The Cruel Sea

source: The Cruel Sea

It's hard to understand what it is that turns some seamen into superior writers. Of course they have a lot of yarns to tell, but where does the skill in telling them come from? Nicholas Monserrat, on whose best-selling book this movie is based, never wrote a ground-breaking novel but no one is better at conveying the details of life at sea, at the maintenance and manipulation of ships. This film matches Monserrat's novel in its realistic portrayal of duty on a British corvette. Corvettes were smaller than destroyers, and slower and carried less armament, and they were uncomfortable to boot. They were designed to do only one thing: find and destroy German U-boats. The war against submarines didn't go well for the Allies until about May of 1943, when new technology turned patrols by U-boats into something resembling suicide missions. The characters we meet are nicely done. Most of them are jolly good chaps. Stanley Baker appears briefly as a stern but inefficient First Lieutenant who is induced to leave in a comic scene. There is, in fact, quite a lot of humor in the dialog. And there is of course drama, usually understated. The scenes of bloodshed are handled delicately. Some of the events were, or have becomes, clichés by now. The ship must stop for silent repairs in submarine-infested waters and somebody drops a monkey wrench -- or, pardon me, an adjustable spanner. A handful of sailors alone in a rubber life raft must sing an absurd song and clap to keep warm and vital. Some of the wives on the beach are not worthy of their husbands. Others, who might be, are liable to be casualties of German bombs. The movie isn't overscored. During energetic combat scenes, when we might expect to be overwhelmed by some kind of march, where Muir Mathesson or Dmitri Tiomkin might be going berserk, there is no music at all, so we can listen to the clanks as the depth charges are rolled off the stern. The newsreel footage that is integrated into the movie is a little obvious but hardly poses a major problem. Nice sound work. In heavy weather, when the Compass Rose pitches into a swell, in addition to the generic whistling wind we hear the percussive slam of iron against sea water. A surprising amount of drinking goes on aboard the Compass Rose. There is a pint of beer with lunch and wine with dinner. There are cocktail parties attended by admirals. If somebody brings a cup of hot tea to the shivering lookout, there may be a tot of rum in it. And sometimes the officers just sit around the wardroom and get plastered. Now there is a civilized habit for you. The Brits had it just about right but, alas, abandoned the program and went on the wagon a generation or so ago. The Anchor Bay DVD that I watched has a crisp transfer and is easy on the eyes. It's not to be missed by anyone with an interest in World War II as seen from the deck of an ordinary British warship, one of little consequence in itself. In five years of sailing the crew sink only two U-boats and lose a ship of their own. Just a small ship and its crew, trying to do their jobs and stay alive in the process.

Whenever I come to review a film I read first any other reviews unless, as in this case, there are several pages and then I read only the first page. Having just done that very thing it seems that all the reviews were written by people who had an extra knowledge of the subject, i.e. ex-naval personnel and/or those with relatives - fathers, brothers, cousins, possibly even husbands - who had served or are still serving in either the Royal navy or the Mercantile Marine. In other words people who were closer to the subject than someone like me, an impartial and dispassionate observer. I remember seeing this film on television years ago but retaining little memory of it. Seeing it again I found it competently made, well photographed, acted and directed, but was unable to detect any quality that would eclipse Noel Coward's definitive In Which We Serve. With that in mind it was perhaps unfortunate that someone involved - maybe the original novelist, Nicholas Monsarrat, maybe the scriptwriter, Eric Ambler - had seen fit to steal from Coward the situation of two shipmates connected to someone on shore who subsequently dies in an air raid. Coward wrote two chums whose wives shared the same house; here the only difference is that one of the shipmates is about to marry the sister of the other. It's watchable but, I feel, overpraised.

It's no easy task to translate a 400-page novel into a two-hour movie. It is inevitable that there are going to be things glossed over or left out. That being said, however, "The Cruel Sea" is probably one of the greatest movies about WW-II ever produced, as well as possibly the finest best movie ever made about ships and seamen. Essentially the film follows the events surrounding two naval officers through the course of the Battle of the Atlantic. One is an experienced Merchant Marine officer (Jack Hawkins) who has been called up for Navy duty when his reserve commission is activated at the beginning of World War II. The other is a young "90-Day-Wonder" reserve officer (Donald Sinden), who finds himself forced to mature as he copes with sea- duty and combat. Neither is quite the same man at the end of the film that he started out as at the beginning. Although this film made Jack Hawkins a major star, Sinden gives a particularly good performance as we see him subtly growing up over the course of the film. The story itself is one of day-to-day toil, interspersed with episodes of sudden terror, which is probably pretty much how it really was. Above all it is the realism that comes through in this film. Nothing is glamorized and nothing is over-dramatized. In fact, the film makers did such an effective job that it is almost as though one were watching a documentary, rather than a movie based upon a novel. "The heroines are the ships", says Lt. Cmdr. Ericson at the beginning of the film, and that is certainly true here. No CGI special effects were employed, nor was this movie filmed on a back-lot set. The viewers are seeing the real thing. HMS Coreopsis (Compass Rose) was commissioned in 1940 and, while she never did sink a U-boat, she really did escort convoys and rescue large numbers of shipwrecked seamen, exactly as depicted in film. In 1943 she was transferred to the Greek Navy. One of the last original Flower-class Corvettes still in existence at that time, Coreopsis was made available to the filmmakers only because the Greeks returned her to Britain in 1952 for scrapping. Filming "The Cruel Sea" was literally the last thing she ever did before going to the ship-breakers. HMS Portchester Castle (Saltash Castle) was commissioned in 1943, and she really did sink two U- boats. Perusing the reviews written about this film on this site, it is interesting to note that, among those who have actually served in the Navy, or worked at sea as seamen, this film rates at the very top. Under the circumstances, one can't get a higher recommendation that than.

