Dunkirk [Blu-ray]

Director: Leslie Norman Leslie Norman

Overview

One of the most significant moments in the history of British warfare is given reverent but reserved treatment in this movie. The film takes place during the 1940 evacuation of Allied troops across the English channel. One party of British soldiers becomes detached from the rest of the retreating Allies.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/09/2021
UPC:	0850021115180
Original Release:	1958
Rating:	NR
Source:	Film Movement
Region Code:	A
Language:	English
Time:	2:15:00
Sales rank:	31,807

Special Features

Dunkirk Operation Dynamo newsreel; Young Veteran Ealing Studios documentary (1940); Interview with actor Sean Barrett; John Mills home movie footage

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

John Mills	"Tubby" Binns
Robert Urquhart	Mike
Meredith Edwards	Dave Bellman
Ray Jackson	Barlow
Anthony Nicholls	Military Spokesman
Bernard Lee	Charles Foreman
Michael Shillo	Jouvet
Richard Attenborough	Holden
Sean Barrett	Frankie
Victor Maddern	Merchant Seaman
Maxine Audley	Diana Foreman
Kenneth Cope	Lt. Lumpkin
Denys Graham	Fraser
Roland Hines	Miles
Ronald Curram	Harper
Patricia Plunkett	Grace Holden
Rodney Diak	Pannet
Eddie Byrne	Commander
Lionel Jeffries	Colonel
Warwick Ashton	Battery Sgt. Major
Peter Halliday	Battery Major
Cyril Raymond	Viscount Gort
Nicholas Hannen	Vice Adm. Ramsey
Michael Gwynn	Commander
Fred Griffiths	Old Sweet
Christopher Rhodes	Sergeant on Beaches
John Horsley	Padre
Patrick Allen	Sergeant,Himself
Lloyd Lamble	Staff Colonel
John Welsh	Actor
Barry Foster	Don R
Harry Landis	Dr. Levy
Dan Gressy	Actor
Joss Ambler	Actor
Frederick Piper	Actor
William Squire	Actor
Michael Bates	Froome
Bernard Cribbins	Actor
Leslie Norman	Actor
Michael Balcon	Actor
Stephen Dalby	Actor
Michael Forlong	Actor
Norman King	Actor
David Divine	Actor
Alastair McIntyre	Actor
Lionel Selwyn	Actor
Dennis O'Keefe	Himself
Flanagan And Allan	Actor
Malcolm Arnold	Composer

Technical Credits

David Divine

W.P. Lipscomb

Michael Balcon	Producer
Leslie Norman	Director
David Divine	Screenwriter
W.P. Lipscomb	Screenwriter
Stephen Dalby	Sound Effects
Norman King	Sound Effects
Alastair McIntyre	Sound Effects
Lionel Selwyn	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

In the 1940s, British and American moviegoers received a steady diet of war films glorifying the heroism of the Allies as they clawed their way to victory against the Axis powers. Many of these films served a patriotic purpose if not an artistic one: to spread spirit-lifting propaganda. But in the 1950s, British and American movie directors began making films focusing on Allied defeats as well as victories -- and all of the suffering and recrimination that accompanied such defeats. Leslie Norman's 1958 film Dunkirk was one such film. It chronicles the aftermath of the humiliating rout of the British and other Allied troops in northern France in May and June of 1940. Norman's film not only captures the enormity of the defeat but also the logistical nightmare of rescuing the defeated soldiers. Behind them is smoke and death and ruin -- and the Germany army, in front of them water, bobbing sea vessels, and an uncertain future. The success of this film lies in its panorama; it arrests a moment in time on a grand scale. Nevertheless, faces in the crowd --including Richard Attenborough (John Holden), John Mills (Corporal Burns), and Cyril Raymond (General Viscount) -- come to the fore to tell bits and pieces of the story of Dunkirk, or to scold, lament, cajole or inspire. War is hell, and Dunkirk conveys this message effectively.