Review of Operation Disaster

Many a second world war film perpetuated the portrait of Britain as a society where the upper classes held the upper hand,but few were as explicit in their depiction of the "officers and men" ethos as those depicting the Senior Service. From Noel Coward's patronising the lower deck in "In which we serve" onwards,servile cockneys,mancs and scousers(and Bernard Miles doing his country boy schtick)lurked in the passageways waiting for some nob from Dartmouth to put a bit of spine in 'em and tell 'em what to do. Not until "Up the creek",many years after the war,was the balance redressed,with Peter Sellers' C.P.O, showing who really ran the ship. With "Morning Departure",we get very much the mixture as before,albeit purveyed rather more insidiously than many. Mr John Mills is the archetypal movie naval hero;articulate but not a wordsmith,brave but not reckless,a loving husband but not soppy. When his submarine sinks after an accident it soon becomes clear that there is not enough rescue equipment to go round,and after a lottery,four men have to stay behind.Two officers and two O.R.s. That nice Mr Nigel Patrick(claustrophobic) is the First Lieutenant who bravely volunteers,Mr Richard Attenborough,bravely overcomes his former cowardice and Mr James Hayter is Able Seaman Higgins,the ageing cockney sparrer,with his Old Kent Road philosophising that keeps the others going until they are claimed by the Grim Reaper. That's not to say there isn't much to enjoy (if that's the right word) in "Morning departure".There is a fine performance from Mr Bernard Lee as the O.C. Rescue Operations,and you don't get the feeling that actually not much is happening,because the plight of the crew is very involving despite the over - familiarity of the performances. I first saw the film when I was 10 years old,and my grandmother sniffled into her handkerchief throughout. 60 years on and a grandfather myself,I may be made of sterner stuff,less impressed with the trappings of social status(my grandmother called her doctor "sir") and less enamoured with chirpy cockneys,but it's stark black and white images are still affecting,and Mr Mills is still just the man I'd like to be on a doomed submarine with.