Dunkirk (1958)

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  • DUNKIRK


    DIRECTED BY LESLIE NORMAN
    PRODUCED BY MICHAEL BALCON/ MICHAEL FORLANG
    METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER



    Information From IMDb


    Plot Summary
    Two stories in one - an easygoing British Corporal in France
    finds himself responsible for the lives of his men when their officer is killed.
    He has to get them back to Britain somehow.
    Meanwhile, British civilians are being dragged into the war with
    Operation Dynamo, the scheme to get the French and
    British forces back from the Dunkirk beaches.
    Some come forward to help, others are less willing.
    Written by Paul Galpin


    Full Cast
    John Mills ... Cpl. 'Tubby' Bins
    Robert Urquhart ... Pvt. Mike
    Ray Jackson ... Pvt. Barlow
    Meredith Edwards ... Pvt. Dave Bellman
    Anthony Nicholls ... Military spokesman
    Bernard Lee ... Charles Foreman (British newspaper reporter)
    Michael Shillo ... Jouvet (French newspaper reporter)
    Richard Attenborough ... John Holden (Heron owner)
    Sean Barrett ... Frankie, (Holden employee)
    Victor Maddern ... Merchant seaman in pub
    Maxine Audley ... Diana Foreman
    Bud Flanagan ... Himself - Music Hall Performer
    Chesney Allen ... Himself - Music Hall Performer
    Kenneth Cope ... Lt. Lumpkin
    Denys Graham ... Pvt. Fraser
    Barry Foster ... Don R
    Warwick Ashton ... Battery sergeant major in France
    Peter Halliday ... Battery major in France
    Ronald Hines ... Pvt. Miles (battery crew)
    Roland Curram ... Pvt. Harper (battery crew)
    John Welsh ... Staff colonel
    Lloyd Lamble ... Staff colonel
    Cyril Raymond ... Gen. Viscount Gort, VC
    Nicholas Hannen ... Vice-Adm. Ramsey at Dover
    Eddie Byrne ... Commander (Tough's Yard)
    Patricia Plunkett ... Grace Holden
    Michael Gwynn ... Commander at Sheerness
    Michael Bates ... Froome
    Rodney Diak ... Pannet
    Fred Griffiths ... Old Sweet
    Dan Gressy ... Joe
    Christopher Rhodes ... Sergeant on the beaches
    Lionel Jeffries ... Medical colonel
    Harry Landis ... Dr. Lt. Levy
    John Horsley ... Padre
    Patrick Allen ... Sergeant on parade ground
    rest of cast listed alphabetically:
    Joss Ambler ... Small Boat Owner (uncredited)
    Neville Chamberlain ... Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
    Winston Churchill ... Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
    Bernard Cribbins ... Thirsty Sailor (uncredited)
    Liz Fraser ... Worker in Holden's Factory (uncredited)
    Barry Keegan ... Surgeon Left Behind (uncredited)
    Sam Kydd ... (uncredited)
    Frederick Piper ... Small Boat Owner (uncredited)
    Michael Shepley ... Bit Role (uncredited)
    Harold Siddons ... Doctor (uncredited)
    William Squire ... Captain (uncredited)
    Charles 'Bud' Tingwell ... Sergeant in Cookhouse (uncredited)
    Tim Turner ... Officer (line of men in sea) (uncredited)
    Mona Washbourne ... Worker Who Speaks to Holden (uncredited)
    Peter Williams ... Officer at Ramsey's H.Q. (uncredited)


    Writing Credits
    (in alphabetical order)
    J.S. Bradford book (as Major J.S. Bradford MBE MC)
    Ewan Butler book (as Lt. Col. Ewan Butler)
    David Divine screenplay
    W.P. Lipscomb screenplay
    Trevor Dudley Smith novel "The Big Pickup"


    Original Music
    Malcolm Arnold


    Cinematography
    Paul Beeson (director of photography)


    Trivia
    Jack Hawkins was asked to play Charles Foreman


    When the troopship taking the platoon home is bombed and sunk in Dunkirk harbour, the scene of the ship sinking is taken from the earlier film The Cruel Sea (1953) which depicts the sinking of HMS "Compass Rose".


    Last screen appearance of Joss Ambler.


    The term "U-S" means 'un-serviceable' and is a British Army term.


    Strand Quay, on the west side of the town of Rye, was used for the Dunkirk perimeter. In one shot the top of St. Mary's Parish Church may be spotted and in another we get a glimpse of the famous Mermaid Street in the background.


    Goofs
    * Errors in geography: In the shot when the small boats leave the boatyard, they are actually heading away from London and towards Teddington Weir.


    * Continuity: When the platoon come under air attack at the farm (and their officer is killed), the aircraft attacking them seen head on is a Blenheim, an RAF light bomber, where as the aircraft shown flying away is a German Junkers 88.


    * Revealing mistakes: The Vickers gun being fired by the Dunkirk rearguard is just having a belt of ammunition fed through it. Cartridges are still in the belt coming out of the gun (they would be ejected separately).


    * Revealing mistakes: During the artillery action early in the film, a tree falls over a few seconds before it is "hit" by a shell.


    Film Locations
    Camber Sands, Camber, East Sussex, England, UK
    Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK (studio)
    English Channel, Plymouth, Devon, England, UK (on Thames-side)
    Fingringhoe, Colchester, Essex, England, UK
    London, England, UK
    Rye, East Sussex, England, UK
    Sheerness Dockyards, Sheerness, Kent, England, U

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 11 times, last by ethanedwards ().

  • Dunkirk is a 1958 British war film directed by Leslie Norman
    and starring John Mills, Richard Attenborough and Bernard Lee.
    It was based on two novels: Elleston Trevor's The Big Pick-Up and
    Lt. Col. Ewan Hunter and Maj. J. S. Bradford's Dunkirk.[6]


    This week marks the 70th. anniversary of The Battle Of Britain,
    so a good time to feature some great British war movies.


    Dunkirk, a great classic British war movie,
    but then I would say that!!!


    Great acting from some of the best British actors,
    particuarly John Mills, Richard Attenborough and Bernard Lee.
    Duke would have been pleased to see one of his great heroes
    Winston Churchill also appearing in the film!


    Combined with good action footage, making
    for an overall dramatic war movie



    User Review


    Good account of the Dunkirk evacuation
    4 June 2007 | by jonesus (London, England)

    Quote

    This film is worth seeing as a good account of the Dunkirk evacuation. John Mills gives a fine performance. I agree with a previous comment that more time could have been devoted to the actual evacuation. However the time devoted to the group of UK soldiers moving through France helps to show conditions for the French people. Someone asked about where the Lock was. The Lock on the Thames where the small boatyard scenes were filmed is Teddington Lock. the suspension footbridge is still there as is the weir. Toughs Boatyard which is referred to in the film was on the River Thames at Teddington opposite the lock, it is now I believe demolished and been replaced by riverside apartments. Other scenes were filmed by the River Thames at Twickenham, along the embankment by Twickenham's Eel Pie Island. This still looks pretty much the same if you go there now.(Except for all the parked cars!

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited 5 times, last by ethanedwards ().




  • Hi Keith, Dunkirk is my alltime most favorite British made movie and im glad to also have found out that it was made by I think MGM British Studios so i have hopes it will get released here sometime-though I do have a DvD copy of it a person made fro me a few years ago. I wish they would also get around to releasing The Password Is Courage w/ Dirk Bogarde.

    Es Ist Verboten Mit Gefangenen In Einzelhaft Zu Sprechen..