Dunkirk
Directed by Leslie Norman
Written by David Divine and W.P. Lipscomb from a novel by Trevor Dudley Smith and a book by Ewan Butler and J.S. Bradford
1958/UK/USA
Ealing Studios
First viewing/YouTube rental
[box] Merchant Seaman: It may be a phoney war to you, but it’s not to all the blokes at sea. Never has been.[/box]
This war history was the kind of excellent “sleeper” I am always hoping for.
This is a dramatization of the events surrounding the evacuation of over 300,000 British and Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. We follow three different stories. The briefest is press conferences and official conversations following the fate of the British army. We also focus on the home front. Bernard Lee plays a concerned citizen and Richard Attenborough plays a man who is more concerned with his wife and new baby than what he thinks of as a phony war. Both of these men are boat owners who will have to decide whether to put their vessels on the line.
The major drama comes from a small group of soldiers who have been separated from their company and must desperately try to cross enemy lines in an attempt to rejoin their comrades. John Mills is a corporal who must keep them moving.
This was just my cup of tea. It is the kind of moving historical drama that the British were so good at. The story is equal parts action and pathos. Richard Attenborough is becoming one of my favorite actors but the rest are no slouches either.
Trailer
