The Silent Enemy (1958) User Reviews

A Man Placed In The Right Position

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 18 March 2009]

The Silent Enemy is a tribute to controversial British war hero Lionel Crabb who later got to be known as Buster after the American swimming champion. It wasn't medals that Crabb did his swimming for, he swam for the very survival of king and country.

Laurence Harvey plays the sometimes irascible Crabb who gets assigned to Gibraltar, a key point on the lifeline of the British Empire in the Near and Far East. Holding the mouth of the Mediterranean as it does and still does, Gibraltar by its location has been a non-negotiable item since the British got it 1704.

Neutral Spain with its nest of spies on both sides of the rock was giving British shipping fits at the time. The Italians developed the technique of planting limpet stealth mines on British ships so they sink later on, when not in port. Crabb discovers this and applies that old maxim, if you can't beat them, join them. And above all make yourselves than the enemy.

Crabb's original assignment is simply to find and dispose of the mines, but he puts together a team of frogmen and they become better than the Italians. Crabb's war on Gibraltar is a personal one because he knows who the Italians are operating over in Spain, he can almost reach out and touch them. But Spanish neutrality was a vexing problem for both the USA and the UK during World War II. MI5 who you would think would be dealing with such matters isn't doing it. It gets to be a personal war with Harvey and Arnoldo Foa playing the Italian frogman team head.

Some of Harvey's crew are played by such British cinema veterans as Sid James, Nigel Stock, Alec McCowen, Ian Whittaker, and Michael Craig. John Clements is the Royal Navy Admiral in charge at Gibraltar and the beautiful Dawn Addams plays his efficient WREN secretary. I think she'd like to have gotten something going with Harvey, but in this case Harvey has his mind strictly on the business at hand.

Lionel Crabb mysteriously disappeared in Portsmouth harbor in 1956 and a headless, legless, armless trunk was later recovered that could have been him. His disappearance has led to speculation for years that even in the post Soviet Union world hasn't been answered. The only one who's disappearance has gotten more speculation in my lifetime was the Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt.

This film which made two years after Crabb's disappearance goes into none of that. It concludes with the landings of the Allied army in Morocco and with Crabb and his small team, literally frustrating the plans of several nations at war with their country. It's that Lionel Crabb that the British people prefer to remember and he's remembered well in this accurately told tale of his exploits.

One man in the right spot really can make a difference.

The early career of a remarkable English hero

[ianlouisiana · 7/10 · 11 December 2006]

