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Sink the Bismarck! is a 1960 black-and-white war film based on the book The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck by C. S. Forester, and recounts the true story of the Royal Navy's attempts to find and sink the famous German battleship during World War II. It stars Kenneth More and Dana Wynter. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert. It was the inspiration for Johnny Horton's song, Sink the Bismarck. The film, however, is inaccurate in its portrayal of the actual historical events.
In 1941, the German battleship Bismarck leaves its base in Norway bound for the trans-Atlantic convoy routes. The British knew they must hunt her down, and sent a large naval force after her. The film depicts that hunt, including the sinking of HMS Hood, which culminates in the final destruction of the Bismarck by several Allied ships.
Much of the action of the film takes place not at sea, but in the Royal Navy operations centre deep below Whitehall, centring on the newly-appointed Director of Operations, Captain Shepard and his staff, particularly a WREN officer, Second Officer Anne Davies. Embittered because his last ship was sunk, he is initially aggressive towards them, but Shepard comes to increasingly rely on Davies's coolness and skill to plot the operation against the Bismarck. By the end of the film, he and Davies are on friendly terms (within professional limits) and he asks her to be his personal assistant. He then invites her to dinner (which turns out to be breakfast, as they've both lost track of time).
Cast
Kenneth More as Captain Jonathan Shepard
Carl Möhner as Captain Lindemann
Dana Wynter as 2nd Officer Anne Davis
Laurence Naismith as First Sea Lord
Karel Stepanek as Admiral Gunther Lutjens
Maurice Denham as Commander Richards
Mark Dignam as Captain, 'Ark Royal'
Michael Goodliffe as Captain Banister
Esmond Knight as Captain, 'Prince of Wales'
Edward R. Murrow as Himself
Trivia
Esmond Knight, who plays the captain of the HMS Prince of Wales, actually served as a gunnery officer on board her, and was badly injured during the battle with the Bismarck.
External links
1960 films | British films | Films based on actual events | World War II films
"Sink the Bismarck!"