Dunkirk (film)
Encyclopedia
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.
, the evacuation of surrounded British and French troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. It does so principally from the viewpoints of two people: a newspaper reporter and a soldier.
Corporal "Tubby" Binns (John Mills
), Lieutenant Lumpkin and their platoon return to their camp after blowing up a bridge, only to discover that their company has pulled out in the night, leaving them alone in France. One man and a truck have been left to wait for them, but he and Lumpkin are killed in a bomber attack, leaving Tubby in charge with no idea what the situation is. It is up to Tubby to keep his increasingly demoralised men on the move. Unsure of where to go, they dodge the advancing Germans
and reach an Royal Artillery
battery camp. They receive some food, before being ordered to go to Dunkirk, where the rest of the British Expeditionary Force
and tens of thousands of French soldiers are gathering, hoping to be evacuated. Eventually, they get a lift in an RAF
lorry and make it to the beaches.
Parallel to this action is the story of Charles Foreman (Bernard Lee), a pessimistic journalist who tries unsuccessfully to rouse his complacent readers before it is too late. With the Germans rapidly winning the Battle of France
and threatening to destroy the Allied forces bottled up around Dunkirk, the British Admiralty commandeers all available civilian boats to aid the evacuation. Foreman insists on taking his motorboat Vanity himself, despite warnings of the danger. Others follow his example. An acquaintance, Holden (Richard Attenborough
), a motor engineer and businessman self-satisfied with the profits he has made from the Phony War
, does the same with some reluctance. However, as time goes by, his lack of commitment melts away.
The men on the beaches are subjected to regular aerial bombing and strafing. Tubby and his men get aboard a ship, only to have it blown up and sunk before it can depart.
After ferrying soldiers to the larger vessels, Foreman's boat is destroyed by a bomber. He survives and is picked up by Holden in the Heron. When Herons motor seizes up, one of Tubby's men effects repairs, while Foreman and teenage crewman Frankie go ashore to survey the scene. Foreman and Tubby discuss who is responsible for the debacle. During a Sunday morning church parade, Foreman is fatally wounded in an attack by German aeroplanes. However, Holden, Tubby and his men make it safely back to Britain.
in south east England.The scene where the bridge was blown during the early part of the film was on the River Medway at Teston Bridge, Teston in Kent.
Wartime Dunkirk town centre was recreated using part of Rye Harbour, in Sussex, England.
A canal-type bridge was temporarily constructed over the upper harbour, leading on to the quayside. It was over this bridge that the refugees and troops poured into the 'town centre'.
Several scenes take place at this location, particularly a tracking shot following two British Army officers as they discuss the situation.
If you look carefully at the background to the scenes you can make out Rye Church, and also some old warehouses which still exist to this day, albeit in much restored condition. One of the warehouses was used as the interior for the 'Barn Scene' in the film.
During the shooting of the film in this area, some members of the cast, including John Mills, stayed at the George Hotel in Rye High Street, and regularly took their evening meals there.
War film
War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles...
directed by Leslie Norman
Les Norman
Leslie A. Norman was a British director and producer. His career spanned nearly fifty years, from 1930 until 1978, and in that time he tried his hand at many different jobs, including editor, producer, and writer...
and starring John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
, Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
and Bernard Lee
Bernard Lee
John Bernard Lee was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven James Bond films.-Life and career:...
. 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.
Plot
The film relates the story of Operation DynamoOperation Dynamo
The Dunkirk evacuation, commonly known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and the early hours of 3 June 1940, because the British, French and Belgian troops were...
, the evacuation of surrounded British and French troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. It does so principally from the viewpoints of two people: a newspaper reporter and a soldier.
Corporal "Tubby" Binns (John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
), Lieutenant Lumpkin and their platoon return to their camp after blowing up a bridge, only to discover that their company has pulled out in the night, leaving them alone in France. One man and a truck have been left to wait for them, but he and Lumpkin are killed in a bomber attack, leaving Tubby in charge with no idea what the situation is. It is up to Tubby to keep his increasingly demoralised men on the move. Unsure of where to go, they dodge the advancing Germans
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and reach an Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
battery camp. They receive some food, before being ordered to go to Dunkirk, where the rest of the British Expeditionary Force
British Expeditionary Force (World War II)
The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....
and tens of thousands of French soldiers are gathering, hoping to be evacuated. Eventually, they get a lift in an RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
lorry and make it to the beaches.
