We Dive at Dawn (1943) User Reviews (39)

A tense British war movie -- the Sea Tiger hunts the Brandenburg -- from 1943, with John Mills and Eric Portman

[Terrell-4 · 7/10 · 15 February 2008]

If you're in the middle of a ferocious war and it's still not clear that you're going to come out on top, among the things you'll be concerned with is to keep up the morale of the civilians...to demonstrate that our troops have the bravery, the resourcefulness and the dedication to overcome all the odds in a noble cause. And that's just what director Anthony Asquith provided the British with 1943's naval war film, We Dive at Dawn. After more than 60 years, it's not surprising that some of the movie is dated. It doesn't help that the class stereotypes which help define the enlisted men from the officers can be jarring. Here, as in so many other British war films, the men invariably have thick regional working class accents while the officers speak with an educated fluency that would place them at home in England's finest ruling-class establishments. In this movie, Freddie Taylor (John Mills), the captain of the submarine Sea Tiger, is clever, confident, resourceful, aggressive, in control, good with his men, humorous with his peers, quick to make a decision. And it helps that he's lucky. His men are jolly tars, for the most part, competent at their jobs and always ready with a joke when things get tense. Although we spend the first third of the movie getting to know these people while they're on leave, after that things get tense quickly.

Taylor and his sub are ordered to destroy the Brandenburg, a new German battleship. They just miss the ship when it enters the Kiel Canal and heads into the Baltic. Taylor assesses the risks and decides the Sea Tiger will go after it, through mine fields, anti-sub nets and with a real risk of not having enough fuel to return to home base. After several tense situations, the confrontation takes place. The Sea Tiger lets loose six torpedoes but has to dive, not knowing if it had done its job. After a clever subterfuge, Taylor outfoxes a couple of German destroyers but then realizes there is not enough fuel. He plans to scuttle his sub and surrender when, just at the last moment, James Hobson (Eric Portman), a seaman who had been sullen and a loner and who speaks German, says there is a small Danish coastal village that had been a fuel depot. He thinks it might still be for the Germans. The last third of the movie is a rousing action sequence as the crew of the sub attempts to hold off the Germans long enough to pump in enough fuel to get the Sea Tiger back to Britain. This is a wartime propaganda movie, so don't expect failure. And did the Sea Tiger actually put the Brandenburg down? Are the men reunited with their wives and sweethearts? Did Hobson have a reconciliation with his wife and small son that left him smiling for once? Did Freddie Taylor finally have a chance to make use of all those female names in his little black book? You'll have to see the movie.

There are propaganda war movies and there are propaganda war movies. Some, like Powell's and Pressburger's One of Our Aircraft Is Missing and The 49th Parallel, still stand up to viewing today because the stories are solid and unexpected and the creators didn't use obvious shorthand clichés. Others, like We Dive at Dawn, were made with enough clichés that when watching we have to remind ourselves how dire the time was when the film was made. Still, Asquith can build a lot of suspense even with a few clichés. The Sea Tiger's forcing its way through a sub net was tense. The stalking of the Brandenburg and the plotting needed for the torpedo firing was realistic; John Mill's no-nonsense attitude while he prepared to attack was well-handled. The fake-out preparations to make the Sea Tiger look as if it had been destroyed by depth charges was as realistic, inside the sub as well as out, as you could hope for, and the battle for the fuel depot was dramatic and exciting. We Dive at Dawn is not a classic war film, but it's a well-made, well-acted example of its type and time.

John Mills, it's worth noting, had a long, long career. Especially in the Fifties he played in a number of serious-minded films looking back at those WWII days. He had the quality of showing grit, cheerfulness and perseverance, but of also being trustworthy, a man England could be proud of as he fought the war. Top-billed in this movie was Eric Portman, a fine actor with a unique voice and the ability to give stares so cold you'd want to put on a sweater. Everyone on the sub is very much in the joking but stiff-upper-lip mode, but Portman manages some complexity for his character. Mills and Portman did fine jobs working together on this film.

