''The Silent Enemy'' is a 1958 British action film directed by

William Fairchild William Fairchild (sometimes credited as W. E. C. Fairchild) (1918–2000, aged 81-82) was an English author, playwright, director and screenwriter. He was married to actress Isabel Dean from 1953 to the early 1970s, and to producer, agent, and w ...

. It stars

Laurence Harvey Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in th ...

as Lionel "Buster" Crabb and describes his exploits during

World War II 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 opposin ...

. Based on Marshall Pugh's book ''Commander Crabb'', the film followed the publicity created by Crabb's mysterious disappearance and likely death during a

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

incident a year earlier. It was the first Universal Pictures film in SuperScope. The film depicts events in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

harbour during the World War II Italian frogman and manned torpedo attacks, although the film's depiction of the events is highly fictionalised.

Plot

During the Italian manned torpedo

raid on Alexandria (1941) The Raid on Alexandria was carried out on 19 December 1941 by Italian Navy divers of the Decima Flottiglia MAS, who attacked and disabled two Royal Navy battleships in the harbour of Alexandria, Egypt, using manned torpedoes. Background On 3 D ...

, two British battleships, and , are severely damaged. The British are worried that this new tactic will afford the Italians naval supremacy in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and the ability to strike their primary target, the Royal Navy base at

. To counter this threat, bomb-disposal expert Lionel Crabb is posted to Gibraltar. He organises a small team of divers to intercept the Italian attacks and defuse the bombs. Meanwhile, from

Algeciras Algeciras ( , ) is a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar ( es, Bahía de Algeci ...

in neutral

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, Italian expert on underwater operations Antonio Tomolino is secretly watching the British base in Gibraltar and planning new attacks. After the Italians mount a failed attack upon a cruiser in Gibraltar, Crabb and his divers recover one of the manned torpedoes and begin to repair it.

Petty officer A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotation OR-5 or OR-6. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be superior ...

Thorpe takes command of physical and diving training. After a further series of attacks against ships in Gibraltar harbour and an attempt to recover secret documents from a wrecked aircraft, Crabb visits Algeciras to discover the Italians' base of operations. After following a man with an Italian tattoo to the interned Italian ship the

Olterra The auxiliary ship ''Olterra'' was a 5,000 ton Italian tanker scuttled by her own crew at Algeciras in the Bay of Gibraltar on 10 June 1940, after the entry of Italy in World War II. She was recovered in 1942 by a special unit of the Decima F ...

, he discovers that the ship's hold is being used as a workshop and base for the operations. The ship's underwater door is used for the manned torpedoes and by frogmen, which leaves them undiscovered by Spanish authorities. Crabb reports the discovery of the Olterra to his superiors, but under the laws of neutrality, he cannot arrange an attack without top-level authority. Meanwhile, the Italians plan a major attack on a British convoy. Crabb ignores orders and, with the manned torpedo repaired, he and another diver infiltrate the docks at Algeciras, launching a preemptive strike on the Olterra that destroys the ship, workshop and crew. The next morning, with the convoy leaving Gibraltar, Thorpe informs Crabb that for his bravery in this operation he has been awarded the

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically by civilians, or in circ ...

, commenting to his men: "You all deserve the ruddy medal!"

Cast

as Lieutenant Lionel Crabb, R.N.V.R. *

Dawn Addams Victoria Dawn Addams (21 September 1930 – 7 May 1985) was a British actress, particularly in Hollywood motion pictures of the 1950s and on British television in the 1960s and 1970s. She became a princess in 1954 (until 1971). Early years Ad ...

as Third Officer Jill Masters, W.R.N.S. * Michael Craig as Leading Seaman Knowles * John Clements as the Admiral *

Sid James Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series. Born to a mid ...

as Chief Petty Officer Thorpe *

Alec McCowen Alexander Duncan McCowen, (26 May 1925 – 6 February 2017) was an English actor. He was known for his work in numerous film and stage productions. Early life McCowen was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the son of Mary (née Walkden), a dancer ...

as Able Seaman Morgan * Nigel Stock as Able Seaman Fraser * Ian Whittaker as Ordinary Seaman Thomas *

Arnoldo Foà Arnoldo Foà (24 January 1916 – 11 January 2014) was an Italian actor, voice actor, theatre director, singer and writer. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1938 and 2014. Biography Foà was born in Ferrara, Italy, to a Jewish fa ...

as Tomolino *

Gianna Maria Canale Gianna Maria Canale (12 September 1927 – 13 February 2009) was an Italian film actress. Biography Canale was born in 1927 in Reggio Calabria. In 1947, she competed in the Miss Italia beauty contest, where she was runner-up to Lucia Bo ...

as Conchita *

Massimo Serato Massimo Serato, born Giuseppe Segato, (31 May 1916 – 22 December 1989) was an Italian film actor with a career spanning over 40 years. Serato was born in Oderzo, Veneto, Italy and started appearing in films in 1938. He played leading roles in ...

