The Dam Busters is a 1955 British epic war film starring Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave. It was directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder, and Sorpe dams in Nazi Germany with Barnes Wallis's bouncing bomb.
1955 British quad format film poster
Richard Todd as Guy Gibson in The Dam Busters (1955)
Michael Redgrave as Barnes Wallis in The Dam Busters (1955)
An Avro Lancaster B.VII modified for the film with cut-out bomb bay and mock bouncing bomb demonstrating to a crowd at Coventry Airport in 1954
Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor nomination for his performance as Corporal Lachlan MacLachlan in the 1949 film The Hasty Heart. His other notable roles include Jonathan Cooper in Stage Fright (1950), Wing Commander Guy Gibson in The Dam Busters (1955), Sir Walter Raleigh in The Virgin Queen (1955), and Major John Howard in The Longest Day (1962). He was previously a Captain in the British Army during World War II, fighting in the D-Day landings as a member of the 7th Parachute Battalion.
Publicity photo of Todd, c. 1959
Lieutenants Tony Bowler (left) and Richard Todd of the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion in Wales prior to D-Day, 1944.
Pegasus Bridge, where Lieutenant Todd landed on D-Day, 6 June 1944.