THE DAMBUSTERS (1955)

Filmed in black and white in order that actual footage of the testing of Barnes Wallis's revolutionary new bomb could be slotted seamlessly into the film. This results in the film having a semi-documentary feel about it.


Some trivia surrounding the film: The final scenes where the bombs are dropped was the inspiration for the climactic battle against the Death Star in Star Wars. The make up supervisor and head of photographyaphy on this movie also worked on Star Wars. The name of Gibson's dog in the movie is Nigger(as it was in reality) but for American release this was changed to Trigger. However the Americans retained the word, Nigger for the code word in the ops room.

The cast are all excellent - top honours go to Michael Redgrave who plays the scatty scientists who invents the bombs and British heart throb Richard Todd as Wing Commander Gibson.

The film is available on DVD separately or in the OPTIMUM WAR CLASSIC VOL 1 box set, bundled with The Cruel Sea and The Colditz story. The disc I watched was given away recently with the Daily Mail - dreadful newspaper but they give away more freebie discs than any other UK newspaper. And the discs are worth the price of the rag.

To conclude an excellent movie from a time when the BRITS had a vibrant film industry all of their own.