Parallel to this action is the story of Charles Foreman (Bernard Lee), a pessimistic journalist who tries unsuccessfully to rouse his complacent readers before it is too late. With the Germans rapidly winning the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
and threatening to destroy the Allied forces bottled up around Dunkirk, the British Admiralty commandeers all available civilian boats to aid the evacuation. Foreman insists on taking his motorboat Vanity himself, despite warnings of the danger. Others follow his example. An acquaintance, Holden (Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
), a motor engineer and businessman self-satisfied with the profits he has made from the Phony War
Phony War
The Phoney War was a phase early in World War II – in the months following Britain and France's declaration of war on Germany in September 1939 and preceding the Battle of France in May 1940 – that was marked by a lack of major military operations by the Western Allies against the German Reich...
, does the same with some reluctance. However, as time goes by, his lack of commitment melts away.
The men on the beaches are subjected to regular aerial bombing and strafing. Tubby and his men get aboard a ship, only to have it blown up and sunk before it can depart.
After ferrying soldiers to the larger vessels, Foreman's boat is destroyed by a bomber. He survives and is picked up by Holden in the Heron. When Herons motor seizes up, one of Tubby's men effects repairs, while Foreman and teenage crewman Frankie go ashore to survey the scene. Foreman and Tubby discuss who is responsible for the debacle. During a Sunday morning church parade, Foreman is fatally wounded in an attack by German aeroplanes. However, Holden, Tubby and his men make it safely back to Britain.
Cast
- John MillsJohn MillsSir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
as Cpl. "Tubby" Binns - Robert UrquhartRobert Urquhart (actor)Robert Urquhart was a Scottish character actor who mainly worked in British television during his career.He was born in Ullapool, Scotland on 16 October 1921, educated at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh and made his stage debut in 1947...
as Pvt. Mike - Ray Jackson as Pvt. Barlow
- Meredith EdwardsMeredith Edwards (actor)Gwilym Meredith Edwards was a Welsh character actor and writer.He was born in Rhosllannerchrugog, Denbighshire, Wales, the son of a collier. He became an actor in 1938, first with the Welsh National Theatre Company, then the Liverpool Playhouse...
as Pvt. Dave Bellman - Anthony NichollsAnthony Nicholls (actor)Anthony Nicholls was an English film, television, and stage actor.-Life and career:Nicholls was born Sydney Horace Nicholls on 16 October 1902 in Windsor, Berkshire, England, the son of Florence and photojournalist Horace Nicholls. He served in the Royal Artillery...
as Military spokesman - Bernard LeeBernard LeeJohn Bernard Lee was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven James Bond films.-Life and career:...
as Charles Foreman - Michael Shillo as Jouvet, a French reporter
- Richard AttenboroughRichard AttenboroughRichard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
as John Holden - Sean BarrettSean Barrett (actor)Seán Barrett is a British actor and voice actor.He began acting as a child appearing on BBC children's television and in films such as Bang! You're Dead, War and Peace, The Genie and Four Sided Triangle.Years later he made many appearances in television and films including ITV Television...
as Frankie - Victor MaddernVictor MaddernVictor Jack Maddern was an English actor.Born in Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex, Maddern was one of large group of dependable supporting actors that British film produced over the years....
as Merchant seaman in pub, who resents Holden's attitude - Maxine AudleyMaxine AudleyMaxine Audley was an English theatre and film actress. She made her professional stage debut in July 1940 at the Open Air Theatre. Throughout her career, Audley performed with both the Old Vic company and the Royal Shakespeare Company multiple times...
as Diana Foreman, Charles' wife - Bud FlanaganBud FlanaganBud Flanagan was a popular English music hall and vaudeville entertainer from the 1930s until the 1960s. Flanagan was famous as a wartime entertainer and his achievements were recognised when he was awarded the O.B.E. in 1960.- Family background :Flaganan was born Chaim Reuben Weintrop in...
as Himself - Chesney AllenChesney AllenChesney Allen was a popular English entertainer of the Second World War period. He is best remembered as part of the double act with Bud Flanagan, Flanagan and Allen.-Life and career:...
