The novel on which the movie is based is a very intense account of WWII in the Atlantic from the perspective of an escort vessel. These ships, frequently merchant ships with a gun or two, depth charge racks and sonar retrofitted in a hurry and then sent to sea with barely trained crews. Reliant on convoys from the US for food, fuel and ammunition, the threat from German U Boats nearly cost Britain the war.
Life at sea was savage, with danger lurking constantly not just below the surface, but also from the Luftwaffe and occasionally a German pocket battleship. Odds of surviving were low.
The movie attempts to bring much of this to the big screen, but it is severely hampered by the limitations of what it could actually show an audience of the 50's. It's difficult to paint the grimness of it all when every would-be distressing scene is hidden, and showing the horror through the reaction of the actors is beyond the skills of this cast - perhaps any cast of its day would have struggled. You see ships blow up in the distance - just small flashes really and nobody really reacts. For that to work, you'd need to capture the horror of the event at some point and contrast that with the necessary matter-of-fact response from those so familiar with the losses that they have lost the emotional capacity to react to them. As it is, the movie just feels flat.
Ealing studios excel at capturing the everyday feel of life in many of their movies, but this action film is perhaps beyond them. Scenes such as the sea-trials/training for the newly converted escort, or the PIIIIING lecture were very reminiscent of one of their comedies, albeit with less humour - but this movie required a different approach.
Perhaps at best it can be described as a kind of rudimentary documentary to the Battle of the Atlantic for those unfamiliar with it. It can also act as a memorial - for that reason I feel I am being a harsh judge here, but I am weighing it as a standalone movie, and not weighting my vote with the fact that this stood out for a long time as one of the very few movies to attempt to portray the horror of war.
The movie attempts to bring much of this to the big screen, but it is severely hampered by the limitations of what it could actually show an audience of the 50's. It's difficult to paint the grimness of it all when every would-be distressing scene is hidden, and showing the horror through the reaction of the actors is beyond the skills of this cast - perhaps any cast of its day would have struggled. You see ships blow up in the distance - just small flashes really and nobody really reacts. For that to work, you'd need to capture the horror of the event at some point and contrast that with the necessary matter-of-fact response from those so familiar with the losses that they have lost the emotional capacity to react to them. As it is, the movie just feels flat.
Ealing studios excel at capturing the everyday feel of life in many of their movies, but this action film is perhaps beyond them. Scenes such as the sea-trials/training for the newly converted escort, or the PIIIIING lecture were very reminiscent of one of their comedies, albeit with less humour - but this movie required a different approach.
Perhaps at best it can be described as a kind of rudimentary documentary to the Battle of the Atlantic for those unfamiliar with it. It can also act as a memorial - for that reason I feel I am being a harsh judge here, but I am weighing it as a standalone movie, and not weighting my vote with the fact that this stood out for a long time as one of the very few movies to attempt to portray the horror of war.