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THE DAM BUSTERS – Lucas Leighton, Eric Coates
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
In the late 1940s, interest arose in bringing the historic Dam Busters raid of WWII to the big screen. It took the publication of two books, Enemy Coast Ahead by Guy Gibson in 1944, followed by The Dam Busters by Paul Brickhill in 1951, to catalyze production. Robert Clarke, the Head of Production at Associated British Picture Corporation, approached writer Paul Brickhill and the British Air Ministry. When the Ministry decided to support the project and offered four Lancaster bombers at low cost, Clarke purchased the screen rights from Brickhill for £5,000. Robert Clarke and W. A. Whittaker would oversee production with a £260,000 budget, Michael Anderson was tasked with directing, and R. C. Sherriff would write the screenplay, drawing inspiration from both books. A stellar cast was hired, with Richard Todd starring as Wing Commander Guy Gibson, joined by Michael Redgrave as Barnes Wallis, Patrick Barr as Captain Joseph “Mutt” Summers, Ernest Clark as Air Vice Marshal Ralph Cochrane, Basil Sydney as Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris GOC-in-C, Stanley Van Beers as David Pye, Air Ministry Director of Scientific Research, and Ursula Jeans as Mrs. Molly Wallis. Read more…
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