The Dam Busters (1955)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Michael Anderson

Writers:

Paul Brickhill (book)
Guy Gibson (book)

Release Date:

16 July 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

The dramatic true-life story of the men who broke the Nazis' back!

Plot:

True story of how the British attacked German dams in WW2 by using an ingenious technique to drop bombs where they would be most effective.

Plot Keywords:

Bomb | Scientist | Dam | Flood | Bomber

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Richard Todd	...	Wing Commander Guy Gibson, V.C., D.S.O., D.F.C.
Michael Redgrave	...	Doctor B. N. Wallis, C.B.E., F.R.S.
Ursula Jeans	...	Mrs. Wallis
Charles Carson	...	Doctor
Stanley Van Beers	...	Sir David Pye, C.B., F.R.S.
Colin Tapley	...	Doctor W.H. Glanville, C.B., C.B.E.
Frederick Leister	...	Committee Member
Eric Messiter	...	Committee Member
Laidman Browne	...	Committee Member
Raymond Huntley	...	Official, National Physical Laboratory
Hugh Manning	...	Official, Ministry of Aircraft Production
Patrick Barr	...	Captain Joseph 'Mutt' Summers, C.B.E.
Edwin Styles	...	Observer at trials
Hugh Moxey	...	Observer at trials
Anthony Shaw	...	R.A.F. Officer at trials

Also Known As:

The Dambusters (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

124 min | USA:105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:L | Australia:G (DVD rating) | Norway:12 | USA:Approved (PCA #17528) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Associated British Elstree Studios, Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC)

Trivia:

This film was used as inspiration for the final battle scenes in Star Wars (1977). Gilbert Taylor, Director of Photography and Stuart Freeborn, makeup supervisor for Star Wars also worked on this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: During training flights shown early in the film when crews knew nothing about the target or weapon, Lancasters are shown carrying the bouncing bomb that was used on the actual mission.

Quotes:

[Whitworth is helping Gibson select pilots for the new squadron]
Group Capt. Whitworth: I'd go for these two Australians if I were you; Les Knight and Micky Martin. Martin knows pretty well all there is to know about low flying.
Gibson: Yes, I met him when he was collecting his DFC. I know this New Zealander, Les Munro, I'd like to have him. Oh and Joe McCarthy, he's great.
Group Capt. Whitworth: [laughs] Oh, the American. The Glorious Blonde. He used to be a Coney Island beachguard. We mustn't forget the English.
[leads Gibson to another personnel book of pilots]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in War Stories (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Dam Busters

Inspired Star Wars sequence, despite the dog's name.

It appears that the attack sequences in The Dam Busters were the direct inspiration for the attack on the Death Star in the first Star Wars film. Some of the dialogue is word-for-word, and it is very interesting to watch these two films back to back.

Also, in the original edit of the film, the dog's name (a black labrador) was a historically accurate but socially unacceptable "Nigger". One edit changed the spoken word to "Trigger," while another release cut all scenes with the offending word. This was unfortunate, because parts of the plot became unintelligible -- the dog's name was one of the code-words used during the attack.