Lieutenant Commander Lionel "Buster" Crabb G.M.,O.B.E.,R.N.V.R.was a true eccentric,a man of indomitable courage,a naval officer in the fine tradition that service has for tolerating individuality and independence of thought amongst its members.After a dazzling wartime career he stayed in uniform for some years taking part in peacetime operations all over the world.Because of the mystery surrounding his disappearance the latter part of his naval service has become shrouded in controversy,but it is known that in 1956,at the age of 46 with years of hard drinking catching up with him,he was engaged on a "deniable" operation by the Home Office(read M.I.5.) to inspect the hull of the Russian cruiser "Ordzhonikidze" in Portsmouth Harbour where it was moored up during a "Goodwill" visit by Messrs Kruschev and Bulganin. He had already successfully done a similar job on it's sister - ship "Sverdlov" and there was no reason to suppose the second task would be any more difficult than the first,but he never returned from the dive. Almost immediately rumours began to fly and a cover - up plan was put into action,the police removing the appropriate page from the guest book in the Portsmouth hotel where he spent his last night. Conspiracies and counter - conspiracies were hinted at for forty years and "Buster" Crabb was not forgotten.Eventually a retired Soviet Naval Intelligence officer living in the Middle East was permitted to give what is now generally accepted to be the true version of Commander Crabb's fate.Apparently he was spotted swimming between the two Russian warships by an alert crew member,a marksman was called up from below deck and shot him in the head with a rifle,killing him instantly. Fortunately the body sank and an awkward diplomatic incident was avoided So sensitive is this issue even today that the Cabinet papers referring to it were recently re - classified as not due for release until 2057. "The silent enemy" was made 2 years after his disappearance and makes no effort to airbrush out his unconventionality,even going so far as giving Mr Laurence Harvey a silver - topped cane identical to the real one "Crabbie" carried everywhere. Ariving at Gibraltar as a bomb - disposal expert,Crabb had no previous underwater experience,but,diving at first in plimsoles and trunks,was soon removing mines sewn on British ships by a brave team of Italian frogmen based in nearby Algeciras in nominally neutral Spain. He and his team become engaged in a war within a war so to speak,eventually going mano a mano underwater against their silent enemy in an operation to recover a suitcase of military secrets from a crashed aircraft in the harbour.Crabb was awarded the George Medal for his part in this success.The movie ends here,rather abruptly,as his assistant CPO Thorne passes the news on to him.Mr Harvey acknowledges his men's salutes,"You all deserve the ruddy medal" he says steadily before marching off.Probably to tell the Admiral precisely that. Mr Harvey plays Crabb as the best kind of naval officer.He doesn't patronise his men,nor does he try to curry their favour.He doesn't call them by their first names or look at photographs of their wives and kiddies,he just leads them.He won't require them to do anything that he is not capable of doing himself at least as well,preferably better. Mr Sid James is very good in the role of CPO Thorne the sort of man who is the backbone of the navy ;respected by both the Wardroom and the Lower Deck,a man of humour and compassion who knows King's Regulations back to front and knows how to apply them justly.On the cusp of his transition to "Carry On" buffoonery this was one of his last gos at proper acting,it's a great pity he rarely went back to it. "The Silent Enemy" is a sincere and well - made tribute to a brave and resolute man who survived the hot war in the warm blue Mediterranean only to die in the Cold War in the chilled black oily waters of Portsmouth Harbour.50 years on I doubt whether anyone involved in the decision to send him on that last operation is still alive.Doubtless Crabbie has been giving them a piece of his mind at the soonest opportunity.

A neat film because it's apparently based on real folks!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 27 July 2021]

"The Silent Enemy" is a most unusual film because I have never seen another movie like it. The plot, needless to say, is very unusual. It's about the exploits of Lieutenant Crabb (Laurence Harvey), the leader of a group of underwater divers who were responsible for protecting British ships in Gibraltar. To do so, they helped to create the first generation scuba gear--dangerous stuff considering mistakes cost you your life.

The style of the film, as other reviewers have said, is a bit like a documentary and I appreciate that the film lacked the extreme fanfare and 'bigness' of many war films. Instead, it's personal and interesting...a film about some really amazing people.

Film of my Dad

[Pete-Cox · 19 May 2006]

Fond memories of this film as my Dad was one of the commandos who had to swim over to Spain to blow up the dastardly Axis'. Though for a Brit', it is a bit strange saying "which one are you Dad? Are you Sid James?" His memory of the commander was that he was a tad eccentric who slept in a rubber blanket. Then my Dad has lots of old recollections of World War 2, Russian Convoys, North Africa, serving on a Free French vessel (it had been re-fitted in America so had an ice-cream maker on board and as well as the British Navy ration of Rum got the French ration of Wine as well) and behind enemy lines in South East Asia. This film is the only one I know of of his own exploits though.

Good war movie but factually inaccurate

[marqualdo · 6/10 · 5 November 2010]

I beg to disagree with those who see this movie as a great historical testament. It is a good war movie but it shows how in the Fifties, Brtain had still to come to terms with Italians outsmarting the Royal Navy. In the movie Crabb blows up the Olterra, the merchant ship secretly transformed by the cunning Italian frogman into a base for their submarines. I suppose to great amusement of the British audience. Reality is quite different. In fact, the "olterra" was never discovered by the British and actually, the very night in which Italy announced the armistice with the Allies, the 8th of September 1943, the frogmen were planning an attack. Only after the armistice, the trick was made known to the Royal Navy. Nothing was discovered, nothing was blown up except the British ships.

Good war novel, poor historical testimony. Must have been a role model for the Americans who, according to Hollywood, discovered enigma on a U-boot!

