''Morning Departure'' (released as ''Operation Disaster'' in the United StatesIMDb: Operation Disaster – release dates
Retrieved 24 November 2012) is a 1950 British naval drama film about life aboard a sunken submarine, directed by Roy Ward Baker, and starring

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

and

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisi ...

. It is based on a stage play of the same name by Kenneth Woollard, which had also been shown as a live TV play by the BBC both in 1946BFI Database: ''Morning Departure'' (1946)
Retrieved 24 November 2012 and 1948.BFI Database: ''Morning Departure'' (1948)
Retrieved 24 November 2012 It was the feature film debut of

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

Plot

The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

submarine, HMS ''Trojan'' is out on a routine exercise to test its new snorkel mast. She encounters an unrecovered

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

magnetic mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...

. When she dives the mine is set off, and blows off the bows of the submarine. The after section floods from the displaced snorkel mast, killing the 53 crew-members in the bow and stern sections. She settles to the bottom leaving twelve crew members alive amidships, saved by the watertight doors which have been closed by order of the captain when he realises the imminent danger. When the shore base becomes aware that ''Trojan'' is overdue, surface rescue vessels are sent out to investigate. The captain of the submarine, Lieutenant Commander Peter Armstrong (John Mills), sensibly provides an indication of their position to these vessels by expelling a quantity of oil which rises to the surface. Following standard escape procedure, a diver is sent down with an air line while everyone prepares for the rescue. Armstrong selects the first four for release; they escape safely without incident, and are picked up on the surface. The eight remaining crew assume there are plenty of breathing sets for them all to escape successfully. However, the captain discovers that all but four have been destroyed in the blast. This means the final four will have to remain under water until a full salvage operation can be carried out, which may take a week or more. Armstrong assembles the others to draw lots through a pack of cards he deals out, to decide who goes and who remains. Two, the cook A/B Higgins (James Hayter) and the first lieutenant, Lieutenant Manson (Nigel Patrick), with the lowest cards, select themselves to stay behind along with Armstrong. The top three, to go first, also select themselves with high cards. Of the other two, there is a tie, both knaves, between Stoker Snipe (Richard Attenborough) and E.R.A. Marks (George Cole). On losing a re-deal, young Snipe goes berserk with fear and has to be physically restrained. Armstrong approaches Marks and asks if he will forfeit his place for Snipe, sensing difficulties if Snipe is left behind. Marks agrees. They begin to prepare for escape, but Snipe now hangs back, falsely claiming he has hurt his arm in the scuffle. He insists that Marks should go. Marks and the other three escape safely through the hatch and are picked up by the salvage vessels. Below, Manson has a fainting fit, which he says is a result of having previously suffered from malaria, but Snipe catches him using both arms without difficulty. Cheerfully at first, the four begin the wait for the salvage operation. Above, all goes well to begin with, in fine weather. Divers manage to secure cables under the submarine, which is slowly winched up, but only fifteen feet per day can be achieved. However, as the days go by, the weather turns, and soon there is a full storm at sea. As a result, the submarine shifts on the cables, and sinks again to the floor of the sea. Manson has remained in ill-health below, nursed with care by Snipe. However,

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine i ...

begins to leak from a site next to his bunk. Manson is overcome by the gas, and dies. The storm is so bad that the captain of the salvage ship decides his own men are at risk, and abandons the salvage operation altogether. The three left in the submarine sense that there is no hope for them. The film ends with Armstrong reading from a naval prayer book. From early scenes in the film, and from dialogue throughout, the viewer is given insights into the personal and home lives of the crew, their hopes, and their now thwarted ambitions. For example, Snipe is married to a wayward wife, whom he idolises; whilst Armstrong has been offered a lucrative shore job by his wealthy father-in-law, and had been planning to leave the Navy to take it up as soon as this patrol was over.

Cast

as the captain, Lieutenant Commander Peter Armstrong * Nigel Patrick as the first lieutenant, Lieutenant Manson * Peter Hammond as Sub-Lieutenant Oakley * Andrew Crawford as Sub-Lieutenant J. McFee * Michael Brennan as Chief Petty Officer Barlow * George Cole as Engine Room Artificer Marks *

Victor Maddern Victor Jack Maddern (16 March 1928 – 22 June 1993) was an English actor. He was described by ''The Telegraph'' as having "one of the most distinctive and eloquent faces in post-war British cinema." Life and career Born in Seven Kings, ...

as Leading Telegraphist Hillbrook * Roddy McMillan as Leading Seaman Andrews * Frank Coburn as Leading Seaman Brough * Jack Stewart as Leading Seaman Kelly * James Hayter as Able Seaman Higgins *

Wylie Watson Wylie Watson (6 February 1889 – 3 May 1966) (born John Wylie Robertson) was a British actor. Among his best-known roles were those of "Mr Memory", an amazing man who commits "50 new facts to his memory every day" in Alfred Hitchcock's film '' ...

