The Dam Busters

Michael Redgrave - Dr. Barnes Wallis
Ursula Jeans - Mrs. Wallis
Charles Carson - Doctor
Stanley Van Beers - Sir David Pye
Colin Tapley - Doctor W.H. Glanville
Raymond Huntley - Official from Ministry of Aircraft
Patrick Barr - Captain Joseph Summers
Anthony Shaw - R.A.F. Officer at trials
Basil Sydney - Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris
Derek Farr - Group Captain J.N.H. Whitworth
Laurence Naismith - Farmer
Frank Phillips - BBC Announcer
Richard Todd - Wing Commander Guy Gibson
Brewster Mason - Flight Lieutenant R.D. Trevor-Roper
Anthony Doonan - Flight Lieutenant R.E.G. Hutchison
Nigel Stock - Flight Officer F.M. Spafford
Brian Nissen - Flight Lieutenant A.T. Taerum
Robert Shaw - Flight Sergeant Pulford

Adapted by R.C. Sherriff from Guy Gibson's book Enemy Coast Ahead, The Dam Busters is a docudrama following the conception and implementation of a new British weapon for smashing the German dams in the Ruhr industrial complex during World War II.

In 1942, Dr Barnes Wallis (Michael Redgrave) was possessed with a seemingly absurd idea - the creation of a revolutionary bouncing bomb to destroy the Ruhr dams and paralyse Germany’s heartland. This film describes the development of the bouncing bomb, showing Barnes Wallis shooting marbles across a bath tub of water as the idea begins to form, through to devising a particularly simple bombsight and altimeter that had to be developed. The film is a tribute to the genius of Barnes Wallis who fought persistent scepticism and disbelief from Whitehall that such a feat was possible. Major disappointments accompany the initial trials, the casing of the bomb has to be drastically re-designed, and it transpires that the aircraft will need to approach the dam considerably lower and faster than had been predicted.

A special Squadron 617 is formed and selected to carry out the attack on the dams harnessing the energy of the rivers Moehne, Eder and Sorbe, led by Wing-Commander Guy Gibson (Richard Todd) who is given responsibility for the sortie and intensive training. The climax of the film, the actual attack on the German dams is rather a disappointment due to some unimpressive special effects.