Sink the Bismarck!

This article is about the 1960 film. For other things of the same name, see Sink the Bismarck (disambiguation).
Sink the Bismarck!

Original film poster by Tom Chantrell, showing Kenneth More and Dana Wynter. Tagline: "The Greatest Naval Epic of Them All."
Directed by Lewis Gilbert
Produced by John Brabourne
Screenplay by Edmund H. North
Based on Last Nine Days of the Bismarck
1958 novel 
by C. S. Forester
Starring Kenneth More
Carl Möhner
Dana Wynter
Music by Clifton Parker
Cinematography Christopher Challis
Edited by Peter R. Hunt
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release dates
 11 February 1960
Running time
 97 min.
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget $1,330,000[1]
Box office $3,000,000 (US/ Canada)[2][3]

Sink the Bismarck! is a 1960 black-and-white CinemaScope British war film based on the book Last Nine Days of the Bismarck by C. S. Forester. It stars Kenneth More and Dana Wynter and was directed by Lewis Gilbert.[4] To date, it is the only film made that deals directly with the operations, chase and sinking of the battleship Bismarck by the Royal Navy during the Second World War.[5] Although war films were common in the 1960s, Sink the Bismarck! was seen as something of an anomaly, with much of its time devoted to the "unsung back-room planners as much as on the combatants themselves."[6] Its historical accuracy, in particular, met with much praise despite a number of inconsistencies.[7]

Sink the Bismarck! was the inspiration for Johnny Horton's popular 1960 song, "Sink the Bismarck."[8][Note 1] The film had its Royal World Premiere in the presence of the Duke of Edinburgh at the Odeon Leicester Square on 11 February 1960.

Plot

In 1939, Nazi Germany's largest and most powerful battleship, Bismarck, is launched in a ceremony at Hamburg with Adolf Hitler attending. The launching of the hull is seen as the beginning of a new era of German sea power.

Two years later, in 1941, British convoys are being ravaged by U-boats and surface raider attacks that cut off supplies essential for Britain's abilities to continue the war. In May, British intelligence discovers the Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen are about to break out of the Baltic and into the North Atlantic to attack convoys.

Meanwhile, a spy in Norway spots the Bismarck and its escort Prinz Eugen; he attempts to alert the British by telegraph but he is discovered by the Germans and killed. The spy is only able to message that one of the ships is Prince Eugen but is shot before he can message that the second ship was the Bismarck.

The man assigned to co-ordinate the hunt is the Admiralty's chief of operations, Captain Jonathan Shepard (Kenneth More), who has been distraught over the death of his wife in an air raid and the sinking of his ship by German ships commanded by Admiral Günther Lütjens (Karel Štěpánek). Upon receiving his new post, Shepard discovers Lütjens is the fleet commander on the Bismarck. Shepard's experience of conflict with Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine and his understanding of Lütjens allow him to predict the Bismarck's movements. Shepard acts coldly to his staff but comes increasingly to rely on the coolness and skill of his assistant, WRNS Second Officer Anne Davis (Dana Wynter).

Lütjens is also bitter. After the First World War, he considered that he had received no recognition for his efforts in the war. Lütjens promises the captain of the Bismarck, Ernst Lindemann (Carl Möhner), that this time, he and Germany will be remembered in greatness.

Next morning near Iceland Bismarck and Prinz Eugen encounter HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales. The four warships engage in a heavy battle. During the battle a shell from Bismarck hits the Hood slightly damaging her. Bismarck‍ fires again and both sides watch as three shells hit the water near the Hood, but the fourth hits it just below its mast; suddenly the ship's deck bursts up and explodes in a massive fireball, even blowing one of the turrets off and sending it flying into the ocean. Both sides are shocked and horrified at the devastation as the Hood's sinking remains are enveloped by smoke. Now Prince of Wales is alone and gets fired at by the two German ships and is severely damaged. The ship makes smoke and retreats. The Bismarck's escape is shadowed by smaller British ships. Meanwhile, Shepard, obsessed with Bismarck, must endure the likely death of his son as an air-gunner on a Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber from HMS Ark Royal, one of the British ships deployed to the hunt. He gambles that Lütjens is returning to friendly waters where U-boats and air cover will make it impossible to attack.