Submarines used

[earthtracer · 8/10 · 31 January 2005]

The submarine used was NOT Varangian! 'It' was in fact two boats, P614 and P615, both built for Turkey by Vickers Armstorng at Barrow-in-Furness but kept hold of by the Royal Navy for the duration of the war. P615 was sunk but P614 was eventually delivered in 1945.

The confusion no doubt arose because someone looked up P61 (as I did) and found Varangian! When in fact, the last digit of both P614 and P615 was in fact just painted out....

There are some extremely realistic moments in the film. These Turkish boats were very similar to the S-class. As no S-class submarines survive, the shots of them (as P61) and of the depot ship "Forth" form part of an interesting record now, as well as an excellent film.

The war-time Brits versus Hollywood

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 25 September 2017]

A Gainsborough Picture, made at Gaumont British Studios, Shepherd's Bush. Neither copyrighted nor theatrically released in the U.S.A. Released in the U.K. through General Film Distributors: 28 June 1943. Presented by J. Arthur Rank. London opening at the Odeon, Leicester Square: 20 May 1943. Australian release through 20th Century-Fox: 7 September 1944 (sic). 8,557 feet. 95 minutes. (NTSC available on a VCI DVD; PAL available on a Simply Media DVD or an ITV Silver Collection disc).

SYNOPSIS: A British submarine receives orders to sink a Nazi battleship.

NOTES: Made with the co-operation of the Admiralty and the officers and men of His Majesty's submarines. The Navy did not think the original Williams-Valentine script "sufficiently authentic", so Launder was engaged. He revised the script with the help of an experienced submarine officer.

COMMENT: No greater contrast can be found than that between the war- time propaganda movies made by England and the USA. The Hollywood product is full of false heroics and exaggeratedly racist bravado ("One of us is worth ten of them"), glamorized action and an enormous amount of dame-chasing on leave. The British movies are soberly realistic to a fault (you actually go away from "We Dive At Dawn" with more than a passing knowledge of the interior workings of a submarine); little attempt is made to glamorize war and give it a glossy sheen of high adventure (although there is plenty of tension, war is usually shown in all its horror and futility and mindless waste); whilst the Germans are invariably presented as lacking the quick wits of the English, they are still a force to be taken extremely seriously; and leaves are usually spent quietly with families in environs far removed from high- stepping night clubs.

On the other hand, both American and British war pictures usually devote a great deal of their screen time to filling in the characters of a select group of officers and men. Whilst the Hollywood writers often fall back on stereotypes and stock characters, their British counterparts are more successful in presenting a diverse and more interesting range of personnel. The English have never been afraid of eccentrics and non-conformists, whereas to an American scriptwriter, any character who doesn't conform simply has to redeem himself by some heroic act in the final reel. The British certainly believe in team spirit, but the Americans demand total subjection to predetermined rules of conduct.

"We Dive At Dawn" is an excellent example of the British school. Well-rounded, interesting characters are soberly, and realistically acted by a large group of fine players with whom we can sympathize and identify. A great deal of the action is fascinatingly concerned with the details of submarine command. And the film has been put together with admirable competence and professionalism but without overt flashiness or unrealistic special effects.

Asmittedly, "We Dive at Dawn" takes a fair while to get cracking, what with all the boat-side camaraderie as the various characters are introduced. In these early sections of the film we feel too that the two star performances, Portman (top-billed, though his is the subsidiary role) and Mills are somewhat lacking in depth. In fact they both seem too brusque to be totally convincing. However, Mills and Portman do settle down and grow as the story progresses. And some of the other below-decks business, particularly the running gag with the Arabella tattoo, also becomes more enthralling and/or amusing.

Of curse, once the action really starts, with its surprising semi- documentary insistence on all the details and actual mechanics of the attack, this movie achieves a realism, a verisimilitude, a naturalistic tautness and tension worthy of Asquith's best work. Even Jack Cox's drab, gray-toned lighting photography comes into its own. Topped by an all-action climax.

