Sink the Bismarck! review
Review:
In this 1960 World War II film, Captain Jonathan Shepherd plots strategy in a war room in London in a desperate attempt to guide the British Royal Navy to victory over Germany's mightiest battleship, the Bismarck. So important is the mission to keeping open vital supply routes that Churchill himself has given the order: "Sink the Bismarck!" The action in the underground war room, where Shepherd maneuvers model ships like chess pieces, is as taut as the action at sea as outgunned British ships close in on the fire-breathing Bismarck in May of 1941. It is the biggest, fastest, and most powerful warship in the world. But Shepherd is not only fighting the Nazis; he is also fighting demons within after his wife was lost in an air raid and his son was reported missing in action. Kenneth More portrays Shepherd as an aloof, quick-tempered strategist who struggles to keep his feelings in check while making risky decisions affecting the lives of thousands. His performance is outstanding. Ably portraying his sympathetic assistant is Dana Wynter, who understands his inner turmoil and helps him come to grips with it -- and the Bismarck. All the other cast members also perform well, except for Karl Stepanek. As Admiral Lutiens, he is too much the militant German Ubermensch -- a cardboard cutout who idolizes the Fuehrer and seeks only the glory of the Reich and himself. In spite of the limited film technology of 1960, the special effects are good -- in particular the scene showing the destruction of Britain's best battleship, H.M.S. Hood, and the final attack against the Bismarck. The film moves along nicely, never lingering too long in the war room or too long on the decks of the German and British ships. When communications are exchanged between the ships and the war room, suspense builds. Have the Nazis sunk another ship? Will the latest stratagem work? by Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
