There are no speaking parts in the film as the whole story is told by narrators. However, all people seen on screen are real natives of the village.
Archie Rowe was a fisherman and indeed was Coxswain of the Coverack Lifeboat at the time of the film and was ultimately on the crew for 32 years. He was at the time the he was elected coxswain at the age of 31, the youngest ever coxswain. He was given several awards and mentions for bravery including the rescue of merchant sailors from a bombed steamer despite the presence of enemy aircraft. In 1958 Archie was the subject of the British version of This Is Your Life. Sadly in 1963 Archie died following an accident at sea, he managed to swim to safety but despite being airlifted to hospital (rare at the time) he did not survive. All lifeboats on the coasts of the British Isles and that of the Republic of Ireland and some major waterways are provided by the RNLI which receives no government funding and has for almost 200 years, been funded entirely by public donation alone. Most crew and shore based support are volunteers.