Engine room scenes

[saintcybi · 25 August 2006]

I very much agree with the comment about the verisimilitude of the control room dialogue and action during the torpedo shoot. However, the scenes that really struck me most forcibly as realistic were those in the engine room during the episode where the Baltic A/S net was penetrated. The mechanician operating the electric motor was (in my opinion!) definitely not an actor - he was a matelot doing his regular job, and he was obviously jolly proud of it too. The repetition of these "ahead/astern" scenes suggests that the director was as fascinated as I was. The film is and will remain well worth watching for scenes like these. And for our US friends who find the dialogue difficult - well, I often use the subtitles option when watching modern Hollywood action films, like "Get Shorty". Doesn't stop my enjoyment, and I can then understand about 90% on a second unaided viewing!

Once the submarine leaves the dock, the film is launched!

[marxsarx · 7/10 · 17 July 2003]

***************************MILD SPOILERS AHEAD**************************

We Dive at Dawn is an English made movie with John Mills in the lead role. The second time I watched the DVD version was on a big screen TV and I must say the movie is better than I thought the first time I saw it on the samll screen. May be it was the big screen viewing that helped?

I still say the first few segments of the movie are muddled, but once the submarine leaves the dock and begins its mission, the movie takes off too! The search for the German battleship named the Brandenburg and the adventures which went along with it were absorbing and the detail shown in the movie are interesting!

I'm increasing my rating to 7/10. If you enjoy WW II films, I think you'll find this one interesting once the submarine gets underway. Some of the men on the sub have quite a sense of humor, too!

Unexceptional but involving submarine story.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 19 September 2009]

Anthony Asquith directed this relatively inexpensive and thoroughly adequate war-time thriller about a British submarine hunting a new German battleship, the fictional Brandenburg.

The structure is episodic. (1) Vignettes of the crew ashore, variously courting young women, trying to avoid marrying them, and suspicious of their wives. (2) Emergency mission: Sink the Brandenburg, which is a difficult task requiring skill on the part of the crew and the captain, John Mills. (3) The pursuit the enemy ship beyond the submarine's range. (4) The attack, and the depth charges that follow. (5) A landing party hijacking some fuel from a ship in a remote German port, involving a fire fight. (6) A brief scene of the return home and a resolution of earlier issues.

It's probably different from the submarine movies you may have gotten used to. Ordinarily, the skipper turns his cap around, glues his eyes to the periscope, hollers out "bearing" and "mark", and everything proceeds smoothly. Here, Mills has a hell of a time lining up for a torpedo attack. The boat bobs up and down. He has trouble deciding the "angle on the bow" because the Brandenburg is, after all, not steering a straight course. And Mills is quick to snap out remonstrations to his officers when his efforts are frustrated.

I don't know why some Americans had trouble deciphering the different accents. A "child" becomes a "chow." Simple. And an imprecation is an imprecation in any language, even if it comes out, "Cor bloimey!" It's the adverts on British roads that always confounded me. "Pom pom mums." And, "Lose a stone in a fortnight." Why would anyone want to lose one of his stones?

Aspiring screenwriters nota Bene: Every submarine movie must have a scene in which the skipper must try to convince the attacking enemy that it has been destroyed. The skipper does it by sending up oil and then debris, in that order. To make the rule REALLY convincing, they may stick a dead body in the torpedo tube before shooting it out. That's what Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster did in "Run Silent, Run Deep," but John Mills did it here first.

If it's not a classic of its kind, it's entertaining and at times pretty tense. Not a bad job.

A Solid Submarine Film

[Uriah43 · 6/10 · 23 January 2019]

With their arrival into port, the crewmembers of the British submarine "Sea Tiger" are looking forward to some rest and relaxation. Unfortunately, they are soon called back to their boat due to orders from their higher headquarters. Once at sea, they are told that their new mission is to find the German battleship "Brandenburg" and sink her before she can get into the Baltic Sea. To get there in time to intercept the battleship they will have to travel on the surface during the day which makes them easy prey for German aircraft. If that wasn't difficult enough, they will also have to contend with German mines and a submarine net in the process--as well as any German destroyers serving as escorts. Not an easy task indeed. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a solid submarine film which covered most of the basic elements for this type of picture. Admittedly, there were a couple of scenes which strained credibility, but it was still entertaining none-the-less. In any case, I enjoyed this film for the most part and have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Brit Docudrama Propaganda Piece

[Davido-2 · 6/10 · 1 June 2005]

It is always pleasant to see John Mills acting but the constraints of wartime mean this is not much more than a propaganda piece – plucky Brits pulling off a near impossible mission. The film quality is good but I had trouble hearing some of the dialog – British accents have changed a lot in 60 years - even for a native speaker.

