TV MOVIE OF THE WEEK: THE DAM BUSTERS (1955)

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U, 120 Mins

A proper lads’ movie.

If you’re looking for a proper lads’ movie this December, be sure to catch ‘The Dam Busters’ (1955) this Friday on Film4 at 11am. This British World War II classic is famous for its spectacular 617 squadron raid on the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Nazi Germany. This raid, alongside a similar sequence in the film ‘633 Squadron’ (1964), provided George Lucas with the inspiration for the Death Star trench run in ‘Star Wars’ (1977).

The aforementioned attack really is spectacular. I especially liked Wing Commander Gibson’s attack on the Mohne dam. With a few shots from his aircraft, the dam bursts and out flies a phosphorous cloud of water and shrapnel.

It really is amazing cinema, but the scene is all the more moving because of the one that follows. Before assistant chief designer Barnes Wallis (Michael Redgrave) and Gibson part, Wallis asks if his friend will finally get some sleep. Gibson answers that he cannot as he has to write letters to the dead airmen’s next of kin. This adds a tinge of tragedy to the pure special effects spectacle.

At the beginning of the movie, Wallis is working in early 1942. He’s trying and struggling to create a means of attacking Germany’s dams in order to cripple German heavy industry. Working for the Ministry of Aircraft Production, along with his own job at Vickers, Wallis believes that a bouncing bomb would skip over the water to avoid protective torpedo nets.

When it hits the dam, backspin would cause the bomb to sink while remaining in contact with the wall which makes the explosion more destructive. Wallis theorises that an aircraft will have to fly extremely low (150 feet (46 m)) so that the bombs skip over the water correctly. However the Ministry declares that a lack of production capacity means his proposals can’t go ahead…

Eventually Bomber Command forms a special squadron of Lancaster bombers called 617 squadron; tasked with carrying out the dam-busting mission. And the squadron is led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson (Richard Todd).

It’s the red oni-blue oni bromance between Wallis and Gibson that really forms the beating heart and soul of this movie. Wallis is a thinker and a theorist with a slightly cold and clinical approach to planning this conflict - driven by scientific evidence and thought-through planning. Gibson, on the other hand, is a fighter and a serviceman driven by impulse and what runs hot in his bloodstream.

The ying n’ yang, polar opposite personas makes for some lovely buddy chemistry and I particularly was moved by the melancholy in the final scene where the loss of lives in Operation Chastise is revealed. Wallis and Gibson couldn’t be more different, but they are drawn together by their mourning for the loss of fellow servicemen. Something wartimes seem to emphasise. That being the importance of friendship and community in a time of crisis.

‘The Dam Busters’ isn’t the most politically correct movie. Just listen to the name of Gibson’s black labrador beginning with an “n” and ending with an “r”. Just this year, Film4 aired an edited version with that horrible word removed and replaced with “old boy” and “my dog”.

But this name is merely a reflection of the attitudes of the post-war era which was not the most politically correct of times and racist attitudes still prevailed. It shouldn’t detract from the enjoyment of this exciting and inspirational history lesson. The story of 18 brave men who risked their lives to contribute to the British war effort.

Eight of them were lost, but the mission succeeded and Britain’s contribution to stopping the spread of Nazism was strengthened. 

Since 2008, ‘Lord of the Rings’ maestro Peter Jackson has been working on a remake. But, as of 2020, it remains yet to be produced.

Whenever it does get made, Jackson would do well not to mess up on remaking one of the great war movies of post-war cinema. This Friday’s Film4 showing of ‘The Dam Busters’ makes for a good double-bill with the Channel 5 documentary ‘The Dambusters’ which was on TV earlier this week and was about the real-life story.
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​'The Dam Busters' is showing on Fri 4th Dec. at 11am on Film4.
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