I had missed this on Italian TV a couple of times in the past and didn't purchase the DVD on account of its lack of substantial supplements. Thankfully, my local DVD outlet added it to his collection and I took this opportunity to finally catch up with yet another classic war film.
A meticulously-detailed reconstruction of the famed German battleship's destruction by the British navy (after this had suffered mightily at its hand), the film was purposely shot in black-and-white - when most war epics were being made in splashy color - in order to insert stock footage of the real battle...even if this was eventually stretched-out to fit the actual movie's widescreen ratio! For this same reason, however, the film tends to lack excitement (outside of its sea battles) given the relentless device of documenting the movements of the various ships on both fronts - which, eventually, becomes quite confusing to keep track of!
That said, the film makes the most of an impressive international cast (led by that ever-reliable personification of the 'stiff upper lip' school, Kenneth More, who has to sort out not only the Germans but a personal dilemma as well!) with enough familiar faces - even if, sometimes, one is hard-pressed to remember their name - to fill out the entire crew of the titular vessel itself!! Karel Stepanek is the German Admiral at the helm of the "Bismarck" blinded as much by the seeming indestructibility of his ship as the vainglorious promises of his beloved Fuehrer, while Edward R. Murrow (brought back to prominence by GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK [2005]) appears intermittently throughout - as himself - to report the latest developments of the seafaring 'chess game'.
The behind-the-scenes crew is, likewise, a who's who of British cinema's Golden Age, each offering his solidly professional contribution. Still, it's quite amazing that director Gilbert was up for the DGA award for his work on this film!
A meticulously-detailed reconstruction of the famed German battleship's destruction by the British navy (after this had suffered mightily at its hand), the film was purposely shot in black-and-white - when most war epics were being made in splashy color - in order to insert stock footage of the real battle...even if this was eventually stretched-out to fit the actual movie's widescreen ratio! For this same reason, however, the film tends to lack excitement (outside of its sea battles) given the relentless device of documenting the movements of the various ships on both fronts - which, eventually, becomes quite confusing to keep track of!
That said, the film makes the most of an impressive international cast (led by that ever-reliable personification of the 'stiff upper lip' school, Kenneth More, who has to sort out not only the Germans but a personal dilemma as well!) with enough familiar faces - even if, sometimes, one is hard-pressed to remember their name - to fill out the entire crew of the titular vessel itself!! Karel Stepanek is the German Admiral at the helm of the "Bismarck" blinded as much by the seeming indestructibility of his ship as the vainglorious promises of his beloved Fuehrer, while Edward R. Murrow (brought back to prominence by GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK [2005]) appears intermittently throughout - as himself - to report the latest developments of the seafaring 'chess game'.
The behind-the-scenes crew is, likewise, a who's who of British cinema's Golden Age, each offering his solidly professional contribution. Still, it's quite amazing that director Gilbert was up for the DGA award for his work on this film!