Re-release of 1958 Ealing ‘Classic’
HOT ON the heels of Christopher Nolan’s recently-released film, Dunkirk, comes news that will be music to the ears of aficionados of the original film of Dunkirk starring John Mills and Richard Attenborough, writes Andy Saunders. The original film, of that well-known genre of the 1950s and 60s war films, has now been digitally restored and put onto DVD, Blu-ray and EST. This new release is sure to whet the appetite of not only those who remember the original film but also those who have been drawn into the Dunkirk story by Nolan’s recent production.
Certainly, in the case of both films, we are looking at cinematic representations of historical fact (essentially ‘entertainment’) rather than documentaries. However, in their own way, the two films both try to give as accurate a presentation as possible of many of the key elements of Operation Dynamo and the events at Dunkirk in 1940. In the case of the 1958 film, however, it was produced just 18 years after the actual event.
Filmed in black and white, the original film also has very much a ‘period’ feel to it and, of course, most of the actors were every bit old enough to have remembered the actual event. In many cases…
