Hello: Here is today's movie. I hope you like it and watch it tonight.
THE DAM BUSTERS
During World War II, Barnes Wallis comes up with an idea
on how to destroy three dams in Germany that supply the water and power for the
Ruhr, a major industrial area. His idea is to drop a spinning bomb so it will
bounce over anti-torpedo netting and explode right next to the dam, causing a
breach. Even though his prototype bomb works, he can’t get the project going
until he gets the support of Arthur Harris the head of bomber command. A
special squadron is formed and they practice low level flying over water, as
the bomb will have to be dropped from a very low altitude. The first full scale
trial fails. Gibson gets an idea from the spotlights at a London show to use
spotlights on the water to establish their altitude, as they are flying so low
the normal altimeter won’t work. After the second trial also fails, Barnes
realizes the bomb will have to be dropped from a mere 60 feet. The third trial
works. A simple bombsight is developed and tested. The men of the squadron get
into a fight with men from another squadron who had insulted them saying that
all they do is train. On May 16, 1943 the planes take off for Germany. The regimental mascot is run over by a car.
At least two bombers are shot down en route to the dams. [1:04:22 to
1:33:48] After several bomb explosions
which do no significant damage they successfully breach the first dam. With
only three planes they also successfully breach the second dam. Almost 40% of the squadron doesn’t come
back.
A very interesting film about a
very unusual bombing mission. Fascinating in that it shows how the bomb was
developed and tested. The sequences showing the raid are very suspenseful and
influenced the destruction of the death star sequence in Star Wars. There has been talk of a re-make of this film, but it hasn't materialized yet.
The Strategic Bombing of Germany by Alan J. Levine
(Praeger, London, 1992) at page 56 gives the date of the raid
Director - Michael
Anderson
Screenplay - R. C. Sherriff
Awards – The film was nominated for the Best Special Effects
Oscar.
Released - May 24, 1955
Runtime – 2 hours 4 minutes
Starring –
Richard Todd as Wing Commander Guy Gibson
Michael Redgrave as Barnes Wallis
Ursula Jeans as Mrs Molly Wallis
Basil Sydney as Sir Arthur Harris
Patrick Barr as Captain Joseph "Mutt" Summers
Ernest Clark as Air Vice-Marshal The Honourable Ralph
Cochrane
Derek Farr as Group Captain John Whitworth
Charles Carson as Doctor
Stanley Van Beers as David Pye
Colin Tapley as Dr William Glanville
Frederick Leister as Committee Member
Eric Messiter as Committee Member
Laidman Browne as Committee Member
Raymond Huntley as National Physical Laboratory Official
Hugh Manning as Ministry of Aircraft Production Official
Edwin Styles as Observer at Trials
Hugh Moxey as Observer at Trials
Anthony Shaw as RAF Officer at Trials
Laurence Naismith as Farmer
Harold Siddons as Group Signals Officer
Frank Phillips as BBC Announcer
Brewster Mason as Flight Lieutenant Richard Trevor-Roper
Anthony Doonan as Flight Lieutenant Robert Hutchison
Nigel Stock as Flying Officer Frederick Spafford
Brian Nissen as Flight Lieutenant Torger Taerum
Robert Shaw as Flight Sergeant John Pulford
Peter Assinder as Pilot Officer Andrew Deering
Richard Leech as Squadron Leader Melvin "Dinghy"
Young
Richard Thorp as Squadron Leader Henry Maudslay
John Fraser as Flight Lieutenant John Hopgood
David Morrell as
Flight Lieutenant Bill Astell
Bill Kerr as Flight Lieutenant H. B. "Micky"
Martin
George Baker as Flight Lieutenant David Maltby
Ronald Wilson as Flight Lieutenant Dave Shannon
Denys Graham as Flying Officer Les Knight
Basil Appleby as Flight Lieutenant Bob Hay
Tim Turner as Flight Lieutenant Jack Leggo
Ewen Solon as Flight Sergeant G. E. Powell, crew chief
No comments:
Post a Comment