Shepard commits large forces stripped from convoy escort and uses Catalina flying boats to search for the battleship. His hunch proves correct, and Bismarck is located, apparently steaming towards the German-occupied French coast. British forces have a narrow window to destroy or slow their prey before German support and their own diminishing fuel supplies prevent further attack. Swordfish aircraft from HMS Ark Royal have two chances. The first fails: they misidentify HMS Sheffield as Bismarck; also the new magnetic torpedo detonators are faulty and most explode as they hit the water. Switching to conventional contact detonators, the second attack is successful, with damage jamming Bismarck's rudder.

Unable to repair the rudder, the German battleship steams in circles. During the night Bismarck is attacked by two British destroyers. They fire torpedoes at Bismarck, and one torpedo hits the battleship, but Bismarck returns fire, sinking the destroyer HMS Solent.[Note 2] The main force of British ships (including battleships HMS Rodney and HMS King George V) find Bismarck the next day and rain gunfire on her. Lütjens in his final moments insists to Lindemann that German forces will arrive to save them, but he dies when a shell destroys Bismarck's bridge. After that the remaining officers declare Abandon Ship! In the King George V Admiral Tovey orders the newly joined cruiser HMS Dorsetshire to finish Bismarck off with torpedoes. The cruiser fires a salvo of six torpedoes at the already sinking and severely damaged vessel. Four torpedoes strike the hull, causing the ship to list faster than the men can get out. The Captain in K.G.V bows his head as the Bismarck rolls over and sinks beneath the waves. The Admiral orders Dorsetshire to pick up the remaining survivors, and finally says tersely: "Well gentlemen, let's go home"

After the sinking of the Bismarck, and having been told that his son has been rescued, Shepard asks Davis out to dinner, believing it to be nine o'clock at night, only to realise it is nine in the morning. Davis suggests breakfast, and they walk off together.

Cast

On Land

and

At Sea

Production

C.S. Forester reportedly wrote the story as a screen treatment for 20th Century Fox before even writing the book.[9]

Writer Edmund H. North worked closely with Forester's story, compressing events and time lines to make the plot taut. Along with the director, he decided to use a documentary-style technique, switching back-and-forth from a fairly insular war room to action taking place on remote battleships.[10] The action is made more realistic when the human element of men in a game of wits and nerves is involved. The use of Edward R. Murrow reprising his wartime broadcasts from London also lends an air of authenticity and near-documentary feel.[11] The film credits identify the actual Director of Operations as Capt R.A.B. Edwards and "Capt Shepard" as fictional. The Shepard-Davis interplay added human interest to the storyline.[12]

In a similar manner, the battle between British and German forces is also recreated as a human drama, with Admiral Lütjens pitted against Capt Shepard in a "psychological chess match."[13]

Ships involved

Sink the Bismarck! was made in 1960, as the last major Second World War fleet units were being retired. Producer John Brabourne was able to use his influence as son-in-law of Lord Mountbatten, then Chief of the Defence Staff, to obtain the full co-operation of the Admiralty. The soon-to-be scrapped battleship HMS Vanguard provided some remarkable footage of a capital ship's 15" gun turrets in action, and was used for scenes in the closed bridges of HMS Hood, Prince of Wales, King George V and the Bismarck herself.[14] The cruiser HMS Belfast, now preserved in London, was used to depict the open bridges of HMS Norfolk and HMS Sheffield, two of the cruisers involved in Bismarck's pursuit. A Dido-class cruiser in reserve was used as the set for Bismarck's destruction.,[15] and one of her tall raked funnels is glimpsed in the final scenes.

The aircraft carrier HMS Victorious is briefly shown as herself, despite the postwar addition of a large angled flight deck and a massive Type 984 "searchlight" radar; the same ship is also used to depict HMS Ark Royal sailing from Gibraltar. All flying from both carriers was filmed aboard HMS Centaur – clearly marked with her postwar pennant number R06 – and three surviving Fairey Swordfish aircraft were restored, of which two were flown from her flight deck.[15] These three aircraft now form the core of the Royal Navy Historic Flight.[16] A 2010 article in Aeroplane identifies the Swordfish flown in the production: LS326, carrying its true serial, was marked as "5A" of 825 Naval Air Squadron, while NF389 was marked as LS423 / "5B".[17] The same actor plays the leader of the Swordfish attack from HMS Victorious (in reality, Lt Cdr Eugene Esmonde VC, DSO), and also the HMS Ark Royal pilot who later fired the torpedo which crippled Bismarck's steering gear (since identified as Lt John Moffat RNR).

