Mum's Monday: Sink the Bismarck

The start of this film gives the impression that despite this being a war film, the music and scenes suggests a light-hearted and family friendly one, and as this film is rated PG this is even more confirmed.

We hear that the war doesn’t break the British spirit, we stay strong against the enemy even though ships are being sunk in the north Atlantic.

Now we see the tour of the Cabinet War Rooms. This shows that two different people can have two very different approaches to how an operation is carried out. Captain Jonathan Shepard (Kenneth More) wants to run a tight ship/cold-heartedly getting his job done, not the informal approach as previous.

As I have mentioned about the British spirit, it was nothing compared to the attitude of the Germans as portrayed in this film. Yes, the German navy had the Bismarck, which was bigger than anything the British navy had. yes, it would seem that they had made it unsinkable and lessons may have been learned, but we all know the Titanic sank and with the added complication of there being a war on and despite having far superior equipment, the German attitude was to please Hitler, whereas the British just wanted the get the job/war over and done with, so got on with it. Yes, be strong, but not to focus on too much of the glory. The wrong attitude can destroy a fleet of ships more than weapons, as we see in this film.

We start to see a heart-warming side to Shepard with a conversation between Second Officer Anne Davis (Dana Wynter), but it doesn’t last long. The scene flips in a second this is unfortunate for Dexter (Robert Desmond).

So the HMS Hood has set sail. It is all expected however, what wasn’t expected is that there are civilians on board who were working on her.

We find out more about Shepard and get more of an insight into his coldness. All this is cleverly interweaved into the films script.

The Hood has gone, although we only see a snippet of the people on board it is still a shocking scene in the film, as so many of a variety of lives lost.

True to form, despite the Bismarck now having been damaged, German glory prevents any allowance for repairs, hence the Bismarck’s downfall.

There is a chink in Shepard’s armour after all when a member on the team falls ill, however, this again doesn’t last long either, but through-out this film it keeps chipping away at his coldness.

Anne Davis has been offered an amazing opportunity but sometimes people are more important. It is lovely to see her see the goodness in Shepard after hearing what he went through. It is lovely to see a connection. Shepard’s armour is cracking further; he is only human.

In celebration, dinner sounds perfect. However, it could be breakfast. Four stripes or not you shouldn’t judge, after all they had just sunk the Bismarck showing you just never know what goes on anywhere.

If you would like to walk in the footsteps of this film and you are able to visit London England, the Cabinet War Rooms are open to the public. There is an admission charge, the ticket prices can be found on their website. Now known as the Churchill War Rooms as now part of the Imperial War Museums. The war room are situated on King Charles Street and the nearest underground tube stations are Westminster and St. James Park. Another scene in this film shows Trafalgar Square not far from the war rooms, you can walk between the two locations but if you choose not to the nearest underground tube station is Charing Cross.