John Mills heads the cast in Above The Waves, the true story about a team of courageous volunteers from the British Navy who in three midget submarines sink the German battleship Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord where it is anchored and seemingly impregnable. The only thing that Above The Waves lacks is a snappy theme song along the lines of Sink The Bismarck and Guns Of Navarone.
When Hitler invaded Norway it was to capture that long Atlantic coastline with its deep water fjords, the better to house his Atlantic fleet and harass and sink allied lend lease shipping to Russia to Murmansk and Archangel. With its sister ship the Bismarck sunk, the battleship Tirpitz was the crown jewel of the fleet and in that fjord where it was docked near nigh impregnable like those guns on the isle of Navarone.
Admiral James Robertson Justice in a similar role to that which he played in The Guns Of Navarone commissions John Mills to put a team together to man three midget submarines. These little ships which only carry a crew of four were something like underwater PT boats. Service in a submarine is close quarters in any event, service in these vessels could induce claustrophobia if you had that tendency.
These incredibly courageous men in three of these vessels sailed into the fjord and put explosives right at the keel of the Tirpitz an act that requires a set of brass ones. The biggest set had to belong to Donald Sinden who had a harrowing scene kicking away a mine which had gotten caught in a tow line.
This is as it happened, the Tirpitz capsized in the fjord and was out of action for about a year. Later it was sunk in the open sea during battle.
Big kudos go to John Mills and the cast who brought this film to the screen. And this review is dedicated to those courageous volunteers from the Royal Navy who did this job in real life.
When Hitler invaded Norway it was to capture that long Atlantic coastline with its deep water fjords, the better to house his Atlantic fleet and harass and sink allied lend lease shipping to Russia to Murmansk and Archangel. With its sister ship the Bismarck sunk, the battleship Tirpitz was the crown jewel of the fleet and in that fjord where it was docked near nigh impregnable like those guns on the isle of Navarone.
Admiral James Robertson Justice in a similar role to that which he played in The Guns Of Navarone commissions John Mills to put a team together to man three midget submarines. These little ships which only carry a crew of four were something like underwater PT boats. Service in a submarine is close quarters in any event, service in these vessels could induce claustrophobia if you had that tendency.
These incredibly courageous men in three of these vessels sailed into the fjord and put explosives right at the keel of the Tirpitz an act that requires a set of brass ones. The biggest set had to belong to Donald Sinden who had a harrowing scene kicking away a mine which had gotten caught in a tow line.
This is as it happened, the Tirpitz capsized in the fjord and was out of action for about a year. Later it was sunk in the open sea during battle.
Big kudos go to John Mills and the cast who brought this film to the screen. And this review is dedicated to those courageous volunteers from the Royal Navy who did this job in real life.