Operation Disaster (1950)
"Morning Departure" (original title)

The crew of a submarine is trapped on the sea floor when it sinks. How can they be rescued before they run out of air?

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Writers:

W.E. Fairchild, Kenneth Woollard (play)

Stars:

John Mills, Nigel Patrick, Peter Hammond

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Mills	...	Lt. Cmdr. Armstrong
Nigel Patrick	...	Lt. Manson
Peter Hammond	...	Sub-Lt. Oakley
Andrew Crawford	...	Sub-Lt. J. McFee
Michael Brennan	...	CPO Barlow
George Cole	...	ERA Marks
Victor Maddern	...	Leading Telegraphist Hillbrook
Roddy McMillan	...	Leading Seaman Andrews
Frank Coburn	...	Leading Seaman Brough
Jack Stewart	...	Leading Seaman Kelly
James Hayter	...	Able Seaman Higgins
Wylie Watson	...	Able Seaman Nobby Clark
Richard Attenborough	...	Stoker Snipe
George Thorpe	...	Capt. Fenton
Bernard Lee	...	Cmdr. Gates

Storyline

The crew of a submarine is trapped on the sea floor when it sinks. How can they be rescued before they run out of air?

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Plot Keywords:

trapped | submarine | u boat | british navy | suspense | 

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Taglines:

Mightiest Drama of Ships and Men!

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 May 1950 (France)

Also Known As:

Operation Disaster

Filming Locations:

Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jay Lewis Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shortly after filming was completed in 1950, the submarine HMS Truculent went down in the River Thames with a heavy loss of life. The incident is referenced in the opening credits, and nearly caused the film to be withdrawn from distribution.

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Goofs

In the scene where the destroyers are first seen searching for the Trojan, the pennant letters on the side of one of the destroyers are seen in reverse.

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Quotes

Helen Armstong: Why does the Navy insist on doing everything at the crack of dawn? The sea's there all day.
Lieutenant Commander Armstrong: It impresses the taxpayers.

User Reviews

Routine equipment exercise goes very wrong for submariners.

A Rank production, with passable production quality and excellent acting. Much stock footage and a healthy amt. of rear projection, par for keeping costs down on Rank dramatic quickies. Since the screenplay was adapted from a play, its stage origins are still somewhat apparent. The performances of Mills, and a very young Attenborough, plus seemingly one-half the J.R. Rank stable of regulars are very good. The sets and costumes were surprisingly ratty--long in the tooth! Still, this is only a few years after the war, and things were still very hard-up in England. Ultimately, this is a "talker" and not an "actioner", and it does fairly well for all that, though not spectacularly so. The ending, to me, disappointed. I do recommend this for classic movie fans.