DVD 95 IMDB

In Collection
#125

Adventure, War

John Mills	Cmdr. Fraser
John Gregson	Lt Alec Duffy
Donald Sinden	Lt Tom Corbett
James Robertson Justice	Adm. Ryder
Michael Medwin	Smart
James Kenney	Abercrombie
O.E. Hasse	Captain of the Tirpitz
Lee Patterson	Cox
William Russell	Ramsey
Theodore Bikel	German Officer

Director	Ralph Thomas
Producer	William MacQuitty
Writer	Robin Estridge; James D. Benson
Cinematography	Ernest Steward
Musician	Arthur Benjamin

Judging by the number of times it has shown up on TV, Above Us the Waves may be American viewers' favorite British war film. Most of the film is set in a British midget submarine, commandeered by John Mills. The sub's mission (together with its "fellow" vessels) is to sink the German battleship Tirpitz. This will be accomplished by the midget sub fleet sneaking into Norwegian waters, floating beneath the Tirpitz, then planting explosives. Only Mills' sub manages to complete the mission. Based on a true-life 1943 incident, Above Us the Waves takes a revisionist approach by showing the German officers and seamen to be human beings rather than faceless minions of Hitler.