Writer and Director: William Fairchild
‘The silent enemy’ is a phrase usually associated with the subterfuge of U-boat warfare but in William Fairchild’s 1958 it movie becomes the moniker for deadly frogmen attacks as Italian divers seek to disrupt British shipping by planting limpet mines and warheads in harbour. The second Fairchild release in as many weeks (following Gift Horse), The Silent Enemy makes a welcome transfer to DVD, Blu-Ray and digital.
Stationed in Gibraltar, Lieutenant Crabb soon joins the two-man British dive team whose job is to sweep stationary naval boats and convoys for explosive devices. With a scientific interest in the bombs, Crabb soon expands his team to great success but with an elite force of Italian frogmen stationed on a nearby neutral island owned by Spain, Crabb’s ambitious plan to investigate may compromise the articles of war.
The Silent Enemy has some of the most notable underwater sequences outside of a Bond film and watching not only the quality of Fairchild’s camerawork but also the management of tension as reconnaissance missions become underwater fights between rival nations is impressive. Seven years before Thunderball did the same thing – only with Sean Connery and in colour – Fairchild’s piece has knife attacks, espionage in sunken ships and dramatic deaths via broken goggles and cut breathing tubes.
It makes for a rollicking adventure with a prototype spy movie feel that retains its war movie interest in glory and a fight against the odds. Fairchild, who also penned the screenplay, manages the character development very nicely, moving between Crabb’s personal mission that causes him to work against the bureaucratic sloth of naval command to take on an exhausting workload and the development of the team dynamic. A segment which is boosted by the mid-film arrival of Sid James as Thorpe, a grumpy but loveable mother hen.
As Lieutenant Crabb, Laurence Harvey is not quite the pre-Bond hero that cliche may have suggested and instead Harvey captures his depth exploring at the singular personality of his character and the relentless enthusiasm it creates for himself and others. Heroic of course but with edge. Sid James is also notable as the Chief Petty Officer licking his previously relaxed team into shape but learning to love them along the way.
Running at a little over an hour and 45-minutes, Fairchild adds further interest to the story by examining some of the activities on the Italian side where attacks and campaigns are discussed among the rival divers. Though they have little individuality, The Silent Enemy shows the equals risks run by all sides and the effects of personal losses as well as, to a muted degree, a respect for the danger all frogmen put themselves in to aid their war effort.
The Silent Enemy is released on DVD, Blu-Ray and Digital on 11 April.
