L'ennemi silencieux

A superb wartime adventure, the Silent Enemy is the true story of Lieutenant Crabbe, a Royal Navy bomb and mine disposal officer sent to Gibraltar on a urgent mission to undo damage being inflicted on the fleet by sly Italian frogmen led by a brilliant underwater engineer. Though he has never dived before Crabbe takes to the underwater world like a fish, and with the help of a plucky NCO and dedicated but tiny band of men turns back the hidden menace. Crabbe and his courageous crew ultimately stop the Italian 10th Flotilla divers from turning the tide of the war.

Characters and acting are sharp. Cinematography and staging on land and especially underwater are very good. Writing is great too. The military historical significance is that these underwater demolition techniques and technologies are the precursors of modern Navy SEALs, Special Boat Squads, etc. The movie significance is that the characters and plot elements foreshadow every James Bond and action movie that's ever had frogmen, underwater fight scenes, secret ships, mini-subs, or stealty sub-surface saboteurs. Being drawn from real life, I found The Silent Enemy even more compelling.

Lt. Lionel Crabb, RNVR, is sent to the Royal Navy base at Gibraltar as Bomb and Mine Disposal Officer. Rather than simply dispose of unexploded mines and explosives he wants to locate enemy devices and protect the ships anchored in the harbour. He assembles a team of divers. Their greatest enemy is Italian frogmen riding "chariots" - human torpedoes. Recently two British battleships were severely damaged in Alexandria harbour and now they've shifted their attention to Gibraltar.

A rather novel WW2 film in that it concentrates on divers and underwater missions. Can't think of too many other films on the subject.

Based on a true story, though a large degree of poetic licence has been taken, the film is quite entertaining. While not entirely true to the Lionel Crabb story it's reasonably realistic-feeling. The action scenes are great and you get a good sense for the important work the divers did, often with limited resources.

A romanticised tribute to Commander Lionel Crabb (who's mysterious death was currently making headlines, a fact not mentioned in the film), strangely personified by Laurence Harvey in bleached hair and a beard.

Set in Gibraltar, it's of historical interest as containing probably the only depiction in a feature film of the plane crash that killed General Sikorski, while the ensuing underwater battle between rival frogmen almost certainly inspired the climax of 'Thunderball', which also employed underwater specialist Egil Woxholt to do the photography.

In the glamour stakes it fully matches the James Bond movie thanks to the presence of Dawn Addams uniformed as a W. R. N. And the awesome Gianna Maria Canale.

They don't make them like this anymore. Rousing drama action based on the real life exploits of British Navy Lieutenant Lionel Crabbe and his contributions to underwater demolition work during World War II and later on in salvaging operations.

World War II history buffs will appreciate the military technology depicted in this film and the impact it caused to Allied as well as Axis shipping.

Exciting underwater action combined with a decent cast and good dialogue contribute to the suspense.

THE SILENT ENEMY is a fine WW2 movie of the kind the British used to make so well. This one boasts an interesting, fact-based story about a little known theatre of war and an exceptional ensemble cast who really bring life to the various roles. Laurence Harvey plays an enthusiastic young officer who is shipped off to Gibraltar to help combat the threat of Italian frogmen who have been mining and destroying Allied shipping trying to access the Med.

Harvey, who sports stubble and blond hair in this film, is playing the real-life wartime diver 'Buster' Crabb, the man who died in mysterious circumstances shortly before this film was made. Harvey usually plays insufferable characters but he's very good here, strong-willed and perfectly heroic. I'm not usually a fan of underwater-themed movies as I found they're usually let down by lacklustre underwater photography, but this film's different; the action scenes are highly suspenseful and complimented by strong special effects work.

I liked the way that THE SILENT ENEMY is a film that focuses on technology and the apparatus of war while being readily accessible to the layman viewer at the same time. The supporting cast includes a great role for Sid James who brings some of his dry humour to a serious production and the likes of Michael Craig, Dawn Addams, Nigel Stock, and David Lodge. I was also pleased to see a bunch of youthful and famous Italian actors playing their countrymen: Gianna Maria Canale, Massimo Serato, and Giacomo Rossi-Stuart are all present here before they became big faces in Italian genre cinema of the 1960s.