The underwater scenes where the crew is hunted by two German destroyers lacks the tension of later movies – in particular the superlative Das Boot. I was impressed by the calculations for torpedo firing, Mills trying to get angles and his officer working out trajectories on a slide rule. Funny to think they were still using such technology on the Apollo Missions. The special effects are lacking, although the "bathtub" scenes where Mills looks through the periscope are well done as are the real submarine scenes.

The film lacks the pace and production values of later (and some earlier) war movies. It has the feeling more of docudrama.

Something For The Morale

[screenman · 7/10 · 8 March 2008]

This is an excellent tub-thumper from the war years.

John Mills leads a fine cast of regular British B-movie stalwarts in a solo submarine attack upon a fictitious enemy battleship.

Filmed in black and white, it's well paced and also well placed considering that a war was going on at the time. If anything, it shows how seriously the authorities took positive propaganda.

The mission-side of the movie takes place in genuine submarines. Things are cramped and claustrophobic. The actors look suitably grimy and sweaty without being too offensive to the heroic palate. Other commentators have already drawn attention to the authentic little details like keeping the vessel trim and forgetting to read instruments, as well as the engine-room activities.

This probably is the first movie in which debris (and a dead German) is blown from the torpedo tube to fool an enemy destroyer. And it's the ONLY time I have seen part of the vessel exposed in a pretence of sinking - a high risk gamble if ever there was one.

I'm a little sceptical as to whether or not a submarine could punch its way through a wire-rope net. Submerged speed was barely twice that of human walking speed, and the net would have had a great deal of 'give'. Also, the engineer was at the same work-station and operating the same levers both on the surface and submerged. This, too, seems implausible as either diesel or electric engines were used and they were in different sections of the ship - or so I'm told.

There was a wee bit too much shore-side drama for my tastes. But then, this was a propaganda effort, and clearly contained a subtle message for civilians to mind their behaviour as it could adversely affect service morale and therefor the war effort.

These niggles aside, it's a pretty entertaining little adventure. Nowadays movies of such vintage tend to be screened in the afternoon, whilst far more modern and inferior movies enjoy prime-time. But then; it's no longer politically-correct to mention the war in the presence of our European friends (Too many of them have guilty consciences), or our own left-wing fascists (non of whom have ever fought for the freedoms they now take for granted).

As a submarine movie it is eminently collectible. Better than 'The Enemy Below', I think, though less demonstrative. Not so authentic as 'Das Boot' by any means, but not so gross either.

The British Navy is always welcome in Denmark!

[GaryWang · 9/10 · 26 March 2007]

Any film about WWII made during WWII by a British production company has no latter-day peer in my opinion, respectfully. The confluence of so many things near and dear to my heart are in At Dawn We Dive: as a descendant of Admiral Horatio Nelson and student of all aspects of World War Two and particularly naval warfare, I favor depictions of subs and action in the North Atlantic and especially those which include the German side of things. For those unacquainted with target priorities, an attack on an enemy warship is the greatest event that a submarine can hope to encounter and such a rare opportunity would develop surprisingly similarly to what we see here. The pacing is deliberate and typical of the works coming out of the Ealing, Rank and British-Gaumont studios back in the day: frankly I prefer its quieter, more cerebral approach for its humanity and realism that engages far better than any over-produced Hollywood movie ever could. This reminds me of Powell and Pressburger's The 49th Parallel thanks to the powerfully persuasive Eric Portman, a favorite of mine. John Mills receives second billing and a smaller font in the titles, so this is clearly meant to be Mr. Portman's film but the whole cast shines. As for the title sequence, am I the only one who is utterly charmed by Gainsborough Production's lovely pre-CGI Gainsborough Girl?

