Rent Sink the Bismarck (1960)

Great WW2 Naval Film - Sink the Bismarck review by GI

Shot in a documentary style this is another of those great British war films of the 1950s and early 60s that pushed the propaganda a little but are still exciting little films filled with images and telling a story that is filled with a cultural nostalgia. This one recreates the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck, a flag ship of the Third Reich that attempted to break out into the Atlantic where it was to wreak havoc on British shipping. Winston Churchill personally ordered its destruction at any cost. Kenneth More plays the fictional Captain Shepard who has some emotional hang ups and takes charge in the Admiralty Operations Room ably assisted by the delectable Dana Wynter. The use of actual footage and very advanced model work makes for an exciting sea battle film and some quite interesting inserted real footage for a British film of its time including some distinctive mouthed swearing and some grisly deaths. The story of the Battle of the Denmark Straits and the sinking of HMS Hood is told more or less accurately and the film is edited to create a memorable naval battle film. Worth seeking out if you've never seen it. I have a fondness for these British war films so I maybe biased but this is a little gem and made at a time when the British film industry was still something very special.

Naval War. - Sink the Bismarck review by Steve

The last of the post 1945 cycle of black and white British World War II films which established the popular image of a generation of male stars. In this case Kenneth More as the super-brain behind naval intelligence, fighting the German navy in the Atlantic, and of course, plotting the demise of their famously unsinkable battleship.

The bulk of the film takes place in the underground nerve centre in London. Most of the scenes away from HQ are with the German officers on the bridge of the Bismarck. This saves money, but the action scenes, when they come, are extremely well realised. At times the realistic, procedural style of the film is a bit dry. And means a lot of talk.

This is principally a flagwaver that celebrates one of the crucial achievements of the war, and recognises the contributions of those involved. More's (fictitious) character is officious, but working for the right side. His adversary on the Bismarck (Karel Stepanek) is a sentimental Nazi who undermines his cause with his stubborn, irrational hubris.

Neither is likeable. They are promoted because in war, the outcome is everything. Scrape off enough superficial patriotism, and this begins to feel like an antiwar scenario; the skirmish seriously damages both sides. The real hero is Dana Wynter as a key backroom facilitator. Other than the spies, she is one of the few female role models in this era of WWII films.