as Forzellini *

Giacomo Rossi-Stuart Giacomo Rossi Stuart (25 August 1925 – 20 October 1994) was an Italian film actor often credited as Jack Stuart or Giacomo Rossi-Stuart. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1953 and 1989. Biography Born in Todi to an Italian father ...

as Rosati *

Carlo Giustini Carlo Giustini (born 4 May 1923), sometimes credited as Carlo Justini, is an Italian retired actor. Life and career Born in Viterbo, the son of a railway employee, Giustini debuted at twenty years old in ''The Materassi Sisters'', after having ...

as Fellini * Raymond Young as Celloni * David Lodge as Sergeant *

Ewen Solon Peter Ewen Solon (7 September 1917 – 7 July 1985) was a New Zealand-born actor, who worked extensively in both the United Kingdom and Australia. At the outbreak of World War II, Solon became a member of the First Echelon, 2nd NZEF that saw ...

as Willowdale Captain *

Brian Oulton Brian Oulton (11 February 1908 – 13 April 1992) was an English character actor. Biography Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, Oulton made his acting debut in 1939 as a lead actor. During the Second World War he served in the British Army, and ret ...

as Holford *

Howard Marion-Crawford Howard Marion-Crawford (17 January 1914 – 24 November 1969), the grandson of writer F. Marion Crawford, was an English character actor, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the 1954 television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. In 19 ...

as Wing Commander *

Cyril Shaps Cyril Leonard Shaps (13 October 1923 – 1 January 2003) was an English actor of radio, television and film, with a career spanning over seven decades. Early radio Shaps was born in the East End of London to Polish-Jewish parents; his father ...

as Miguel *

Lee Montague Lee Montague (born Leonard Goldberg; 16 October 1927) is an English actor noted for his roles in film and television, usually playing tough guys. Montague was a student of the Old Vic School. Montague's film credits include ''The Camp on Bloo ...

as Miguel's Mate *

John Lee John Lee may refer to: Academia * John Lee (astronomer) (1783–1866), president of the Royal Astronomical Society * John Lee (university principal) (1779–1859), University of Edinburgh principal * John Lee (pathologist) (born 1961), English ...

as Flag Lieutenant *

Terence Longdon Terence Longdon (14 May 1922 – 23 April 2011) was an English actor. Biography Born Hubert Tuelly Longdon in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England. During World War II, Longdon was a pilot with the Fleet Air Arm, protecting Atlantic conv ...

as Lieutenant Bailey *

Ian MacNaughton Edward Ian MacNaughton (30 December 1925 – 10 December 2002) was a Scottish actor-turned-television producer and director, best known for his work with the ''Monty Python'' team. MacNaughton was director and producer for all but four of the f ...

as Sentry outside Admiral's Office * * * David Fotheringham as Italian frogman * Alan Webb as British Consul * John Moffatt as Diving Volunteer * Harold Siddons as Army Interrogation Officer *

Derren Nesbitt Derren Nesbitt (born Derren Michael Horwitz; 19 June 1935) is a British actor. Nesbitt's film career began in the late 1950s, and he also appeared in many television series in the late 1960s into the 1970s. He is known for his role as Major von ...

as Patrol Boat Officer * Michael Brill as Naval Interrogation Officer

Production

The film was announced in June 1957. Filming took place in England, Malta and Gibraltar. Harvey was injured in the leg and hospitalised during filming in Malta. Michael Craig had been suspended by

the Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

for refusing the lead in ''The Gentleman and the Gypsy'' but was removed from the project after

James Woolf Sir John Woolf (15 March 1913, London – 28 June 1999, London) and his brother James Woolf (2 March 1920, London – 30 May 1966, Beverly Hills, California) were British film producers. John and James founded the production companies Romulus Fil ...

of Romulus Films offered Craig's annual salary to Rank. Craig said that

"was good company, generous to his friends and, in spite of his reputation as a user, I liked him a lot."

Historical inaccuracies

The British divers are shown as using

Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus The Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus (also referred to as DSEA), was an early type of oxygen rebreather invented in 1910 by Sir Robert Davis, head of Siebe Gorman and Co. Ltd., inspired by the earlier Fleuss system, and adopted by the Royal Na ...

, with the Italians using the British

Chariot manned torpedo The Chariot was a British manned torpedo used in World War II. The Chariot was inspired by the operations of Italian naval commandos, in particular the raid on 19 December 1941 by members of the Decima Flottiglia MAS who rode "''Maiali"'' human to ...

es rather than Italian Maiale manned torpedoes. In reality, Crabb spent several months deactivating mines brought ashore by other divers before learning to dive himself. The real divers did not initially wear flippers. Crabb and Knowles were the first to use them after removing them from the Italian chariot divers.

References

External links