Morning Departure

[richardchatten · 7/10 · 20 December 2020]

It seemes strange seeing the Gainsborough lady smiling at us before the film starts, since it's far from the overwrought melodramas which the studio's name was soon to become synonymous. It's also the nearest to a conventional war film made by director Anthony Asquith, whose action was usually interior rather than as bellicose as it is here; although again, the film is most engrossing when confined to the interior of the submarine.

Tight, taut drama, not for the movie goer who cannot think

[Asgardian · 10/10 · 6 March 2003]

This movie is all about reality, submarine warfare in WW2 was not a clean precise science. There were no computers giving exact enemy details, there was no precise instrumentation to 100% control the sub. Not all the crew went to fight with a song in their heart, and a smile on their dial.

People with expectations of seeing a "pretty war" in this movie will be grossly disappointed, .............. GOOD, they deserve to be disappointed, they deserve to have reality shoved into their face.

War is not clean, exact, fought by people about to break into song. It is endured by scared, cold/burnt, hungry, desperate people willing to do anything to survive.

"We Dive at Dawn" is a fine example portraying a desperate situation needing desperate actions.

Patrolling The Baltic

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 24 May 2009]

Some inferior production values hamper the enjoyment of We Dive At Dawn. As Americans we can get a big jaded in terms of the better facilities we had. On the other hand our's in Hollywood weren't under attack and the story is a competent one.

We Dive At Dawn plays like a B picture version of In Which We Serve, set in a British submarine instead of surface vessel. The first part of the film shows the lives of the various crew members from Captain John Mills on down, some funny, some sad vignettes. The one with Eric Portman is especially touching and gives you some idea why he volunteers for the almost suicidal mission later on.

When HMS Tiger Fish is at sea, she gets into action and barely escapes, but with fuel lines damaged and not enough to go home. Mills and Portman conceive of a plan to raid a small Danish harbor that Portman was familiar with from before the war.

One thing though I absolutely could not believe that the producers had the chutzpah to put in the film. When Portman takes a landing party to the harbor, when he explains his mission to the civilians one of them replies that "the British Navy is always welcome in Denmark".

Although the Danes had some really unwelcome guests that the British were trying to help them oust, to this day there are still bitter memories of their Navy sinking the Danish fleet in Copenhagen during the Napoleonic Wars. It was a preemptive strike that was made to prevent the fleet from falling into Bonaparte's hands. It left a bad taste in Danish mouths that lingers to this day.

As Winston Churchill was very personally interested in the propaganda value of the British cinema, I can't believe he let that one stand for posterity. Than knowing something of Churchill's ego, it's not hard to believe.

Despite a line that had me reaching, We Dive At Dawn is a competently done wartime war film, with Mills, Portman, and the rest of the cast shown to best advantage.

Wooden but interesting period piece

[pawebster · 4/10 · 10 August 2014]

The main interest here is the period detail. Those who make films today set in the 1940s ought to have a look and listen - then they might not make some of the mistakes of language and tone that are so common.

However, we have to face the fact that this film is a cheap flag waver. The first third drags as we go through some unconvincing stories about the home lives of the sailors, mostly done in the "chirpy working class" mode that the British entertainment industry favoured at the time. The main story is far-fetched and the Danish village is made of the cheapest painted cardboard.

During the war it was obviously important not to scare the families on the home front too much, with the result that there is little real sense of danger on the sub and hardly any casualties. In contrast, think of "Das Boot" with everyone bathed in sweat, cooped up in claustrophobic conditions, breathing foul air and scared out of their wits. It's not like that here. Despite the food and fuel running out and depth charges going off all around, everyone is pretty much calmness personified.

On a positive note, the Germans are real ones and speak correct German, which was good going for a wartime film.

A fine British wartime film

[MerchantVenturer · 30 May 2005]

Looking back from the safety of 2005 it is difficult to conceive of the difficulties that must have ensued in making decent films in Britian at the height of WW II. Of course they are going to be patriotic, flag-waving type of affairs but within the constraints of the time there were some fine stories, excellent acting and first rate directing.

We Dive At Dawn is not one of the absolute best of this genre but it is very good. Any film involving John Mills would have a problem being bad. And there is also the marvellous Eric Portman.