The Cruel Sea is a powerful film that puts you in the battle of the Atlantic. The black and white photography unintentionally conveys the gritty reality of a grim war.(Somebody has said that World War II was a war fought in black and white.) And although the special effects are primitive by today's standards, they are still pretty impressive. The film is an prime example of the post war school of British cinema before it was subsumed by Hollywood. It is a fine film, a fine war film and a fine piece of accurate history.

As a study of men thrown into unaccustomed roles, in a time of severe stress, The Cruel Sea has few peers. You live the lives with these men, you share their emotions, their fears, even their losses. The time of absolute despair still gives glimpses of the inner strength some men possess, and others lack, unwilling to be brave enough to face a future, in which they no longer see a role for themselves. This is a movie worthy of many screenings, and enjoyed for what it is, a movie that will challenge the viewer to not judge the characters, but to accept the times, circumstances, and locations were all extreme. The Cruel Sea is one of my favourite films

I first read this book when I was 14 (and had my father take it back from me when I had to ask "what's 'urinate' mean, dad?"). Monserrat is a master at the depiction of men at war - from his extraordinary technical knowledge to his ability to convey the fatigue, the cross feelings living in close quarters, the bitterness, the moments of triumph or relief. This film does Monserrat justice. This movie is the opposite of the "boys' own adventure" sorts of movies. There are no striking heroics - just the very real feeling of people performing onerous often dangerous duties as well as they're able - which is heroic itself. The movie does not skimp on the danger either - the shocking losses of ships in convoys that the corvette "protects", the extreme difficulty of finding and sinking U-boats, almost gives one the feeling, "what's the point of convoys?" (Imagine all surgeons operating with an average 3% survival rate - well, 3% recovery is better than none - but imagine the wear on the surgeons). The film is gritty, and just has the feel of the 1940s in its bones. The sounds, the movement, the look of cities and harbors, the clothes - it's as if one's uncles' tales have all come to life. Jack Hawkins and Donald Sinden are wonderful - almost always (and necessarily in wartime) stiff upper lip. The movie's moral dramas (bearing upon decisions the captain must make) are wonderfully conceived and executed. This is truly a superb movie - a great credit to all who worked on it - a memorial to many. It's a completely different - and superior - genre to such movies as Pearl Harbor. I even prefer it to its natural rival, In Which We Serve - good though the latter is.

I read Nicholas Monserrat's book several years ago and thought it was one of the best war books ever written. I didn't realize until just recently that there had been a film adapted from this great book. I bought the film without having seen it first and I was not disappointed with my purchase. The performances of the entire cast make this one of the best WW2 films ever. Filmed in black and white, the film conveys the dark mood of the Battle of the Atlantic. I felt as if I were aboard HMS Compass Rose as she fought the UBoats and the cruel sea. The fact that Capt. Ericson and his crew ultimately get only 2 UBoats after 5 years of war is realistic (instead of having them win the war singlehandedly). The crew has trouble ashore as all crews will and there was sufficient character development to understand the men and their problems. A couple of those problems were left out of the film, but there wasn't time for them. An altogether thoroughly enjoyable film. I highly recommend it to anyone.

The Cruel Sea (1953) Simply the absolute best film made about men in ships at war., 30 November 2006 (This comment was deleted by you) Having served as a sonar operator in a Cannon class WW2 Destroyer Escort, I will tell you that no movie ever produced comes closer to hitting the bulls eye in the attempt to reproduce the experience of stalking and attempting to destroy a submarine in the cold yet boiling waters of the North Atlantic in a 200 foot long vessel using first generation underwater detection gear(ASDIC) This film could only have been shot in black and white to truly capture the cold, bleak, wet and miserable conditions associated with this difficult job, where just about all concerned would "rather have been somewhere else". Even the musical score evokes a forlorn mood throughout. This is far more an "anti war" film than it is a "war movie". Three scenes define this tale. 1. The Captain's terrible decision to sacrifice innocent lives to destroy an enemy submarine. 2. The rescuing of oil covered half drowned enemy sailors with the obvious indication that they are just men.....like us. This is briefly underscored by the tenderness and care with which they are treated by their British counterparts. And finally 3. One of the finest closing scenes in films. The war is over and the Captain is giving the last perfunctory mooring orders, his First Officer, and by now lifelong friend, by his side. A few brief wistful words exchanged between them, the Captain leaves the bridge, the First Officer lingers a moment to adjust the Pelorus and will also turn to leave for the last time. Camera pans to long shot of ship at anchor on smooth water...alone, against a brooding gray sky, the shrill fading whistle of the Bosun's pipe is heard, (no music) The End. Beautifully understated and unforgettable. I remember thinking that war brings out both the best and the worst in man and even though those who lived it "would rather have been somewhere else", for most, it will remain the high point of their lives. "The Cruel Sea" brilliantly underscores this paradox.

Fine English war movie of life aboard a convoy escort ship during WWII. It's original B&W format only adds to the overall feel of the movie. Great no-nonsense performances from the cast. The movie is notable in that it is almost free of propaganda and instead concentrates on showing the crews life on board in a realistic way.Jack Hawkins turns in a fine performance.