Stars: John Mills, Eric Portman, Jack Watling, Niall MacGinnis, Joan Hopkins, Reginald Purdell

Director: Anthony Asquith

Summary: Possibly the best of all submariner stories, about the sinking of the German battleship 'Brandenberg' by the British submarine 'Sea Tiger'.

John Mills stars as Lt. Freddie Taylor, a British submarine Captain, in this WWII tale of naval warfare in the Baltic. The crew of the Sea Tiger are summoned from shore leave with their families and sent on a secret mission to intercept the Nazi battleship Brandenburg. In the ensuing battle the submarine sustains damage from depth charges from a German destroyer. After a tense time playing dead, the sub eludes the Germans but is leaking fuel so badly that the crew will be unable to make it back to England before running out of fuel somewhere along the Danish coast. When it seems that their only option may be to blow up the submarine and try to escape to Denmark, seaman James Hobson (Eric Portman) hatches a plan. Since he speaks German he puts on the uniform of a captured German airman and goes into a small port on a Danish island in search of a tanker from which to refuel.
Working from a well constructed script, Anthony Asquith, best know for adapting stage works (PYGMALION, THE BROWING VERSION), adds a strong sense of dramatic tension to the interactions between the men in the dangerous, claustraphobic atmosphere of the cramped submarine. Mills and Portman give good, realistic portrayals of men at war in this tense story of submarine warfare.

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Two examples of British Second World War films, We Dive at Dawn(1943) and Reach for the Sky(1956), are here stylishly packaged as a World War II Classics pack. We Dive at Dawntells of the encounter between a British submarine and a German warship in the Baltic Sea. John Mills gives a dependable performance as the submarine commander, with Eric Portman the pick of a strong supporting cast. Director Anthony Asquith finds the balance between action sequences and "in situ" dialogue, and there's an evocative score from Louis Levy. The movie was an underrated film that deserves reappraisal, whereas Reach for the Sky(1956) was a box-office hit and remains a fondly regarded classic. Kenneth More is ideally cast as Douglas Bader, the gifted pilot who loses both legs in a pre-war air crash, only to play a major role in the Battle of Britain, rise to the rank of Group Captain and become a war hero. Based on Paul Brickhill's biography, this is an "official" history maybe, but Lewis Gilbert's screenplay and direction are historically accurate and informed by that very British humour of which More was a natural. The film is graced by a decent supporting cast, and a typically "widescreen" score from John Addison.

On the DVD:The black and white prints look and sound excellent. Whereas We Dive at Dawnhas 4:3 video aspect ratio, 15 chapter points and no subtitles, the later Reach for the Skyhas vivid 16:9 anamorphic reproduction, 20 chapter points, subtitles and detailed biographies of More, Gilbert and Barder. The original theatrical trailer is included, but it would also have made sense to include an interview or documentary footage of Bader himself. Even so, this is an excellent starting-point for investigating a key area of British cinema.--Richard Whitehouse

Aspect Ratio:	4:3 Full Frame
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Interactive Menus, Scene Access
Year:	1943
Release Date:	October 20, 2008
Runtime:	92 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	103742
Label:	Silver Collection
Keywords:	War, Dawn, Dive, We
Genre:	War