allied commando unit to destroy a seemingly impregnable German fortress that threatens Allied naval ships in the Aegean Sea.
London Belongs to Me is a British film released in 1948, directed by Sidney Gilliat, and starring Richard Attenborough and Alastair Sim. It was based on the novel London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins, which was also the basis for a seven-part series made by Thames Television shown in 1977.
Massey Shaw is a former London Fire Brigade fireboat, named after the first Chief Officer of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, Captain Sir Eyre Massey Shaw. Built in 1935 and decommissioned in 1971, the vessel was restored in the early 21st century and is moored in London's West India Docks.
Sir Christopher George Rhodes, 3rd Baronet was an English film and television actor. He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for services 1940-41 and the United States Legion of Merit for his World War II service.
Gift Horse is a 1952 British black-and-white World War II drama film. It was produced by George Pitcher, directed by Compton Bennett, and stars Trevor Howard, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, and Sonny Tufts.
Dunkirk is a 2004 BBC Television factual about the Battle of Dunkirk and the Dunkirk evacuation in World War II.
Raid on Rommel is an American B movie in Technicolor from 1971, directed by Henry Hathaway and set in North Africa during the Second World War. It stars Richard Burton as a British commando attempting to destroy German gun emplacements in Tobruk. Much of the action footage was reused from the 1967 film Tobruk, and the storyline is also largely the same.
Weekend at Dunkirk is a 1964 French-Italian drama war film directed by Henri Verneuil and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. It is based on the 1949 Prix Goncourt winning novel Week-end at Zuydcoote by Robert Merle.
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough was an English actor, film director, and producer.
The Man Upstairs is a 1958 British psychological drama film directed by Don Chaffey and starring Richard Attenborough and Bernard Lee. The film was produced by Robert Dunbar for Act Films Ltd.
Sir John Mills' Moving Memories is a British documentary film featuring 16mm color home movies shot by the actor Sir John Mills. It documents his life between 1946 and 1969, directed and edited by Marcus Dillistone and produced by his son Jonathan Mills. Commentary was provided by Sir John, Hayley Mills, Juliet Mills and Sir Richard Attenborough. His wife Mary Hayley Bell is also seen towards the end of the film listening to her husband singing at the piano. The scene was later to be screened in full when Sir John appeared on the Parkinson chat show.
Dunkirk is a 2017 historical war thriller film written, directed, and co-produced by Christopher Nolan that depicts the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II from the perspectives of the land, sea, and air. It features an ensemble cast including Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles in his feature film debut, Aneurin Barnard, James D'Arcy, Barry Keoghan, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, and Tom Hardy.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)