SINK THE BISMARCK! [1960 / 2019] [EUREKA! Entertainment] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] The Greatest Naval Epic of Them All!
One of the finest British war films ever made, ‘SINK THE BISMARK!’ tells the true story of one of World War II s most notorious sea battles.
In the Spring of 1941, Nazi Germany s greatest battleship the Bismarck, scourge of Atlantic shipping, is pinned down at her anchorage in Norway. Making a break for freedom and the safety of air cover from the Luftwaffe, the great ship is chased by the Royal Navy, led by the Admiralty s Chief of Operations, Captain Jonathan Shepard [Kenneth More], and WRNS Second Officer Anne Davis [Dana Wynter].
Directed by the late Lewis Gilbert [‘Alfie’ and ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’]. ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ received acclaim for its authenticity and nail-biting combat sequences. EUREKA! Entertainment is proud to present the film in its UK debut on Blu-ray.
PRESS: "SINK THE BISMARCK! is a first-rate film re-creation of a thrilling historical event" Variety "this fine film fully captures the tensions, dangers and complexities of battle" and Radio Times "a viewer could not ask for greater authenticity." The New York Times.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1960 Laurel Awards: Nominated: Golden Laurel Award for Top Action Drama [4th place]. 1961 Directors Guild of America: Nominated: DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for Lewis Gilbert.
FILM FACT No.2: ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ was the inspiration of the Johnny Horton's popular 1960 song, "Sink the Bismarck." The film had its Royal World Premiere in the presence of the Duke of Edinburgh at the Odeon Leicester Square on the 11th February, 1960. ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ was made before 1975, when the British code-breaking at Bletchley Park was declassified, so it did not reveal that Captain Jonathan Shepard's played by Kenneth More and his hunches about the movements of the Bismarck were supported by intelligence. The film has been criticized for its portrayal of German Admiral Günther Lütjens, who is portrayed as a stereotypical Nazi, committed to Nazism and crazed in his undaunted belief that Bismarck is unsinkable. In reality, German Admiral Günther Lütjens did not agree with Nazi policies; along with two other navy commanders, he had publicly protested against the brutality of anti-Semitic crimes during Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass in 1938.
Cast: Kenneth More, Dana Wynter, Carl Möhner, Laurence Naismith, Geoffrey Keen, Karel Stepanek, Michael Hordern, Maurice Denham, Michael Goodliffe, Esmond Knight, Jack Watling, Jack Gwillim, Mark Dignam, Ernest Clark, John Horsley, Peter Burton, Sydney Tafler, John Stuart, Walter Hudd, Sean Barrett, Edward R. Murrow [American radio and TV reporter], Robert Arnold (uncredited), Peter Avella (uncredited), Del Baker (uncredited), Michael Balfour (uncredited), John Barron (uncredited), Richard Beale (uncredited), Victor Beaumont (uncredited), Michael Beint (uncredited), Brandon Brady (uncredited), Johnny Briggs (uncredited), Anthony Brothers (uncredited), Robert Brown (uncredited), Mark Burns (uncredited), Max Butterfield (uncredited), Dennis Carnell (uncredited), Roy Castle (uncredited), Peter Cellier (uncredited), Donald Churchill (uncredited), Michael Collins (uncredited), Eric Corrie (uncredited), George Curtis (uncredited), Robert Desmond (uncredited), Peter Dyneley (uncredited), Clifford Elkin (uncredited), John Flint (uncredited), Peter Forbes-Robertson (uncredited), Tom Gill (uncredited), Harold Goodwin (uncredited), Walter Gotell (uncredited), Kathryn Greenaway (uncredited), Cameron Hall (uncredited), John G. Heller (uncredited), David Hemmings (uncredited), Ian Hendry (uncredited), Hubert Hill (uncredited), Ronald Hines (uncredited), Adolf Hitler (archive footage) (uncredited), Alfred Hoffman (uncredited), Charles Houston (uncredited), Glyn Houston (uncredited), Norman Johns (uncredited), Patrick Jordan (uncredited), Edward Judd (uncredited), Sam Kydd (uncredited), Hugh Latimer (uncredited), Bernard Lee (uncredited), George Leech (uncredited), Ronald Leigh-Hunt (uncredited), Harry Locke (uncredited), Ned Lynch (uncredited), Sean