"I don't care how you do it. You MUST sink the Bismarck."
Admittedly, my own experience of the stock footage, opening the film, of Hitler launching the Bismarck was shaped by some rather hilarious automatic English subtitles of the German dialogue, but this was the only laughable moment. Every other moment was gripping and tension-filled as the full might of the Royal Navy- including the Home Fleet- wrestled with the difficult gambles and ten dimensional chess-playing that was necessary to sink the premier asset of the German navy.
Using Ed Morrow as a kind of chorus was clever; he's an identification figure for any Americans watching as well as being a handy means of exposition. It's also a solid decision to base the film around two fictionalised figures- the cold Captain Shepard who is secretly covering up emotional vulnerability and the coolly competent yet emotionally inteligent Anne Davies- as well as a more cartoonish Nazi in Lutyens than was perhaps the case historically. Those who served as officers for Nazi Germany were enemies of humanity, and attempts to protect Jewish people under their command do not change this. He and those like him thught to defend evil.
This may not be a great film, but is an impressive one, and both Kenneth More and Dana Winter deserve a great deal of credit.
Even for a 1960 film, the portrayal of Admiral Lutjens is clearly meant villainous to the point of a Bond villain. He just is stereotyped as the typical Nazi - a Hitler sycophant, careerist and wild-eyed fanatic. From what I have read, this was most certainly not the historical Lutjens, who was reportedly protested against the cruelty towards Jews and even reportedly refused to give the Nazi salute sometimes. Notwithstanding he still fought for the wrong cause, whether he felt it to be his duty or not, I wonder if an accurate depiction of Lutjens would have, in my opinion, added interest to the plot.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that's the way things were going to be in 1960, a mere decade and a half after the end of the war and the discovery of the extermination camps- nuance as to the motives and beliefs of those who fought for Nazi Germany was not going to be much of a thing, with a possible caveat around Rommel. But I'm reminded of Roger's outburst in The Great Escape- if elements of the military establishment don't like the Nazis, they can overthrow them. Up until then, they're enemies. And he wasn't wrong!
ReplyDeleteUltimately, that sort of portrayal wouldn't have fit the vibe of this film. But it's a theme perhaps worth exploring more deeply elsewhere.