DramaWar

Dunkirk

A British Corporal in France finds himself responsible for the lives of his men when their officer is killed. He has to get them back to Britain somehow. Meanwhile, British civilians are being dragged into the war with Operation Dynamo, the scheme to get the French and British forces back from the Dunkirk beaches. Some come forward to help, others were less willing.

Release Date : 1958-03-20

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Ealing StudiosMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Cpl Tubby Binns

Original Name : John Mills

Gender : Male

Character Name : John Holden

Original Name : Richard Attenborough

Gender : Male

Character Name : Charles Foreman

Original Name : Bernard Lee

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mike

Original Name : Robert Urquhart

Gender : Male

Character Name : Barlow

Original Name : Ray Jackson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Private Miles

Original Name : Ronald Hines

Gender : Male

Character Name : Frankie

Original Name : Sean Barrett

Gender : Male

Character Name : Harper

Original Name : Roland Curram

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dave Bellman

Original Name : Meredith Edwards

Gender : Male

Character Name : Froome

Original Name : Michael Bates

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pannet

Original Name : Rodney Diak

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jouvet

Original Name : Michael Shillo

Gender : Male

Character Name : Commander (Tough's Yard)

Original Name : Eddie Byrne

Gender : Male

Character Name : Diana

Original Name : Maxine Audley

Gender : Female

Character Name : Colonel (Medical Officer)

Original Name : Lionel Jeffries

Gender : Male

Character Name : Merchant Seaman

Original Name : Victor Maddern

Gender : Male

Character Name : Military Spokesman

Original Name : Anthony Nicholls

Gender : Male

Character Name : Himself

Original Name : Bud Flanagan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Himself

Original Name : Chesney Allen

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lieutenant Lumpkin

Original Name : Kenneth Cope

Gender : Male

Character Name : Fraser

Original Name : Denys Graham

Gender : Male

Character Name : Don R

Original Name : Barry Foster

Gender : Male

Character Name : Battery Sergeant Major

Original Name : Warwick Ashton

Gender : Male

Character Name : Battery Major

Original Name : Peter Halliday

Gender : Male

Character Name : Staff Colonel

Original Name : John Welsh

Gender : Male

Character Name : Staff Colonel

Original Name : Lloyd Lamble

Gender : Male

Character Name : General The Viscount Gort V.C.

Original Name : Cyril Raymond

Gender : Male

Character Name : Vice Admiral Ramsay

Original Name : Nicholas Hannen

Gender : Male

Character Name : Grace

Original Name : Patricia Plunkett

Gender : Female

Character Name : Commander (Sheerness)

Original Name : Michael Gwynn

Gender : Male

Character Name : Old Sweat

Original Name : Fred Griffiths

Gender : Male

Character Name : Joe

Original Name : Dan Cressey

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sergeant on the beaches

Original Name : Christopher Rhodes

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dr. Levy

Original Name : Harry Landis

Gender : Male

Character Name : Padre

Original Name : John Horsley

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sergeant on Parade Ground

Original Name : Patrick Allen

Gender : Male

Character Name : Worker in Holden's Factory (uncredited)

Original Name : Liz Fraser

Gender : Female

Character Name : Paddle Steamer Captain (uncredited)

Original Name : Michael Brennan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Thirsty Sailor (uncredited)

Original Name : Bernard Cribbins

Gender : Male

Character Name : German Soldier (uncredited)

Original Name : John G. Heller

Gender : Male

Character Name : Boat Owner Spokesman (uncredited)

Original Name : John Phillips

Gender : Male

Character Name : Captain (uncredited)

Original Name : William Squire

Gender : Male

Character Name : Officer (line of men in sea) (uncredited)

Original Name : Tim Turner

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

It may be a phoney war to you, but it's not to all the blokes at sea. Never has been. Dunkirk is directed by Leslie Norman and adapted to screenplay by David Divine and W.P. Lipscomb. It stars John Mills, Richard Attenborough, Bernard Lee, Robert Urquhart, Ray Jackson and Robert Hines. Music is by Malcolm Arnold and cinematography by Paul Beeson. "Dunkirk was a great defeat, and a great miracle. It proved, if it proved anything, that we were alone but undivided. No longer were there fighting men and civilians. There were only people. A nation had been made whole" I think it's safe to say that to fully "get" this version of Dunkirk it helps to have some knowledge of the actual events. This is no standard war film, more so given it's about a defeat and the subsequent extraction of the armed forces from the beaches of that part of France. Narrative is two fold, one strand follows soldiers as they strive to make it through perilous lands to get to the beaches, the other comes from the civilian angle and those back in Britain, where there's an ignorance about how seismic this war is going to be. While the film is hardly a rousing battle laden spectacle - it's more an appreciation of a critical moment in history - it's very authentic in its teaching, the various human interest stories and their respective emotions are absorbing and always attention holding. Absolutely a must see piece of cinema for anyone who needs to understand just why the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk was so important. Superbly played by the cast, directed with safe hands and produced with class by the brilliant Michael Balcon, Dunkirk 58 a smart bit of classic war cinema. 8/10

Peter McGinn

@narrator56

2022-06-23

This is an excellent war movie, especially considering it is from 1958. It has aged well. Today’s war movies are more visually impressive, of course, with the special effects that make it seem like you are witnessing the real thing. This version can’t match all that, but except for setting it up politically with newsreel clips and people discussing the “phony” war, this film shows the personal journey of Dunkirk. The home front, soldiers caught behind the rapidly shifting line of battle, and later on the masses of soldiers on the beaches waiting for the civilian “navy” who lent their boats and themselves to the impossible task of getting the trapped army back home to England. The voiceover narration seemed unnecessary at times. I felt they should just get out of the way and show this human side of the battle of Dunkirk, which could have been a massacre but was instead a stunning rescue operation. We almost expect our war movies to be three-hour spectacles these days, and they are visually impressive, but I still appreciate movies like this one, which balance realistic small-scale warfare scenes with scenes depicting the human interest stories of war.