as Able Seaman Nobby Clark *

as Stoker Snipe * George Thorpe as Captain Fenton *

Bernard Lee John Bernard Lee (10 January 190816 January 1981) was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven Eon-produced James Bond films. Lee's film career spanned the years 1934 to 1979, though he had appeared on stage from ...

as Commander Gates *

Kenneth More Kenneth Gilbert More, CBE (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English film and stage actor. Initially achieving fame in the comedy '' Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many roles as a carefree, happy-go-lucky gent. Films from this per ...

as Lieutenant Commander James * Alastair Hunter as Captain Jenner *

Helen Cherry Helen Mary Cherry (24 November 1915 – 27 September 2001) was an English stage, film and television actress. She was born in Worsley, Lancashire, and brought up in Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire. Marriage Whilst working at the Arts The ...

as Helen Armstrong *

Lana Morris Lana Morris, born Avril Maureen Anita Morris (11 March 1930 – 28 May 1998) was a British film, stage and television actress during the 1950s and 1960s. She played the role of Helene Hillmer in the 1967 BBC adaptation of ''The Forsyte Sag ...

as Rose Snipe *

Zena Marshall Zena Moyra Marshall (1 January 1926 – 10 July 2009) was a British actress of film and television, who was born in Kenya. Early years Marshall was of English, Irish and (on her mother's side) French descent. Though born in Kenya, after her ...

Wren Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonl ...

as Teaboy (uncredited)

Original Play

The film is based on a stage play by Kenneth Wollard that was based on the loss of HMS Thetis (N25). The play was very popular at the time the film was made . Besides being presented on stage in several theatres in Britain, it had already been made as a live TV play by the BBC, first on 1 December 1946, with an afternoon rerun two days later,BFI Database: Morning Departure (1946) – TV transmission
Retrieved 24 November 2012 and was shown twice again by the BBC in February 1948 with a different cast. Nigel Patrick, who plays 1st Officer Manson in the film, played the captain in the first TV version. In 1959 Dutch broadcaster NCRV also made a TV play from the stage play, titled ''S.14 vermist'' ("S.14 missing").

Production

In the play, the captain's name is Stanford, but for the film it was changed to Armstrong. Most other characters retained their names in the film version, although the film also has additional characters, due to the insertion of flashback scenes and scenes from the rescue operation on the surface. The stage play has an all-male fourteen-character cast, while the film has a credited cast of 20 (plus a few uncredited minor roles), which also includes three women. Almost the entire budget was provided by the NFFC. It was shot at Denham Studios with sets designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

Alex Vetchinsky. was used for the external submarine shots. The ''Maidstone'' was also used. The role played by Nigel Patrick was originally offered to

Peter Finch Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (28 September 191614 January 1977) was an English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio. Born in London, he emigrated to Australia as a teenager and was raised in Sydney, where he worked in vaudeville ...

and James Donald but neither was available.

''Truculent'' Incident

The opening titles feature a statement about the decision to release the film in the light of the loss of . HMS ''Truculent'' sank in 1950, after an accidental collision with a freighter which resulted in the loss of 64 lives. The ''Truculent'' incident took place after filming of ''Morning Departure'' had been completed, but before it went on general release to the public. The producers decided to go ahead with the film release, as a tribute to the bravery of Royal Naval personnel.

Reception

Trade papers called the film a "notable box office attraction" in British cinemas in 1950. According to ''Kinematograph Weekly'' the 'biggest winners' at the box office in 1950 Britain were ''The Blue Lamp'', ''The Happiest Days of Your Life'', ''Annie Get Your Gun'', ''The Wooden Horse'', ''Treasure Island'' and ''Odette'', with "runners up" being ''Stage Fright'', ''White Heat'', ''They Were Not Divided'', ''Trio'', ''Morning Departure'', ''Destination Moon'', ''Sands of Iwo Jima'', ''Little Women'', ''The Forsythe Saga'', ''Father of the Bride'', ''Neptune's Daughter'', ''The Dancing Years'', ''The Red Light'', ''Rogues of Sherwood Forest'', ''Fancy Pants'', ''Copper Canyon'', ''State Secret'', ''The Cure for Love'', ''My Foolish Heart'', ''Stromboli'', ''Cheaper by the Dozen'', ''Pinky'', ''Three Came Home'', ''Broken Arrow'' and ''Black Rose''. Roy Ward Baker said "I was very proud of that film and still am. It was an immense success in its day and that's how I came to go to Hollywood in 1952, because the Americans had seen that film."Brian McFarlane, ''An Autobiography of British Cinema'', p 49

References

External links

* * *
New York Times review of "Operation Disaster" January 15, 1951
Retrieved 2012-11-24 {{Roy Ward Baker 1950 films Films shot in Buckinghamshire Films directed by Roy Ward Baker Submarine films British films based on plays Films scored by William Alwyn British war drama films 1950s war drama films British black-and-white films Films shot at Denham Film Studios 1950s English-language films 1950s British films