[Chainmail]

Tiem to acquaint my loyal Freepers with the best war movie, ever, The Cruel Sea from Ealing Studios, 1953.

This is the movie that made Jack Hawkins a star, as he plays the captain of the HMS Compass Rose, a Flower-Class antisubmarine Corvette that will escort convoys across the Atlantic. The action is moving, authentic - and for the only time that I have ever seen in any movie, they fire live artillery during those sequences! Watch the Compass Rose engage a surfaced U-Boat with its 4 inch gun, manned by a really well-trained gun crew (probably a lot of them available 8 years after the end of the war) and watch the gun recoil, the smoke from the breech when it opens, and the hiss of the round as it heads downrange.

It is a quality adaptation of the Nicholas Monsarrat novel (based on some real corvettes), with a script written by Eric Ambler.

The Jack Hawkins character could be used as a training aid for new ship's captains with his professionalism, courage, and attachment to his ship and his crew.

You can use the link to find a full-length copy of the movie to watch or you can watch it on Amazon Prime if you are a subscriber.

[Right Brother]

Das Boot.

[Tax-chick]

I read the book.

[rlmorel]

Chainmail, nice to hear from you.

This is a very good movie, I discovered it last year.

Jack Hawkins (Lead) is someone I have always enjoyed, and your evaluation is spot on.

I was surprised to see a very young, dashing looking Denholm Elliott (Played “Brody” in the Raiders of the Lost Ark movies!) playing the part of one of the officers.

The part that really stuck in my memory (and I hope I am remembering it correctly) was when the ship was hit and was going down, he could hear (though the old fashioned voice tubes on the bridge) the men in the engineering spaces screaming in terror as the compartments were flooding as the ship went down.

Just awful.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Ping V K Lee

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Be advised, it does not have typical “Hollywood pacing”, so much of the movie has the “hurry up and wait” feeling of naval warfare. Actual battles are just punctuation, and there is no conclusive finish.

It is miles ahead of “The Enemy Below”, just 4 years later, but the latter is full of all the Hollywood action war movie events that make it more satisfying.

[Fiji Hill]

I liked Jack Hawkins in Land of the Pharaohs. I saw a 16mm version of that in our living room in 1960 and a full-screen version at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood in 2000.

[ansel12]

Anyone interested in this movie should also watch Greyhound with Tom Hanks.

Several months after the U.S. entry into World War II, an inexperienced U.S. Navy commander must lead an Allied convoy being stalked by a German submarine wolf pack.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6048922/

[butlerweave]

Snorkers

[circlecity]

Gettysburg

[Deaf and Discerning]

Thanks for that info - I enjoy watching true war movies, mostly for historical knowledge. Jack Hawkins played Quintus Arrius in Ben Hur, another great movie. We watch that movie almost annually on Easter.

[GOP_Party_Animal]

Looks good - I’ll have to watch it.

[ebshumidors]

Bfk

[Migraine]

I enjoy one called “The Devil’s Brigade”, w/ Bill Holden and a great cast (including a cameo w/ Paul Hornung and boxing champ Gene Fullmer).

It may have served as a bit of a model for “The Dirty Dozen”.

[Man from Oz]

Ping for later.

[allendale]

Thank you.

[rlmorel]

Thank you for starting this thread. The reason I say that is that it moved me to re-watch the movie.

I had seen "The Cruel Sea" for the first time just recently (within the last five years, I think) and when I saw it, I thought it was pretty good, but somewhere between #5 and #15 on my list.

After reading the thread, I had to revisit the movie, and I was surprised, it registered so differently. All I can imagine is that when I last saw it, I was distracted by something or other, because after watching it in a whole new light tonight, it ranks in my top three, and those are often close enough to where each can be in the #1 slot at any time.

It is a masterful movie.

An extremely well written story.

The character development is superb.

It is a surprisingly multi-faceted movie. Relations between people were explored in interesting ways. The movie had many scenes in it, each good enough to be thought as a signature vignette that perfectly framed what was being conveyed.

I particularly enjoyed the romantic one when one guy goes on leave to his buddy's sister's house, and the unseen sparks fly.

And the terrible choice the Captain had to make was another example of a vignette which made you feel a presentiment of the the lonely weight of command.

The framing of various scenes was remarkable. It reminded me of why I love the movie "The Searchers", in which John Ford had so many scenes impeccably framed, almost as if it were a painting. Here is one example:

Here is a scene from "The Searchers" whose composition I admire:

Compared to this scene from "The Cruel Sea" which frames the moment that anyone who has ever served on a ship might be able to relate to. Granted, nowadays we would hear it over the 1MC, but if there was ever a human expression of a 1MC speaker two short feet above your top level rack, it would be that British sailor shouting down into that compartment from the hatchway which frames the moment:

So, that is why I say thank you. This is a crown jewel of a story which I came close to missing.

[Clemenza]

Battle of Algiers is the greatest war movie ever made.