The destroyers used to depict the torpedo night attacks were the C class HMS Cavalier (D73), representing the flagship of "Captain (D), of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla", (in reality, Captain Vian in HMS Cossack) and the Battle-class destroyer HMS Hogue (D74), representing the fictitious HMS Solent which Bismarck destroys in the film. Their pennant numbers can be made out quite clearly, although they are reversed because of the film's convention that British ships should move from left to right of the screen and German ships vice versa. These were the last classes of destroyer built during the war, and the last to have the classic War Emergency Programme destroyers' outline. HMS Cavalier remained in service until 1972, the last RN destroyer to have served in the Second World War, and is now preserved at Chatham Dockyard to commemorate all these vessels, but the newer and larger HMS Hogue was broken up shortly after the film was completed, following a collision off Ceylon with the Indian cruiser INS Mysore (formerly HMS Nigeria).[15]

The large models of the major warships: Bismarck, HMS Hood, HMS Prince of Wales, HMS King George V, HMS Rodney and the County-class cruisers, are generally accurate, although HMS Hood is depicted in a slightly earlier configuration than that which actually blew up. The use of models in a studio tank was intercut with wartime footage and staged sequences using available full-size warships.[12] Bismarck's anti-aircraft guns, however, are represented by stock footage of British QF 2 pounder naval gun.[14]

Historical accuracy

Sink the Bismarck! was made before 1975, when the British code-breaking at Bletchley Park was declassified, so it did not reveal that Shepard's hunches about the movements of Bismarck were supported by intelligence. Direction finding and traffic analysis showed that on 25 May, Bismarck stopped talking to Wilhelmshaven and started up with Paris, and Shepard committed to the belief that Bismarck was headed for the French coast. The radio switch from Wilhelmshaven to Paris might have been a routine shift caused by Bismarck's crossing a meridian. Nonetheless, Shepard's hunch was soon proved correct when, by good luck, a Luftwaffe Enigma transmission was sent and intercepted and decoded at Bletchley Park, saying that Bismarck was headed for Brest to repair an oil leak. The Luftwaffe Enigma code was broken early in the war, unlike the German naval Enigma, which was only broken later and was subject only to traffic analysis during the Bismarck affair.[18] Damage during its battle with HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales caused flooding that put Bismarck's bow barely above the sea level and oil slicks caused by hits from HMS Prince of Wales were apparent; in the film, Bismarck's bow remains at its normal height above sea level.

A comparison of the real Bismarck (bottom) in 1940 and that from the film (top) during the scene in which it engages HMS Prince of Wales.

Some minor continuity errors involve the visual appearance of the Bismarck. When a spy in Kristiansand, Norway, sees Bismarck arrive in Norwegian waters, the ship has no apparent camouflage and is shown sailing from right to left instead of the opposite way (east to west). In fact Bismarck still had striped "Baltic camouflage" along her sides, which was removed shortly before it headed out to sea.

Sink the Bismarck! simplifies the movements of HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales early in the battle. The film shows an order to turn, allowing HMS Hood and presumably HMS Prince of Wales to fire full broadsides. In reality, the British sought to close the distance first, only firing forward turrets and reducing their firepower advantage while the Bismarck was firing full broadsides. Only in its final moments did HMS Hood begin a turn to train all her main guns on the Bismarck. However, the Bismarck hit HMS Hood and she exploded. This deployment has been questioned and cited as a possible cause for the British defeat, an issue the film sidesteps. The film fails to note that HMS Hood at first engaged the wrong ship, firing at heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen in the belief it was the Bismarck. A minor continuity error involves HMS Hood shown firing to port while the Bismarck is firing to starboard; it was the other way around.[19]

In one scene, Lütjens speculates that after Bismarck has undergone repair in Brest, France, the two German battleships based there, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, could join the Bismarck in raiding Allied shipping. There is no record of such a discussion at that time, although it would have been possible for Bismarck to sortie with the two battleships if Bismarck had reached the port.[Note 3] Before the operation, Lütjens had requested that either Scharnhorst, Gneisenau or Tirpitz join Bismarck and Prinz Eugen; his request was denied.

Another historical error was made during the night engagement between British destroyers and the Bismarck. The film portrayal shows three British hits by torpedoes, while the British destroyer HMS Solent is hit and destroyed by the Bismarck. There was no destroyer named "Solent" and no successful torpedo attack, although S class submarine HMS Solent did exist during the war as a submarine operating on the Eastern Fleet in 1944. On 26 May, a Royal Navy destroyer squadron, led by Captain, (later to be Admiral), Philip Vian in HMS Cossack, did exchange gunfire during unsuccessful torpedo attacks with Bismarck inflicting minor damage to the destroyers. [Note 4][23] The heroic action of the attached Polish destroyer Piorun (ex N-class HMS Nerissa) was not depicted, although she sailed straight for Bismarck, signalling "I am a Pole" as she went, but none of her shots found their mark.