Lynch (uncredited), Barry MacGregor (uncredited), Victor Maddern (uncredited), Colin McKenzie (uncredited), Hugh Moxey (uncredited), Russell Napier (uncredited), Anthony Oliver (uncredited), Joe Phelps (uncredited), Olaf Pooley (uncredited), George Pravda (uncredited), Robin Ray (uncredited), Edwin Richfield (uncredited), Robert Rietty [Captain Lindemann voice] (uncredited), Michael Ripper (uncredited), Pat Ryan (uncredited), Michael Sarne (uncredited), Frederick Schiller (uncredited), Norman Shelley [Winston Churchill voice] (uncredited), Julian Somers (uncredited), Guy Standeven (uncredited), Graham Stark (uncredited), Gordon Sterne (uncredited), John Stride (uncredited), Fred Stroud (uncredited), Donald Tandy (uncredited), Jack Taylor (uncredited), Peter Taylor (uncredited), Reg Thomason (uncredited), Noel Trevarthen (uncredited), Ernst Walder (uncredited), John H. Watson (uncredited), Ian Whittaker (uncredited) and Brian Worth (uncredited)
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Producer: John Brabourne
Screenplay: Edmund H. North (screen story/screenplay) and C.S. Forester (novel)
Composer: Clifton Parker
Cinematography: Christopher George Joseph Challis, B.S.C., F.R.P.S. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Black-and-White)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (CinemaScope)
Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
English: 1.0 LPCM Original Mono Audio
Subtitles: English SDH
Running Time: 97 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: 20th Century Fox / EUREKA! Entertainment
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ [1960] is a fact-based Second World War drama, charting the mission to track down and eliminate the pride of the German fleet, a fearsome battleship devastating British vessels in the North Atlantic. The film starts with a clip of actual German newsreel footage from 14 February 1939, when Nazi Germany’s largest and most powerful battleship is launched in a ceremony at Hamburg with Adolf Hitler in attendance. 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 that two ships are about to break out of the Baltic and into the North Atlantic to attack convoys.
Based on the book “The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck” by C. S. Forester, and receiving great acclaim for its authenticity and nail-biting combat sequences upon release, ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ features actual combat footage, as well as real-life cruiser HMS Belfast (now preserved in London), utilised for filming to depict the Royal Navy warships involved in Bismarck’s pursuit.
Director Lewis Gilbert may be best remembered for his sterling work on the James Bond film franchise that included ‘You Only Live Twice,’ ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ and ‘Moonraker.’ Lewis Gilbert also directed the film ‘Alfie’ but in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s he cut his directorial teeth on a series of war feature films that were both ground-breaking and thrilling in their own understated way.
‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ was made at Pinewood studios and financed by 20th Century Fox the film producers were able to call on the favours of Lord Mountbatten who at the time was the Navy’s First Sealord and was friends to one of the producers which enabled them to get access to naval facilities as locations as well as real ships which they were able to destroy as the ships were destined to be scrapped anyway.
Many of these ships in the film were interspersed with stock footage and some fantastic models and miniatures work. Well, we say miniatures, the Bismarck model was 20 foot long and was shot in the studios tank and its rear cyclorama was disguised by smoke to replicate the poor water conditions seen in that the battle took place and the effects are almost seamless and certainly still stand up well even today in an age well before the over saturation we have of CGI today.
‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ is a perfect example of Lewis Gilbert's ability to tell a tale of global conflict in an intimate and involving way. The film is a fictionalised retelling of the real life tale of one of the Second World War's most notorious sea battles it remains one of the greatest British war films ever made.