Complicated War.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 30 July 2013]

The Brits produced some fine war films in the late 40s and 50s, and this one is watchable. Lawrence Harvey leads a team of underwater demolition men against the Italian frogmen who are attaching mines to ships in the harbor at Gibralter and blowing them up. The climax comes when a large convoy arrives and pauses for a few days before bringing supplies and reenforcements to the Eighth Army in North Africa. The Italian unit, just across the border in Algeciras, Spain, a neutral country, is bound to attack it. Can they be stopped? Harvey and his mates are going to give it a try.

This doesn't meet the criteria for polish and effect met by some other films of the period -- say, "The Dam Busters" or "Dunkirk", but if it's long and tiring, it has some things going for it. Lawrence Harvey is surprisingly good at the real-life Lieutenant Crabbe. Sid James is first rate as the Chief Petty Officer who brusquely but kindly teaches the team how to carry on. Dawn Addams, as a Wren officer, is delicious but has little to do. The tension of the training and the missions is leavened with some humor. Addams is leading the team to their quarters in a crumbling old fort. "That's a proper bastion," observes one of the men. James: "Watch your language -- ladies present!" In its early years, the war between the Brits and the Italians was often a gentlemanly affair and that's reflected in this film. We get to know the members of the Italian unit. And when one of their casualties is found by Harvey, the corpse is buried at sea with ritual respect.

In North Africa, the Italians surrendered in droves, as many did in Sicily. Not because of cowardice but because Mussolini had gotten the nation into an increasingly unpopular war and because many Italians of the time owed their allegiance less to the state than to primary institutions like the family. In "The Godfather," Sonny Corleone makes the same point when he twits Michael for joining the Marine Corps. There were of course some excellent men fighting for Italy, especially a number of daredevils in the air force.

The fronts in North Africa shifted back and forth and captured men from both sides went "in the bag." One was an Italian nobleman. The Italian government offered a ransom for his return -- I forget the amount -- but it was so small that the exalted POW was insulted at the amount and refused to return to Italy. Better to lose freedom than dignity.

So, though it's no masterpiece, not "The Cruel Sea," neither is it as bad as some others of the time, like "The Gift Horse." And it has its exciting moments.

"How long can you hold your breath underwater?"

[richardchatten · 7/10 · 15 November 2023]

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.

Entertaining, original WW2 drama

[grantss · 7/10 · 27 February 2023]

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 fantastic blend of history and adventure

[jeffchan · 9/10 · 29 July 2001]

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.

Tribute to Lieut. Lionel Crabbe

[oigres · 10/10 · 26 June 2000]

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.

Outstanding film

[richard-1501 · 9/10 · 12 October 2006]

I first saw this film many years ago and was impressed even then with the realism and gritty nature it had given its age and the comparable output of the era.

British film fans will relish in an early role of Sid James proving he can act and plays the grizzled character very well indeed. Laurence Harvey excels as the leading character and the rest of the cast works extremely well indeed. There is very little jingoism in the film and its all the better for it and well worth a watch whenever its shown on TV.

Damn good to watch and based on real events of the time and exploits of the brave men of all sides who fought in the war.

Excellent British wartime thriller

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 29 October 2016]

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.

My Favourite Laurence Harvey film

[liottauk · 8/10 · 17 April 2014]

Laurence Harvey in, I think his best role, playing Lionel Kenneth "Buster" Crabb OBE GM. I love this film, based on a true story and a real life hero. Crabb was awarded the George Medal for his work in Gibraltar to disarm mines from British warships based there.

There is a great mix of fact and some humour thrown in with the appearance of Sid James as a Chief Petty Officer charged with getting the new frogmen fit for the long and dangerous work they had to undertake. A classic British Black and white war film in every sense.

Its also a film close to my heart as my late father actually dived with Lt Cdr. Crabb on HMS Reclaim just before he went missing undertaking secret dives underneath the soviet cruiser Ordzhonikidze in Portsmouth Harbour.

Overall a great must watch film for B&W war film fans.

There are many stories of the real life heroes of naked war, and this is just one of them.