Sir John's recent death, happily after a long, long life, brings home the journeyman qualities of so many modern actors. He was equally at home, and equally convincing, as a private soldier, airman or naval rating, or as a senior officer. It is difficult to think that many of today's crop, who seem to speak with their own regional accents both on and off duty, are anything like as versatile, and very few are anywhere near as good.

As to the film, it is a rattling good yarn, with glimpses of the family life and problems of some of the crew. I recently watched it again on afternoon television and was still entertained royally.

I had to smile at an American reviewer having difficulty with English accents. We British have to put up with all sorts of American accents in films all the time.

Pretty decent for it's day

[grahamsj3 · 6/10 · 29 April 2003]

It's hard not to judge a film made 60 years ago against today's standards. I saw this film on DVD but it's obvious that the film had degraded before it was put on disk. Even at that, the film still can be called good (not great, however). The sound quality is not very good and, as another reviewer stated, the English accents are very thick. As an American, it takes me a few minutes to learn to properly "hear" those accents. Once that's accomplished, what you have is a pretty decent old flick. It's the story of a British submarine and the men aboard her who go on a mission that very well may be their last. The story may seem a bit old-fashioned by today's standards, but it's overall a pretty decent flick. The main star is John Mills, one of the great British actors of all time.

Most folks should "steer" clear of this submarine movie.

[marxsarx · 7/10 · 5 March 2003]

This seemed to be a lackluster film to me that betrays a low budget with poor cinematography and not all that great of a job of editing. It may be of interest to those who know something about submarines during the World War II era, but I recommend that all others beware. Many of the scenes in this film were flat and some of the actors were a bit weak. The story about the men getting called back to duty during a short leave seems realistic enough, but there's no real pacing or tension in the story. I also had a tough time understanding what the actors were saying, partially due to some strong English accents and perhaps some due to an inferior job of sound recording. I give this a 55/100. Most folks will want to "steer" clear.

We Dive at Dawn

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 8 May 2023]

This is a cracking wartime adventure about a submarine tasked with tracking down and destroying the new Nazi battleship "Brandenburg". The added authenticity of this being actually made during the war is hard to overstate; there is a palpable tension as Eric Portman and John Mills take centre stage in this - admittedly "flag waving" production. Featuring a daring raid on a fuel dump, a tense cat-and-mouse chase, and giving more than a nod to the concomitant problems faced by the families left behind ashore; this is a taut and convincing tale of underwater seamanship that delivers a strong sense of the peril involved - and of the claustrophobia!

Realistic & Somber Submarine Action...From Britain During War-Time

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 27 April 2023]

Respected British Director Anthony Asquith, who Made Over 40 Films from the Late-20's, Until the Mid-60's, Helming Mostly Pedestrian Pictures. A Long and Steady Career. Nothing that Great but a lot of Interesting and Fine Films.

Here He Brings to the Screen a Very Realistic, Very Somber Sub-Movie with a Substantial Amount of Fantastic Images Inside the...

"Sub" (Underneath) "Marine" (Water)...as One Mate Explains (for the kiddies, one guesses).

For Once None of the Armaments, Hardware, and Vessels Don't Look Like Little Models, and the Verisimilitude is one of the Movies Main Strengths.

There are some Things Among the Crew that Seek to Levitate the Seriousness Somewhat. John Mills Never Cracks a Smile, Until the End, as Sober as a Submariner has to be During the Hunt.

Because, for Success, Everything Rides On Zero Mistakes.

The Film Takes Quite a While to "Dive" with a Hefty Amount of Screen-Time Devoted to On-Shore Leave and Romantic Entanglements.

But Once the "Mission" to Sink a Battleship is Under-Way, the Movie Really Picks Up and the 3rd Act is Bombastic (on shore) with Bullets and Bombs Blasting Away.

Considering it was Made in 1943, this Waves Propaganda Mostly, and is a Straight Forward, Gritty, and Tense Story that in the End is a Winner.

