FlyPast 06.2018

June 2018 FLYPAST 125

A

newly restored version of the

classic 1955 war film The

Dam Busters will be screened

at London’s Royal Albert Hall on

May 17, the 75th anniversary of the

fabled mission.

Regarded by most critics as

a landmark production, and

commended for its level of

authenticity, The Dam Busters was

directed by Michael Anderson

(Logan’s Run, Around The World In

80 Days). It starred Richard Todd

as Wg Cdr Guy Gibson who led

Operation ‘Chastise’ from RAF

Scampton in Avro Lancaster ED932

‘AJ-G’, and Michael Redgrave as

scientist and engineer Dr Barnes

Wallis, who invented the Upkeep

‘bouncing bomb’. The film also

immortalised composer Eric Coates’s

masterpiece The Dam Busters March.

Produced decades before the

advent of CGI (computer generated

imagery) the film made use of real

aircraft, often flying at low level to

replicate the mission as closely as

possible. It was based on author Paul

Brickhill’s 1951 account, and on

parts of Gibson’s Enemy Coast Ahead

memoir, but as it was shot only

11 years after the real ‘Chastise’ it

retraced events that were still fresh in

the mind for many.

Gp Capt (later Air Cdre) John

Whitworth CB DSO DFC* was in

charge of Scampton at the time

of the raid, and was subsequently

employed as a technical adviser

on the film. He was portrayed in

the production by Derek Farr, a

rare instance of an actor playing

someone actually present on the

set. Many other members of the

cast – including Richard Todd –

had served with distinction during

World War Two.

The restored version of The

Dam Busters is being released

by production and distribution

company Studiocanal, an

organisation that has breathed new

life into numerous classics. John

Rodden, its Head of Entertainment

and Library, believes that Michael

Anderson’s creation is definitely one

of those old films that deserves to

Revival of a

COMMEMORATING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FAMOUS WWII RAID

CLASSIC

SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AFTER THE LEGENDARY DAMBUSTERS

RAID, THE FAMOUS FILM THAT IT INSPIRED HAS BEEN LOVINGLY

RESTORED FOR THE BIG SCREEN AND DVD

“THRILLING... AMONG THE BEST BRITISH MOVIES ABOUT

THE SECOND WORLD WAR”

A BRAND NEW RESTORATION

RADIO TIMES

Above, left to right

A famous promotional

image showing actor

Richard Todd (portraying

Wg Cdr Guy Gibson)

observing a breached

dam. ALL STUDIOCANAL

UNLESS NOTED

A bomb aimer at work

in the 1955 fi lm classic

‘The Dam Busters’.

Lining up the target – a

still from the restored

footage.

Left

New artwork by Paul

Mann, commissioned by

Studiocanal.