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Post by pimpinainteasy on Aug 24, 2018 5:18:49 GMT
The Final Countdown (1980)
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Post by london777 on Aug 25, 2018 21:21:08 GMT
Western Approaches (1944) was made by The Crown Film Unit during WWII as tribute to those merchant seaman who kept the UK supplied with food and fuel despite heavy casualties, especially early in the war when U-boats were rampant, but never enjoyed the glamorous status of Royal Navy personnel. It is a landmark in cinema history because the CFU had always made documentaries (notably those by Humphrey Jennings) and commissioned "Western Approaches" as one. But writer/director Pat Jackson employed non-professional actors, ex- and current merchant seamen, to re-enact their own real-life experiences. The movie is thus classified as a "drama documentary". A very few years later the Italian Neo-Realists were producing similar movies. It would be interesting to know if they were aware of "Western Approaches". Thanks to the superb photography of Jack Cardiff, shortly before he became Powell and Pressburger's favorite DP, and a moving score by Clifton Parker, this movie is worthy of that comparison. Jackson continued his career in feature films and TV, but never again made anything as good.
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Post by london777 on Aug 25, 2018 21:40:09 GMT
Single-Handed (1953) dir: Roy Boulting is based on a children's story written by C S Forester (author of the Hornblower books). It is a bit of Anglo-American hokum in which Tab Hunter plays a Canadian sailor in the Royal Navy who takes on the entire crew of a German cruiser single-handed. Michael Rennie is a Noel Coward clone as the UK captain (and, unbeknown to either of them, Hunter's father out of wedlock).
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Post by pimpinainteasy on Aug 26, 2018 12:52:52 GMT
The Dictator's Guns (1965) L'arme à gauche (original title)
this one has LINO VENTURA! i have read the book AGROUND by the great charles williams, on which the movie is based and it is awesome. i wish i could find it somewhere.
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Post by london777 on Sept 23, 2018 4:43:42 GMT
Western Approaches (1944) was made by The Crown Film Unit during WWII as tribute to those merchant seaman who kept the UK supplied with food and fuel despite heavy casualties, especially early in the war when U-boats were rampant, but never enjoyed the glamorous status of Royal Navy personnel. Writing about the above movie should have reminded me of this one: San Demetrio London (1943) written and directed by Charles Frend and Robert Hamer for Ealing Studios. An even earlier tribute to the British Merchant Navy, which proportionately suffered more casualties in WWII than the uniformed service. Closely adhering to actual events, it is a significant film in many ways. It was one of the first to forego both the overt propaganda style and the class-based humor that infest even the best of Brit war movies, paving the way for grittier films like "The Cruel Sea" (1953), also directed by Charles Frend. It was also the first movie in Robert Hamer's brief but distinguished directorial career. It is in part a court-room drama as officialdom tries to deprive the surviving crew members of the salvage money so richly deserved for getting their burning oil tanker from mid-Atlantic to Liverpool. And how about this for a great poster:
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Post by london777 on Oct 11, 2018 1:10:38 GMT
They don't make them like this any more: John Paul Jones (1959) dir: John Farrow. Robert Stack as the loose cannon seaman ignores the history books and gets on with buckling his swashes. Charles Cockburn is Ben Franklin and Bette Davis is Empress Catherine, to whom JPJ was contracted out as he became an embarrassment in the newborn USA. Problem is that Stack is no Flynn, Fairbanks or Lancaster, simply not dashing enough. An international cast as in similar flicks of this era.
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Post by manfromplanetx on Oct 11, 2018 2:28:27 GMT
" Shetlandsgjengen" aka Suicide Mission (1954) which translates as "the Shetland-gang", relates the true story of a clandestine special operations group and their illegal traffic across the North Sea from German occupied Norway to Shetland during World War II. The film a Co-production between the UK and Norway is closely based on real events, many of the members of the gang, including the leader, called "Shetlands-Larsen" play themselves. . As the dramatic still below shows the crossings in the heavy seas were extremely dangerous , many boats and crews their passengers were never heard from again. It is a fascinating historical account, the North Sea location filming is spectacular...
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Post by manfromplanetx on Oct 11, 2018 2:32:31 GMT
They don't make them like this any more: John Paul Jones (1959) dir: John Farrow. Robert Stack as the loose cannon seaman Thanks for this one looks great ! I am a great fan of Robert Stack's "loose cannon" performances...
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Post by forca84 on Oct 11, 2018 19:32:55 GMT
Not sure if these count... "The Angry Sea" "Lifeboat" "Beneath the 12 mile Reef"
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Post by london777 on Nov 17, 2018 1:45:58 GMT
Two films that I have often confused in my mind: Ship of Fools (1965) dir: Stanley Kramer and based on Katherine Anne Porter's best-selling novel. A second-rate ocean liner sails from Mexico to Nazi Germany with a polyglot group of passengers, all with their own problems, which they talk out during the voyage. At length. An opportunity for the stars to compete and some really ham it up. Kramer was a ponderous director. Sometimes that style works, but here his "messaging" is cumbrous Still worth a watch as they don't make them like this any more. Vivien Leigh tops the bill in her last movie, as a Southern Belle. Jose Ferrer and Oskar Werner are among the starry international cast. Voyage of the Damned (1976) dir: Stuart Rosenberg is a more straightforward indictment of antisemitism, but not good enough to do justice to its tragic subject. Based on the true story of the SS St Louis, which left Nazi Germany with over 800 Jews as passengers, mostly bearing visas to enter Cuba which were, unknown to them, fakes. Refused entry there, then in Florida and Canada, the ship sailed on to Antwerp, in time to catch the German invasion of Belgium. Hundreds of the passengers died in Nazi death-camps. Another all-star cast (rarely a good sign) with Werner and Ferrer prominent again.
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Post by petrolino on Nov 17, 2018 1:59:24 GMT
Ships Ahoy
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Post by BATouttaheck on Nov 19, 2018 23:35:55 GMT
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Post by Sulla on Nov 22, 2018 12:02:29 GMT
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Post by Aj_June on Nov 22, 2018 12:10:27 GMT
I have a lot of respect for Robert Ryan. I do very much like to sea Billy Budd. Thanks for bringing the movie to my attention, Sulla. And I like movies on sea. Still remember that Treasure Island (1950/ Robert Newton) was the first movie board on IMDB on which I posted comment.
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Post by Sulla on Nov 22, 2018 12:18:22 GMT
You're welcome. I just saw that one for the first time a couple of years ago. I'm a fan of Peter Ustinov who starred in and directed it.
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