Quite underrated and a fun trip

[JurijFedorov · 7/10 · 28 August 2023]

Historical accuracy: 6

Acting: 6 Camera work: 7 Editing: 8 Budget: 7 Story: 6 Theme: 7 Pure entertainment factor: 7 Video quality: 7 Special effects: 8 Pacing: 6 Suspension of disbelief: 6 Non-cringe factor: 7 Lack of flashbacks: 10

I'm quite shocked at the low ratings these old WW2 movies get. UK made quite a few WW2 movies during and right after WW2 using real ships and subs so for once we get to see actors use the equipment around them and use real terms and real seafaring language. The Cruel Sea (1953) for example uses a real WW2 ship I think and I can tell you 100% no CGI set looks even close to this good or realistic. We get to see the engine room and even small tech on the ship in The Cruel Sea. It looks glorious! This movie doesn't quite show as much of the sub. But what we see is the real deal. Both ships, subs, streets, clothing. Everything is from WW2 so of course it looks glorious even though I really wish they had shown even more, but this is very short and fast paced flick. Just like The Cruel Sea this is also totally unknown in USA. It was basically made for UK and I guess most have forgotten all these movies even though they look spectacular, have on point dialogue, and always have deep quality directing with plenty of jokes and decent action. If you can enjoy some average modern flick you can for sure enjoy this high quality stuff even though it may feel a bit dated. There is for example a 5 min sequence where they just put the periscope up and down looking for the fictional battleship to sink. Obviously there is no theme or deep plot that moment. This is basically us looking at a WW2 sub crew doing realistic work for several minutes with only a few emotional points. No one even explains any technical details, we don't get a clear narration with CGI showing everything ongoing outside the sub. If you hate this stuff you may feel a few scenes are too much, but personally I found it very engaging. The narration left way for a more realistic experience.

In these movies there is seldom a single lone hero killing 100 Germans by himself and growing slowly as a person. These movies were about the crew overall so there are like 5 leads all with their own stories. And while they are heroic there is no Hollywood tale about a savior and his dame - well, not a single one at least. Rather we get several men doing heroic deeds and several women waiting for them. The first part of the movie is just the crew getting some time off to meet their families and most meet women and plan their futures. Not a single person has it all figured out. They either cheat, drink too much, don't want to settle down, or have no luck in love. Again, you will feel a bit lost here as these are real people not fake Hollywood stuff so you may feel it's a bit unfocused in a way. While in reality it's just more realistic than modern war movies. They made sure to have plenty of women too as this was for all the public. It also has plenty of jokes as IN REAL LIFE. War was not 100% gloomy all the time and modern filmmakers need to understand this before making a film. When groups of people get together they try to have fun no matter the situation. At least when not in a direct battle. And 99% of the time you are not in direct battle.

The story itself is fiction with some very fake events happening too like the final event of the movie that was quite ... Hollywood. So I think WW2 fanatics may be let down by some of these events. It could have happened. But this is a movie made to cheer up Britain so no wonder we largely see huge victories and a fully professional crew that is overly cheery even as the German battleships are bombing them from all directions. Not sure that part is that realistic, but it's surely closer to reality than the constant overly gloomy atmosphere of modern interpretations. I don't feel it's heavy propaganda, but it does omit any major disasters and mistakes.

It's a feel good war movie with plenty of personal relationships. It stays true to the real WW2 tech as we are literally on WW2 subs during WW2. They even found German speakers. The Danish captain meanwhile speaks utter gibberish which is a shame. There are a few scenes and events where they saved some money. But again, it's so short that you hardly get time enough to get mad at this stuff. It's also the typical WW2 British actors you recognize as most young men were drafted or worked in essential industry, but they made a ton of movies as there were only a few left and they were top tier though a tad too old. I would for sure recommend it, but don't expect a great or deep story. Sink the Bismarck! (1960) is likely what you are looking for if you want a deep story, great acting, and a clear storyline. This is a bit more dated and at times unfocused. We don't for example ever see the ship they hunting up close. Not a single time. We only loosely follow the story itself from news segments, statements, and from what the crew itself sees. A modern movie like this would have shown us all sides. I would strongly recommend U-571 (2000) as another fictional WW2 sub tale with plenty of story and action.