as Himself - Kenneth CopeKenneth CopeKenneth Cope is an English actor. He is most famous for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in Randall and Hopkirk , Jed Stone in Coronation Street and Ray Hilton in Brookside.- Career :...
as Lt. Lumpkin - Denys Graham as Pvt. Fraser
- Barry FosterBarry Foster (actor)Barry Foster was a British actor who appeared in numerous film roles and is known for his leading role as a Dutch detective in the ITV drama series, Van der Valk, which spanned five series over 20 years from 1972....
as Despatch Rider, who directs Tubby to the artillery camp - Peter HallidayPeter HallidayPeter Halliday is a Welsh actor.He is probably best known for his role as Dr. John Fleming in A for Andromeda and its sequel,...
as Battery major in France - Ronald HinesRonald HinesRonald Hines is a British television actor.He has had a lengthy career, but possibly his best known role was as the husband in three of the four series of Not in Front of the Children...
as Pvt. Miles (battery crew) - Roland CurramRoland CurramRoland Curram is a successful English actor.Curram was educated at Brighton College and has led a long film, television and theatre career. His appearances include Julie Christie's gay travelling companion in her Oscar-winning movie Darling and the expatriate Freddie in the BBC's short-lived soap...
as Pvt. Harper (battery crew) - John WelshJohn Welsh (actor)John Welsh was an Irish actor.After an early stage career in Dublin, Welsh moved into British film and television in the 1950s. His roles included James Forsyte in the 1967 BBC dramatisation of John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga, as well as the butler Merriman in The Duchess of Duke Street, Sgt...
as Staff colonel - Lloyd LambleLloyd LambleLloyd Nelson Lamble was an Australian actor who worked in theatre, television, radio and film. He lived and worked two-thirds of his life in the United Kingdom .- Personal life :...
as Staff colonel - Cyril RaymondCyril RaymondCyril William North Raymond MBE was a British character actor....
as General Viscount Gort, VC - Eddie ByrneEddie ByrneEddie Byrne was an Irish actor. Outside Ireland he is probably best known for his minor role as General Vanden Willard in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, but fans of cult sci-fi might also remember him as the skeptical Inspector Mulrooney in The Mummy and as the kindly Dr. Reginald Landers in...
as Commander (Tough's Yard) - Patricia PlunkettPatricia PlunkettPatricia Plunkett was a British film actress.She was married to the actor Tim Turner, and she was active from 1947 to 1961.-Selected filmography:...
as Grace Holden, John's wife - Michael GwynnMichael GwynnMichael Gwynn was an English actor. He attended Mayfield College near Mayfield, East Sussex. During the Second World War he served in East Africa as a major and was adjutant to the 2nd Battalion of the King's African Rifles.He is perhaps best remembered in contemporary culture as the shyster Lord...
as Commander at Sheerness - Michael BatesMichael Bates (actor)Michael Bates was a British actor born in Jhansi, United Provinces, India.-Biography:Bates served as a Major serving with the Brigade of Gurkhas in Burma before his discharge at the end of World War II...
as Froome - Harry LandisHarry LandisHarry Landis is a British actor. He has had a long career in British television and film and is known for playing cockney-Jewish roles....
as Dr. Levy, a military doctor working on the beach
Production
The film's beach sequences were shot at Camber SandsCamber Sands
For historical information on the area, see Camber articleCamber Sands is a beach at the village of Camber , East Sussex, England...
in south east England.The scene where the bridge was blown during the early part of the film was on the River Medway at Teston Bridge, Teston in Kent.
Wartime Dunkirk town centre was recreated using part of Rye Harbour, in Sussex, England.
A canal-type bridge was temporarily constructed over the upper harbour, leading on to the quayside. It was over this bridge that the refugees and troops poured into the 'town centre'.
Several scenes take place at this location, particularly a tracking shot following two British Army officers as they discuss the situation.
If you look carefully at the background to the scenes you can make out Rye Church, and also some old warehouses which still exist to this day, albeit in much restored condition. One of the warehouses was used as the interior for the 'Barn Scene' in the film.
During the shooting of the film in this area, some members of the cast, including John Mills, stayed at the George Hotel in Rye High Street, and regularly took their evening meals there.