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 5 October 2022]

An intriguing film about the war record of British Lieutenant Commander Lionel "Buster" Crabb (no relation to the Hollywood star and athlete), this is entertaining as well as educational, and that makes it a war movie worth seeing. It's a good role for Laurence Harvey, showing his dedication as well as his eccentricities, the toughness and the loyalty, absolutely no nonsense yet showing the reason why. He needs complete silence while dismantling the minds placed in the Mediterranean sea, and because of that, many British lives were saved.

You get to see the working of the submarine corps, with smaller subs that look like natural marine life, and thus difficult to identify through underwater apparatuses viewing them without metal detectors. Dawn Addams, Michael Craig, John Clements, Sid James and a litter of new born puppies are great support, and good scenery, photography and music are beneficial, especially since a good percentage of the film takes place below water. Even though there's a lot of technical dialogue, it's done in a way that is very interesting and self explanatory, never confusing. Good montage scenes aides the film in moving at a fast pace.

excellent black-and-white war movie

[myriamlenys · 9/10 · 26 August 2021]

Me, I'm fond of movies that open a window in my mind and introduce me to a place and a topic I was unfamiliar with. Here, "The Silent Enemy" certainly delivered, by introducing me to an esoteric (and extremely dangerous) form of warfare.

"The Silent Enemy" is based on the Gibraltar war feats of Commander Lionel Crabb, who earned eternal fame defending British ships against stealth attacks by frogmen and human torpedoes. It's a vivid, gritty movie that evokes both the peril and the excitement of these times. Imagine trying to perform an exquisitely dangerous job while relying on exquisitely dangerous equipment... Touches of wit and humor keep the story from becoming relentlessly grim. Laurence Harvey gives a fine, convincing lead performance, although contemporary photographs seem to indicate that he bears little physical ressemblance to the actual Commander Crabb. Quite a lot of the scenes were filmed under water, with a great deal of success ; for instance, there's a marvelously choreographed battle between two enemy crews of frogmen fighting over the same submerged suitcase filled with secret documents.

It is impossible to watch the movie without wondering about the kind of psychological trauma involved. One does not spend several years suffering, witnessing or performing extremely violent acts - attaching limpet mines to ships, throwing bombs upon swimming divers, cutting the throats of sentries and so on - without getting scarred for life...

Almost documentary account of the little known under-water war in World War II

[clanciai · 10/10 · 2 June 2019]

As a true story, this is of terrific interest, recounting the heroic feats of Lieutenant Crabbe (Laurence Harvey excellent as usual), but the most interesting part of the film is a rather small parenthesis which is easily jumped over. A plane crashes in the water outside the harbour in Gibraltar, we see the crash actually occurring, but afterwards it appears that one of the casualties was the most important man in the Polish liberation army, the general Sikorski. His body is found but not his briefcase, and perhaps the most exciting and well made scene in the film concerns the quest for this briefcase, showing underwater fights for life and death. That's all. The Sikorski case isn't mentioned any more after that, as the main action of the film concerns saving the fleet, but this incident was actually of major historical significance, as Sikorski was an ardent opponent of the Stalin regime, and his death actually was triggered by the KGB - Stalin wanted him out of the way for his own purposes in the war, his leaguie with Churchill being vital for his interests. That KGB actally was behind the assassination wasn't proved until in the 90s long after the fall of the iron curtain, although some naturally suspected it from the beginning but could not enforce a proper investigation.

The film sticks carefully to reality all the way, the scenery is Gibraltar, and the almost architectural build-up of the extraordinary under-water war is consistently sustained and augmented in tension all the way. For some, this was their favourite film with Laurence Harvery, which is understandable enough.

surprisingly good less well known ww2 film

[ib011f9545i · 8/10 · 18 June 2022]

This film has less than 20 reviews,many fewer than better known but lower quality war films.

The film is about a real life war hero Lionel Crabb.

A modern biopic would be a good idea considering the mystery of his death.

Crabb is a maverick hero leading a rag tag naval unit fighting fascist Italy in World war 2.

The film is pacy and exciting and historically very inaccurate.

It will remind you of Bond films but was made 4 years before Dr No.