Announced in 1939 and finally unleashed into North Atlantic waters in 1941, it was a game-changer in the conflict between the Germans and the Allies. Nazi Germany's greatest battleship, the Bismarck was the beast of the battle, the weapon that overpowered any ship that dared to take on its mighty firepower. Faced with its awesome power, British forces were left to scramble around trying to find a tactical way to bring it down.
In the spring of 1941, a moment of opportunity arises when the Bismarck becomes pinned down at her anchorage in Norway. Making a desperate bid for freedom under the cover of the circling Luftwaffe, the great ship is chased down by the Royal Navy, led by chief of operations Captain Jonathan Shepard [Kenneth More] who is a fine example of a leader who grapples with the conflict in typical stiff-upper-lip fashion, and WRNS Second Officer Anne Davis [Dana Wynter] who sparkles as his second officer to come up with his plan for victory.
By pure good fortune, Lewis Gilbert managed to secure full cooperation from the admiralty, which just happened to be in the process of retiring an entire fleet of WWII ships at the time of the film's production. As a result, we get to see that rarest of Second World War film treats – an actual historical story unfolding on real ships with genuine guns. That authenticity adds to the grittiness of the story and that rare sense of reality combined with some excellent model work make the sea sequences particularly memorable and ground-breaking.
There's a refreshing focus on the men that are left at home, again an unusual thing for an old war movie to zoom in on, and even the Germans, so often written off in these type of films as super-efficient cold-hearted war mongers, come across as believable human characters caught up in a terrible conflict.
Placed alongside ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ are the other classic war films like ‘The Cruel Sea’ and the ‘Dam Busters,’ this British war film ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ is its finest. Shot in crisp black-and-white, it may lack the showiness of some of its contemporaries, but there's a strong-willed honesty about this film that sets it apart from the seafaring crowd. Stylish, tense and genuinely thrilling at times, it's a film crying out for a modern remake.
‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ is part of EUREKA! Entertainment series and rightly so because its great war film and is now on this Blu-ray for the first time. A little thin on extras, but it does have the Original Theatrical Trailer and of course it’s best feature is the featurette with Film Historian Sheldon Hall talking about the film which is both informative and insightful. Much like ‘Ice Cold in Alex,’ ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ is one of those old Second World War films that are great to watch on a Sunday afternoon. This is a truly classic Second World War film that still involves, convinces and excites the senses.
This film was based upon actual operations against the German battleship “Bismarck.” Grateful acknowledgement is made to the Admiralty for their generous help, advice and co-operation. The character called Captain Jonathan Shepard is completely fictitious and is no way intended to depict Captain R.A.B. Edwards, who is now Admiral Sir Ralph Alan Bevan Edwards, K.C.B. C.B.E., who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet and at the time of the operations against the German battleship “Bismarck,” was the actual Director of the Operations Division for the Home Fleet at the time of the engagement of the time of the “Bismarck” engagement.
