Ten years after the end of the second world war Dearden and Relph brought to the screen this parable depicting Britain's decline since the victory over Fascism.Half a century further on the determination,courage,refusal to contemplate defeat and the unity that enabled that victory to be won live on only in the memories of people old enough to have lived through it. Today indifference,self-preservation, expedience and diversity are the words we live by. Somewhere between those two extremes the good ship 1087 self-destructed with shame at the way that the promise of the peace that had been brought about at so high a cost had gradually become more and more corrupted. The promise of Attlee's government,the Olympic Games and the Festival of Britain descended into spivvery.From being a defender of everything that was decent and right 1087 gradually turned to smuggling drugs and criminals. "The ship that died of shame" is a remarkable picture.It was made by people who loved films for an audience that was just starting to prefer an evening at home in front of the TV to a visit to the cinema. Mr Richard Attenborough,Miss Virginia Mckenna and Mr George Baker had the drawing power to fill the theatre.War films were very good box-office.It was a major success,helped no end by the fact that the original story was written by Nicholas Monsarrat,author of the hugely popular "The Cruel Sea". Mr Attenborough had a longer career in naval uniform than most real sailors.By 1955 he could stand on a heaving deck like a 20 year man. The following year he would make his naval magnum opus "The baby and the battleship" with long-time oppo Mr John Mills who must have been doing something really important not to have been cast in this. His sudden realisation of what he had become is like Alec Guinness's in "Bridge on the River Kwai". Miss McKenna with her strong English face and striking eyes exhudes honesty and dignity in every film she graces.Despite not being one of her best known performances it is one of my favourites. Mr George Baker had just about everything going for him,good looks, natural athleticism,beautiful speaking voice and an air of authority. He,too,looks at home on a ship,wearing a roll-neck pullover and smoking a "Navy Cut". This is a very taut film.By that I don't mean that it suspenseful - even though it is - but that there is no flab on it. The scene where Mr Roland Culver as "The Major" shoots Mr.Bernard Lee could not have been bettered by Hitchcock.The influence of the Master of Suspense is apparent several times throughout the film. "The ship that died of shame" is yet another fine British film that has disappeared off the radar.It would indeed be a shame if it was allowed to die.
Review of PT Raiders
