The Silent Enemy (1958)

In the Mediterranean in 1941 the Italians start using underwater chariots to mine the undersides of allied ships. Explosives expert Lionel Crabbe arrives in Gibraltar to organise defenses, ... See full summary »

Director:

William Fairchild

Writers:

Marshall Pugh (book), William Fairchild (screenplay)

Stars:

Laurence Harvey, Dawn Addams, Michael Craig

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Laurence Harvey	...	Lieutenant Crabb, R.N.V.R.
Dawn Addams	...	Third Officer Jill Masters, W.R.N.S.
Michael Craig	...	Leading Seaman Sid Knowles
John Clements	...	The Admiral
Sidney James	...	Chief Petty Officer Thorpe
Alec McCowen	...	Able Seaman Morgan
Nigel Stock	...	Able Seaman Fraser
Ian Whittaker	...	Ordinary Seaman Thomas
Arnoldo Foà	...	Tomolino (as Arnoldo Foa)
Gianna Maria Canale	...	Conchita
Massimo Serato	...	Forzellini
Giacomo Rossi Stuart	...	Rosati (as Giacomo Rossi-Stuart)
Carlo Giustini	...	Fellini (as Carlo Justini)
Raymond Young	...	Celloni
David Lodge	...	Sergeant

Storyline

In the Mediterranean in 1941 the Italians start using underwater chariots to mine the undersides of allied ships. Explosives expert Lionel Crabbe arrives in Gibraltar to organise defenses, but finds only two British divers available to help him. Even more worrying, it seems likely that the Italians are secretly using neutral Spain across the bay as their key base.

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Plot Keywords:

italian | diver | italian navy | italian history | world war two | 

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Genres:

Action | Biography | History | War

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Certificate:

16

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 1958 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Froschmann Crabb

Filming Locations:

Gibraltar

Company Credits

Production Co:

Romulus Films, Remus

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the book "A Biography Of Sid James", James was offered the role of Chief Petty Officer Thorpe on the recommendation of his friend Laurence Harvey, but their friendship ended during the filming. He found Harvey to be "pompous and full of his own importance". It's said that the two never spoke to each other again after filming had ended.

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Goofs

Crabb is shown wearing a Rolex Submariner throughout the movie. The Rolex Submariner model was not released until 1953. Crabb was in fact a Rolex owner but not that model at that time.

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Quotes

Ordinary Seaman Thomas: We really have got the job haven't we? You won't change your mind?
Lieutenant Crabb, R.N.V.R.: Not unless you change yours.
Ordinary Seaman Thomas: Oh no, sir, but there is one small point I think I should mention...
Lieutenant Crabb, R.N.V.R.: What's that?
Ordinary Seaman Thomas: I can't swim!

User Reviews

A Man Placed In The Right Position

The Silent Enemy is a tribute to controversial British war hero Lionel Crabb who later got to be known as Buster after the American swimming champion. It wasn't medals that Crabb did his swimming for, he swam for the very survival of king and country.

Laurence Harvey plays the sometimes irascible Crabb who gets assigned to Gibraltar, a key point on the lifeline of the British Empire in the Near and Far East. Holding the mouth of the Mediterranean as it does and still does, Gibraltar by its location has been a non-negotiable item since the British got it 1704.

Neutral Spain with its nest of spies on both sides of the rock was giving British shipping fits at the time. The Italians developed the technique of planting limpet stealth mines on British ships so they sink later on, when not in port. Crabb discovers this and applies that old maxim, if you can't beat them, join them. And above all make yourselves than the enemy.

Crabb's original assignment is simply to find and dispose of the mines, but he puts together a team of frogmen and they become better than the Italians. Crabb's war on Gibraltar is a personal one because he knows who the Italians are operating over in Spain, he can almost reach out and touch them. But Spanish neutrality was a vexing problem for both the USA and the UK during World War II. MI5 who you would think would be dealing with such matters isn't doing it. It gets to be a personal war with Harvey and Arnoldo Foa playing the Italian frogman team head.

Some of Harvey's crew are played by such British cinema veterans as Sid James, Nigel Stock, Alec McCowen, Ian Whittaker, and Michael Craig. John Clements is the Royal Navy Admiral in charge at Gibraltar and the beautiful Dawn Addams plays his efficient WREN secretary. I think she'd like to have gotten something going with Harvey, but in this case Harvey has his mind strictly on the business at hand.

Lionel Crabb mysteriously disappeared in Portsmouth harbor in 1956 and a headless, legless, armless trunk was later recovered that could have been him. His disappearance has led to speculation for years that even in the post Soviet Union world hasn't been answered. The only one who's disappearance has gotten more speculation in my lifetime was the Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt.

This film which made two years after Crabb's disappearance goes into none of that. It concludes with the landings of the Allied army in Morocco and with Crabb and his small team, literally frustrating the plans of several nations at war with their country. It's that Lionel Crabb that the British people prefer to remember and he's remembered well in this accurately told tale of his exploits.

One man in the right spot really can make a difference.