The aircraft that finally relocated the Bismarck after she escaped detection by HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk is correctly shown as a Catalina, but the fact that it was piloted by an American Naval Reserve officer, Ensign Leonard Smith, could not be revealed until long after the war, since the USA was neutral at the time of the engagement.[Note 5][24] The attacks by Fleet Air Arm Swordfish show some aircraft being shot down: no Swordfish was lost to Bismarck's guns and all were recovered. However, from HMS Victorious's air raid, two Fairey Fulmar escort fighters ran out of fuel and ditched. Three fliers were picked up from a rubber boat.[25]

Admiral Lütjens is fictitiously portrayed in the film as a stereotypical Nazi, committed to Nazism and crazed in his undaunted belief that the Bismarck is unsinkable. In reality, Lütjens was not a supporter of the Nazi cause, and along with two other navy commanders, had publicly protested against the brutality of anti-Semitic crimes during Kristallnacht. Lütjens was also a pragmatist who realised that Bismarck's break-out mission would be a daunting task.[26] The film shows Lütjens ordering Captain Ernst Lindemann to open fire on HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales. In reality Lütjens ordered Lindemann to avoid engaging HMS Hood; Lindemann refused and ordered the ship's guns to open fire.[25]

Sink the Bismarck! also does not show controversial events after the Bismarck sank, including HMS Dorsetshire's quick departure after rescuing only 110 survivors, because the ship suspected that a German U-Boat was in the area and withdrew.[Note 6]

Reception

Critical

For the most part, the historical accuracy in Sink the Bismarck! was praised by critics, with Variety calling it a "first-rate film re-creation of a thrilling historical event."[7] A contemporary The New York Times review by A.H. Weiler, likewise championed its realism in saying "a viewer could not ask for greater authenticity." However, it went on to criticise both the acting and the constant scene changes "from Admiralty plotting rooms to the bridges of the ships at sea," claiming that this lessened the "over-all effectiveness" of both scenes.[4] Film4 praised its cinematography, noting that it "very realistically re-enacted scenes in the War Room of the Admiralty" as well as "excellently filmed episodes using miniature models."[28]

During the postwar period, war films were one staple of the British film industry, with Sink the Bismarck! an exemplar, sharing the "common themes, actors ... visual style and ideological messages ..." of the genre.[29] British magazine Radio Times viewed Sink the Bismarck! positively, stating that "this fine film fully captures the tensions, dangers and complexities of battle by concentrating on the unsung back-room planners as much as on the combatants themselves" while also praising More's performance. Attention was drawn to the ways in which it deviated from other war films of the period, specifically commenting on how "there is a respect for the enemy that is missing in many previous flag-wavers". The film was given a four-star rating.[6]

Gilbert's continual forays into events that shaped the British war experience mirrored his own background as a wartime filmmaker. His films merged historical episodes and the role of the individual, with Sink the Bismarck! characterised as having an "emotional punch, not least because Gilbert's direction relentlessly focuses on the human dimension amidst the history."[30]

Box office

Sink the Bismarck! was well received by the public, and according to box office receipts, it was the seventh most popular film released in Great Britain in 1960. The film replicated the success of other British war-themed productions in the decade that also received healthy box office, including The Cruel Sea (1953), The Dam Busters (1955) and Reach for the Sky (1956).[31] Unlike most British war films, however, Sink the Bismarck! was a surprise hit in North America, as well.[32]

