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The story starts with a clip of actual German newsreel footage from 14 February 1939, when Nazi Germany's largest and
most powerful battleship, Bismarck, is launched in a ceremony at Hamburg with Adolf Hitler in attendance. The launching
of the hull is seen as the beginning of a new era of German sea power. Two years later, in 1941, British convoys are being
ravaged by U-boats and surface raider attacks that cut off supplies essential for Britain's abilities to continue the war.
In May, British intelligence discovers the Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen are about to break out of the Baltic
and into the North Atlantic to attack convoys. Meanwhile, a spy in Norway spots the Bismarck and its escort Prinz Eugen at
anchor in Grimstadfjord, while perched on a ledge overlooking them; he attempts to alert the Admiralty by radio but he is
discovered by a German guard and his German Shepherd and gets fatally shot. The spy, still alive, attempts to message the
Admiralty. He is only able to message that one of the ships is Prinz Eugen but is killed before he can complete the identity
of the second ship, which was the Bismarck.
The man assigned to coordinate the hunt is the Admiralty's chief of operations, Captain Jonathan Shepard, who has been distraught over
the death of his wife in an air raid and the sinking of his ship by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, commanded by Fleet
Admiral Gunther Lutjens. Upon receiving his new post, Shepard discovers Lutjens is the fleet commander on the Bismarck. Shepard's
experience of conflict with Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine and his understanding of Lutjens allow him to predict the Bismarck's movements.
Shepard acts coldly to his staff but comes increasingly to rely on the coolness and skill of his assistant, WRNS Second Officer Anne Davis.
Lutjens is also bitter. After the First World War, he considered that he had received no recognition for his efforts in the war. Lutjens
promises the captain of the Bismarck, Ernst Lindemann, that this time, he and Germany will be remembered as the victors.
Next morning, in the Denmark Strait Bismarck and Prinz Eugen encounter HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales. The four warships engage in a
heavy battle. During the battle a shell from Bismarck hits the Hood slightly damaging her. Bismarck? fires another salvo from her main
battery guns and both sides watch as three shells hit the water near the Hood, but the fourth hits the vessel just below its main mast
and penetrates through the thin deck armor, suddenly the ship's deck simultaneously disintegrates and explodes in a massive fireball,
even blowing one of the turrets off and sending it flying into the ocean. Both sides are shocked and horrified at the devastation as
the Hood's sinking remains are enveloped by smoke. The captain of the Prince of Wales, John Leach asks the yeoman to send a message to
Admiralty saying that the Hood has blown up. Now Prince of Wales is alone and gets fired at by the two German ships. The ship fires
back and manages to hit Bismarck on the bow. But the Bismarck fires back and hits the Prince of Wales on the bridge, destroying it,
and leaving only two men alive. The ship is hit multiple times before it makes smoke and retreats.
The Bismarck and Prinz Eugen's escape is shadowed by smaller British ships. Later on, the Prinz Eugen breaks away and heads back to
Germany, while Bismarck turns around and fires at the British destroyers to provide cover as it escapes. The attack forces the
destroyers to retreat. Meanwhile, Shepard, obsessed with Bismarck, acknowledges that his son, an air-gunner on a Fairey Swordfish
torpedo bomber from HMS Ark Royal, one of the British ships deployed to the hunt, may die when the British aircraft attack the
Bismarck. He gambles that Lutjens is returning to friendly waters where U-boats and air cover will make it impossible to attack, and
plans to intercept and attack "Bismarck" before it reaches safety. Shepard commits large forces stripped from convoy escort and uses
Catalina flying boats to search for the battleship. His hunch proves correct, and Bismarck is located, apparently steaming towards the
German-occupied French coast. British forces have a narrow window to destroy or slow their prey before German support and their own
diminishing fuel supplies prevent further attack, as Admiral Lutjens says to Captain Lindemann. Swordfish aircraft from HMS Ark Royal
have two chances. The first fails: they misidentify HMS Sheffield as Bismarck; also the new magnetic torpedo detonators are faulty and
most explode as soon as they hit the water. Switching to conventional contact detonators, the second attack is successful, with one
torpedo hitting the midships, causing minor damage, while a catastrophic second hit detonates near the stern, causing extensive
damage jamming Bismarck's rudder and slowing her speed to 25 knots.
Unable to repair the rudder, the German battleship steams in circles. During the night Bismarck is attacked by two British destroyers.
They fire torpedoes at Bismarck, and one torpedo hits the battleship, but Bismarck returns fire, sinking the destroyer HMS Solent. The
main force of British ships (including battleships HMS Rodney and HMS King George V) find Bismarck the next day and rain gunfire on her.
Lutjens in his final moments insists to Lindemann that German forces will arrive to save them, but he dies when a shell destroys Bismarck's
bridge. After that, the remaining officers declare "Abandon Ship!" In the King George V Admiral Tovey orders the newly joined cruiser
HMS Dorsetshire to finish Bismarck off with torpedoes. The cruiser fires a salvo of six torpedoes at the already sinking and severely
damaged vessel. Four torpedoes strike the hull, causing the ship to sink faster than the men can get out. The Captain in King George V
lowers his head as the Bismarck rolls over and sinks beneath the waves. The Admiral orders Dorsetshire to pick up the remaining survivors,
and finally says tersely: "Well gentlemen: let's go home." After the sinking of the Bismarck, and having been told that his son has been
rescued, Shepard asks Davis out for dinner, believing it to be nine o'clock at night, only to realise it is nine in the morning after
stepping outside and seeing the sky. Davis suggests breakfast instead, and they walk off together, just as the film ends.
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Starring ... |
Kenneth More, Carl Möhner, Dana Wynter, Laurence Naismith, Karel Stepanek, Geoffrey Keen
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Director: Lewis Gilbert
Producer: John Brabourne
Released - February 11, 1960 (UK)
Length - 97 minutes
Music Composer: Clifton Parker
Movie Distributed by 20th Century Fox
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