The Cruel Sea (1953)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Charles Frend

Writers:

Eric Ambler (screenplay)
Nicholas Monsarrat (novel)

Release Date:

19 August 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Monsarrat's brilliant best seller comes surging to life

Plot:

The World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers.

Plot Keywords:

Sea | Convoy | U Boat | Ship | Survivor

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Jack Hawkins	...	Ericson
Donald Sinden	...	Lockhart
John Stratton	...	Ferraby
Denholm Elliott	...	Morell
John Warner	...	Baker
Stanley Baker	...	Bennett
Bruce Seton	...	Tallow
Liam Redmond	...	Watts
Virginia McKenna	...	Julie Hallam
Moira Lister	...	Elaine Morell
June Thorburn	...	Doris Ferraby
Megs Jenkins	...	Tallow's sister
Meredith Edwards	...	Yeoman Wells
Glyn Houston	...	Phillips
Alec McCowen	...	Tonbridge
Leo Phillips	...	Wainwright
Dafydd Havard	...	Signalman Rose
Fred Griffiths	...	Gracey
Laurence Hardy	...	Sellars
Sam Kydd	...	Carslake
John Singer	...	Gray
Barry Steele	...	Broughton
Gerard Heinz	...	Polish captain
Gerik Schjelderup	...	Norwegian captain
Gaston Richer	...	French captain
Andrew Cruickshank	...	Scott Brown
Barry Letts	...	Raikes
Kenn Kennedy	...	Allingham
Harold Goodwin	...	Asdic operator
George Curzon	...	Admiral at party
Anthony Snell	...	R.N. lieutenant
Ronald Simpson	...	R.N. captain
Don Sharp	...	Lieutenant-Commander
Herbert C. Walton	...	The waiter
Jack Howard	...	A survivor
Russell Waters	...	A.R.P. warden
Harold Jamieson	...	A.R.P. warden
Warwick Ashton	...	Petty Officer instructor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Walter Fitzgerald	...	Warden (uncredited)
Paddy Joyce	...	Sonar Operator (uncredited)
Richard Leech	...	Sailor (uncredited)

Directed by
Charles Frend

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Eric Ambler		screenplay
Nicholas Monsarrat		novel

Produced by
Leslie Norman	....	producer
Michael Balcon	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Alan Rawsthorne

Cinematography by
Gordon Dines		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Peter Tanner

Art Direction by
Jim Morahan

Makeup Department
Barbara Barnard	....	hair stylist
Sidney Turner	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Hal Mason	....	production supervisor
L.C. Rudkin	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Norman Priggen	....	assistant director
Peter Dixon	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Tom Pevsner	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Bert Davey	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Norman Dorme	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Tony Rimmington	....	junior draughtsman (uncredited)
Jack Shampan	....	draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Stephen Dalby	....	sound supervisor
Leo Wilkins	....	sound recordist
Mary Habberfield	....	dubbing editor (uncredited)
Eric Stockl	....	sound assistant (uncredited)
Don Wortham	....	sound assistant (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Sydney Pearson	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Geoffrey Dickinson	....	special processes

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Beeson	....	photographer: second unit
Jo Jago	....	photographer: second unit
John R.F. Stewart	....	radar photography
Chic Waterson	....	camera operator
Bob Penn	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Herbert Smith	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Ken Westbury	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Hugh Wilson	....	focus puller: second unit (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Anthony Mendleson	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Roy Baker	....	second assistant editor (uncredited)
Alastair McIntyre	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Ernest Irving	....	conductor: Philharmonia Orchestra
Gerard Schurmann	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Gerard Schurmann	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
R.S. Abram	....	technical advisor (as Commander R.S. Abram, D.S.C., R.N. {Retd})
J.E. Broome	....	technical advisor (as Captain J.E. Broome, D.S.C., R.N. {Retd})
Jean Graham	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Ealing Studios

Distributors

• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1953) (UK) (theatrical) (released through) (as General Film Distributors Limited)
• Universal Pictures (1953) (USA) (theatrical)
• Parvisfilmi (1953) (Finland) (theatrical)
• CBS Television Network (1972) (USA) (TV)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1978) (Finland) (TV)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1988) (UK) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1964) (2007) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Admiralty, The  the producers acknowledge with gratitude the co-operation of (as the Admiralty)
• Philharmonia Orchestra, The  music played by

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #16500)

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company:

Ealing Studios

Trivia:

On boarding the castle class frigate, Ericson and Lockhart question whether there is actually a castle called 'Saltash Castle'. There is a castle in Saltash but it is more correctly called Trematon Castle.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the opening scene of the film where the captain joins the ship it is obvious that the paintwork is filthy and smeared with numerous oily hand prints where the door has been closed. In other scenes aboard "Compass Rose" the paintwork can be clearly seen to be chipped where it has been knocked. Unlikely in a brand new ship that has never left dock before!

Quotes:

Capt. Ericson: [opening lines as narrator] This is a story of the Battle of the Atlantic, the story of the ocean, two ships, and a handful of men. The men are the heroes; the heoines the ships. The only villain is the sea, the cruel sea that man has made more cruel.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hitler: The Comedy Years (2007) (TV)

Beautiful, thoughtful British film-making from the past.

If my ship were going down, and I had that one last moment to grab a treasured something, my copy of the book, THE CRUEL SEA by Nicholas Monsarrat might well be what I choose. (That is supposing I already had my life vest on.) This book has affected my life deeply since I first came across it as a teenager. It is why I joined the US Navy. (where I ironically ended up in the submarine service.) It formed an invaluable step in teaching me what `duty' meant, and `honor.' It is therefore a bit more difficult for me to judge this motion picture than most. Were it horrid, I should still love it, I suppose. Fortunately it is not horrid. `The Cruel Sea is in fact first rate.

It is difficult to translate any full-length novel to the screen. There are too many `moments in time' to get them all in. So the adaptation of a novel by a screenwriter becomes a process of selection. Eric Ambler did his usual excellent job in writing this script, and if he left out some of the better bits, he also got the best bits in. Charles Frend directs it well within the style of the early 1950's. The special effects are above average for the time and not unacceptable by today's standards, although they are not spectacular. The film editing is clean and crisp with little to complain about. The musical score is not intrusive, but not up to the rest of the effort. It would be ten years before the art of Movie Music caught up to the rest, and here the score is no worse any other film of 1953. It is however the acting that gives this movie the push to get it far above the rest.

Jack Hawkins is marvelous in his understated competence as Captain Ericson, and the actors who play his officers (including a very young and very British Denholm Elliot) all turn in workman-like performances. It is however the overall excellence of the entire cast that is impressive. One of the major strengths of British films from the end of the Second World War through the 1970's was the incredibly fine ensemble casting that provided first-rate acting even in the smallest parts. Walter Fitzgerald in his 30 second role as the air raid warden shows true compassion when he says, `Yes, Mister Tallow, that was your house, wasn't it?'

All of the vivid, bloody color that made `Platoon' and `Saving Private Ryan' the two best combat films ever made are absent here. This was a different type of warfare, the blood, all of the color washed away by the cruel sea. The Battle of the North Atlantic was a very British battle. A five and a half year long stoic battle of endurance, of perseverance, of honor and duty. This is the side of the Second Word War that most lived, but few have ever been able to put into words. `The Cruel Sea' is much more than just a history lesson though. It is a very good movie, and it is a beautiful example of what British film could be in 1953. I highly recommend it.