Other productions

A revival of interest in the Bismarck was reflected in numerous publications that followed the film, as well as a variety of scale models that were produced.[33][Note 7] When the 1989 expedition by Dr. Robert Ballard to locate and photograph the remains of the battleship proved to be successful, further attention was directed to the story of the Bismarck.[35] A number of documentaries have also been produced including the Channel 4 mini series Battle of Hood and Bismarck (2002)[36] and Hunt for the Bismarck aired in 2007 on the History Channel network worldwide.[37]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ The Johnny Horton song which reached No. 3 on the both the US pop and country charts, was not a "true" movie tie-in, but was instrumental in introducing the film to an American audience.[8] Horton's song was used in the trailer promoting the film to American audiences.
  2. ↑ The (fictitious) HMS Solent is destroyed.
  3. ↑ This concept was not an original idea of Lütjens; it had been proposed by German naval staff before the battle but was scrapped because of the repairs the two German battleships needed from damage during an air raid.[20]
  4. ↑ The other destroyers involved in the attack were HMS Maori, HMS Sikh, HMS Zulu and ORP Piorun. Aboard HMS Zulu, a sub-lieutenant in the gunnery control tower lost a hand to shell splinters when a shell landed on the forecastle but did not explode. HMS Cossack had her radio antenna sheared off by a shell.[21] The Royal Navy did lose a destroyer later in the operations – HMS Mashona was sunk by the Luftwaffe on 28 May.[22]
  5. ↑ The role of Ensign Smith could not be revealed until long after the war, since the USA was neutral at the time of the engagement.[24]
  6. ↑ HMS Dorsetshire's crew suspected that a German U-Boat was in the area and withdrew. Hundreds of German sailors were left behind in the sea to die.[27]
  7. ↑ As a closer tie-in to the film, the original Forester book was re-released as Sink the Bismarck.[34]

Citations

  1. ↑ Solomon 1989, p. 252.
  2. ↑ "Rental Potentials of 1960". Variety, 4 January 1961, p. 47. Please note figures are rentals as opposed to total gross.
  3. ↑ Solomon 1989, p. 228.
  4. 1 2 Weiler, A.H. "Movie Review – Sink the Bismarck – Of Men and Ships." The New York Times.
  5. ↑ Rico, José M. "Sink the Bismarck!" kbismarck.com, 2011. Retrieved: 1 December 2013.
  6. 1 2 Parkinson, David. "Sink the Bismarck! Radio Times, 2013. Retrieved: 1 December 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Review: 'Sink the Bismarck!' Variety. Retrieved: 1 December 2013.
  8. 1 2 Polmar and Cavas 2009, p. 251.
  9. ↑ Richard, D. M. "Authors put film values into books." The Christian Science Monitor, 21 April 1959.
  10. ↑ Frietas 2011, p. 79.
  11. ↑ Mayo 1999, p. 264.
  12. 1 2 Dolan 1985, p. 88.
  13. ↑ Hyams 1984, p. 135.
  14. 1 2 Niemi 2006, p. 99.
  15. 1 2 3 Erickson 2004, p. 254.
  16. ↑ "Fairey Swordfish." Royal Navy Historic Flight, 2011. Retrieved: 1 December 2013.
  17. ↑ Howard, Lee. "Return of the Stringbag". Aeroplane, Volume 38, Number 12, Number 452, December 2010, p. 48.
  18. ↑ Budiansky 2002, p. 189.
  19. ↑ Jurens, William J. "Loss of HMS Hood: A Re-Examination." International Naval Research Organization. Retrieved: 1 December 2013.
  20. ↑ Zetterling and Tamelander 2009, p. 23.
  21. ↑ Ballard and Archbold 1990, p. 117.
  22. ↑ Whitley 2000, p. 116.
  23. ↑ "Sink the Bismarck Movie Blooper." The Slip up Movie Archive, 2013. Retrieved: 1 December 2013.
  24. 1 2 "Bismarck: British/American Cooperation and the destruction of the German battleship." Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved: 1 December 2013.
  25. 1 2 Evans 2000, p. 170.
  26. ↑ Asmussen, John. "Bismarck – Portrait of the Men Involved – Günther Lütjens." bismarck-class.dk, 2009. Retrieved: 1 December 2013.
  27. ↑ Brennecke 2003, p. 88.
  28. ↑ "Sink the Bismarck! Film4, 2013. Retrieved: 1 December 2013.
  29. ↑ Lovell 2000, p. 205.
  30. ↑ Allon et al. 2002, p. 115.
  31. ↑ Emsley et al. 2003, p. 178.
  32. ↑ Shipman 1980, p. 417.
  33. ↑ "Waterline Sink the Bismarck 1:1200 (A50120)." Airfix, 2013. Retrieved: 1 December 2013.
  34. ↑ Forester 2003, pp. Cover, back cover.
  35. ↑ Mcgowen 1999, p. 63.
  36. ↑ "The Battle of Hood and Bismarck." Channel 4, 2013. Retrieved: 1 December 2013.
  37. ↑ "Dogfights: Hunt for the Bismarck DVD." History Channel, 2013. Retrieved: 1 December 2013.

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External links

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