Good show, chaps

[mutikonka1 · 10/10 · 14 September 2007]

I watched this expecting to see the usual British stiff upper lip stereotypes and was surprised to find the dialogue remarkably natural and tinged with black humour. It was more like Eastenders Goes to Sea than In Which We Serve. The scenes during the approach and attack are remarkably realistic in their depiction of a fighting ship and the stuff ups and banter among the ship's company (well at least based on my service in the 1970s). Some of the throwaway lines are very witty ("I'm not joining the Band of Hope just to please some greasy fish fryer!). My only complaint is that they didn't show what happened to the Irish coxswain and his bride to be, or the tattooed PO and his "I Love Arabella" tattoo!

The film "In which we serve" should have been..................

[ianlouisiana · 8/10 · 5 May 2010]

This is the film "In which we serve" should have been.Unfortunately Mr Coward's starry - eyed love letter to Mountbatten was woodenly directed and totally dominated by "The Master"'s ludicrously mannered performance whereas Puffin Asquith is like David Lean without the pomposity and directs with real flair.This is particularly praiseworthy as he was working completely within the boundaries of propaganda(as was - to be fair,Mr Lean - but Asquith managed to avoid the worst excesses of stereotyping),in particular with his lower deck characters none of whom are the plaster saints so memorably patronised by Mr Coward. The wonderful Mr John Mills is excellent as the submarine commander,posh,yes,they tended to be,but not precious.Never apart from here have I seen a propaganda film where the captain gets shirty with his crew,but you can be sure it happened and it's rather remarkable that in 1942 it should have been shown in cinemas throughout a besieged country. The interior scenes of the submarine in combat have a documentary feel that Asquith's elders and betters failed manifestly to capture. Yes,Mr Portman's northern accent is a bit dodgy at times and his mastery of several languages is never explained,but he typifies what was seen then as typical British "grit",not to say bloody mindedness. "We dive at dawn" deserves to be far better known and is a very good example of a thoughtful,well - made propaganda film.

Routine British submarine thriller

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 16 March 2017]

WE DIVE AT DAWN is a sedate British wartime thriller that lacks the kind of suspense I find that the best movies in this genre possess. It's a submarine picture in which a crew have their leave cancelled in order that they might pursue a brand-new German battleship, the act of which will have huge propaganda value for the British government.

This is quite a low key production made on a smaller budget than usual, as expected for a film made contemporaneously with the war itself. John Mills is his usual reliable self in the main role and the main cast is littered with the usual familiar faces and well-judged character turns. But I found the pace flags and the narrative never really grips as it should, instead feeling like a bit of a slog even though there's nothing really wrong with it. At least it picks up in the last ten minutes...

Good dub dub 2 submarine movie

[catheadcatheadcathead · 8 December 2002]

I am a fan of submarine books and movies. Most of the movies are crap. I happened to stumble on this movie on UCSD-TV (San Diego) last night and was instantly enthralled. So much more realistic (IMHO) than the typical (American) submarine movie. Compare to "Destination Tokyo" (which I like), for instance. In that movie everything is bright and shiny and relatively uncramped. In WDaD I was thinking "whoa, Das Boot but British". Yeah, it's not perfect but I (like a previous reviewer) was impressed by the portrayal of the difficult submerged attack on the "Brandenburg".

So is this where the old "shoot a bunch of junk out of a torpedo tube so they'll think we're sunk" ploy actually originated?

Anyhoo, on my (short) list of good WWII submarine movies, I would have to put this in the top 5.

Fine for a 1943 Submarine Film

[jandrcom · 8/10 · 22 June 2020]

Whilst I enjoy submarine action films, I wasn't expecting much from one created in the midst of WW2. Nevertheless, this must be one of the best wartime films actually created mid-conflict I have viewed, once the initial rather predictable scenes regarding being called to action are cast to one side. The film managed to convey the tension of life aboard a submarine at this time, with the weakest parts those based outside of the submarine. John Mills' face shows great communication when presented with difficult decisions and made the film work, whilst not going so far as being unbelievable. A very good effort in what must have been tricky film making times.