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Blu-ray Image Quality – EUREKA! Entertainment presents us the film ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ with a wonderful Black-and-White 1080p image and is of course enhanced with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The image is sharp and detail is very distinct, the contrast is gorgeously pitched with crisp black levels and good shadow detail, there is a fine film grain visible, this does mean the 35mm film stock original war footage, which is softer and sporting coarser grain, which of course blowing up that 1.37:1 to 2.35:1 aspect ratio is the reason the image quality is 480i, but still looks good as adds to the dramatic scenes in the film.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – EUREKA! Entertainment brings us the ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ with two audio options and they are 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio and 1.0 LPCM Original Mono Audio experience, frankly there is not a huge difference between the two audio tracks, but I thought the 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio had the edge, as I felt it was a much sharper brighter sound experience, but overall both are very clear with the expected restrictions in their dynamic range and while I didn't detect any serious separation on the stereo audio track, it does have just a tad more breadth and punch to its audio performance than the original mono audio, but of course it is all up to your choice what audio you want to watch the film in.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Film Historian Sheldon Hall on ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ [2019] [1080p] [1.78:1 / 2.35:1] [34:06] Film Historian Sheldon Hall from Sheffield University lecturer, who offers a revealing insight into the film’s production of ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ and on top of all that, Sheldon Hall provides a typically thorough look at the film and its making, discussing how the project came about, how the filmmakers secured naval cooperation, the function of the character of Captain Jonathan Shepard in the drama, the fact that the various antagonists and protagonists never meet each other, the portrayal of the German characters, the film's historical accuracy. Sheldon Hall also talks about the popularity of the British Second World War films with the cinema going public in the 1950’s, and one historian has counted as many as 85 films specifically about the Second World War, that were made at the end of the Second World War and right through to the 1960’s, and the war films that were top of the box office success were ‘The Cruel Sea’ [1953], ‘The Dam Busters’ [1955], ‘The Battle of the River Plate’ [1956], ‘The Bridge On The River Kwai’ [1957], ‘Dunkirk’ [1958] and of course the biggest box office success was ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ [1960]. Despite these war films were a great success with the British public, they were not particularly well regarded by the critics, and only really just about tolerated them and made exception with the film ‘The Bridge On The River Kwai’ and on top of all that, the critics thought these war films in general were very cliché ridden, and feeling these films were very nostalgic and harking back to the past, whereas films made during the Second World War, were more for the propaganda purpose, but tried to give an overall spectrum of British life and of course its society. But in the 1950’s, war films tended to emphasise the Officer contingent, rather than the ordinary seamen or soldiers, and was totally riddled with stereotypical class structure, and especially the lower class were treated as comic relief. Sheldon Hall finally gets round to talks about the film ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ and originated around 1958 and producer John Brabourne (1924 – 2005), who originally was a production manager for Powell and Pressburger and ‘The Battle of the River Plate,’ which again was an extremely popular film and then went onto make his first feature film for 20th Century Fox entitled ‘Harry Black’ in 1958, and then John Brabourne commissioned the novel “The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck” by C.S. Forester to be adapted for the screenplay, and on top of all that, C.S. Forester interviewed as many people involved in the engagement of the sinking of the Bismarck and also had a good working arrangement with the British Admiralty, but C.S. Forester was asked to do the screenplay, but it was rejected, so instead decided to bring out his other novel entitled “Hunting The Bismarck” and was renamed for America as “The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck.” So John Brabourne then went onto to commission an American screenwriter Edmund H. North to adapt the screenplay from C.S. Forester’s novel, which they felt was to be very dry and very matter of fact, whereas they wanted the screenplay to reflect a much more emotional engaging event in the Second World War. ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ for 20th Century Fox was at the time a very expensive film to finance for the UK, whereas if the film had been made in America with 20th Century Fox they would think the budget was very low and the film ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ was made for $1.3,000,000. For producer John Brabourne, he had a particular advantage in making the film ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!,’ because his Father in Law was Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and during the Second World War, he was the Supreme Allied Commander, and at the same time with the filming of ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!,’ John Brabourne was able to get help from Louis Mountbatten who was great at facilitating access to the Admiralty, especially scenes outside of the Admiralty House in Whitehall in London were arranged. They were also able to film on the existing surviving ships involved in the conflict as well as the actual locations were filmed from three ships, including HMS Vanguard. They were also able to film on the ships that get seriously and deliberately damaged, because they were due to be scrapped anyway, and the really dramatic scenes on the destruction of the Bismarck, were actually filmed on a Royal Navy ships that were also due to be scrapped. To get someone to direct ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ John Brabourne wanted Lewis Gilbert, who of course was a veteran film director of the British film industry, who made his first feature film in 1949, and later on went onto direct four films about the Second World War and they were ‘Albert R.N.’ [1953], ‘The Sea Shall Not Have Them’ [1954], ‘Carve Her Name With Pride’ [1958] and ‘Reach For The Sky’ [1956] which was Lewis Gilbert’s biggest box office success and of course it starred Kenneth More. Then later on Lewis Gilbert went onto direct even more successful films and they were ‘Educating Rita’ [1983], ‘Shirley Valentine’ [1989] and of course three James Bond films. Of course what helped the film ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ a great success was of course having the leading actor Kenneth More who of course was the right choice, and the scene you see Kenneth More break down and cry, because his son had been rescued, people thought this scene would not work, well they were proved wrong, as it was a very powerful emotional scene, showing someone of his character who is a stickler for rules and regulations 100% is in my mind a real human person and it led me to shed a tear or two. To make a film like ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ even more realistic is because Lewis Gilbert and Kenneth More actually served in the Second World War. Another brilliant aspect of ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ was having Edward R. Murrow as the broadcaster in the film, and this came about because before the making of the film, the BBC invited him over to broadcast a special series, and provided live radio broadcasts entitled “London After Dark” where he would broadcast live from Trafalgar Square in London, a broadcast now world-famous. "This is Trafalgar Square and the noise you hear at the moment is the sound of the air-raid siren," Edward R. Murrow said calmly as he described the scene. So John Brabourne and Lewis Gilbert invited him over to London and took Edward R. Murrow to lunch, to persuade him to appear in the film as a sort of onscreen narrator and providing links throughout the film, especially with some of the dramatic scenes in the film. Sheldon Hall informs us that 20th Century Fox insisted that all of their films should be filmed in CinemaScope, whatever the subject; because CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens used from 1953 to 1967, and was by French inventor Henri Chrétien and adopted by Spyros P. Skouras, the president of 20th Century Fox, in 1953 and of course it really works well for the film ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!,’ especially with the very dramatic battle scenes with the Bismarck, and of course it had to be filmed in black-and-white so they could incorporate the 35mm film stock shots filmed in the Second World War, and of course blowing up a 35mm 1.37:1 aspect ratio image to 2.35:1 aspect ratio image is going to make those scenes very grainy, but again I feel they add to the atmosphere of the film, especially the battle scenes. The scenes of the ships in conflict, especially with the engagement with the Bismarck, were all models, and they were extra-large for much finer detail and the large models of the major warships were 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. Bismarck's anti-aircraft guns, however, are represented by stock footage of British QF 2-pounder naval guns and of course with the ships that were blown up, they filmed at high speed to make it look more realistic, which I thought was technically impressive, as did Sheldon Hall also thought made the scenes look realistic. At that point we come to the end of this special feature interview with Sheldon Hall, and informs us that the film had even great success when the film was first shown on BBC Television and got 16,000,000 viewers and also had a mild success with American audiences at the cinema. So all in all, this was a very nice informative special feature and Sheldon Hall was very engaging and gives us a fascinating insight on all aspect of the film ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ and is well worth viewing.
Theatrical Trailer [1960] [480i] [2.35:1] [3:03] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ But sounds as if it was an American Original Theatrical Trailer judging by the voiceover and you get to hear the song “SINK THE BISMARCK” sung by Johnny Horton and had the lyrics I feel were hastily rewritten by someone with no knowledge of the concept of making the song lines rhyme: "We've got to sink the Bismarck to the bottom of the sea. They find the German battleship that's making such a fuss." Ask the survivors of the Bismarck's attacked on the HMS Hood and see if they thought it was making "a fuss."
Finally, ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ is one of the finest British war films ever made, and tells the true story of one of the Second World War’s most notorious sea battles and received acclaim for its authenticity and nail-biting combat sequences. ‘SINK THE BISMARCK!’ is a gripping blend of cat-and-mouse tension, explosive action and also shows very typical British low-key character drama. The post-war British film industry relied heavily on "now the story can be told" accounts of engagements that helped turn the Second World War in favour of the Allies, 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. There are necessary caricatures on both sides, but at the same time there is a respect for the enemy that is missing in many previous flag-wavers. An unusually restrained Kenneth More is first-rate as director of operations at the Admiralty. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
