The Cruel Sea (1953) on Netflix
Recalled to the Royal Navy as war begins, Ericson commands HMS Compass Rose, a new convoy escort. Lockhart and Ferraby are newly commissioned; first lieutenant Bennett is a martinet.
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- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Late in 1939, with the war just begun, Ericson, a Merchant Navy officer in the Royal Naval Reserve, is called back to the Royal Navy and takes charge of HMS Compass Rose, a newly built escort for convoys. His sub-lieutenants, Lockhart and Ferraby, have just been commissioned and have never been to sea, and the first lieutenant, Bennett, is a martinet. Escorting merchant vessels across the Atlantic against German U-boats, the company learns its work in winter weather, at first the worst enemy of the convoys, since the submarines cannot reach far out into the ocean. The men also grow used to picking up survivors of torpedoed ships, with little chance to hit back.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Cruel Sea (1953)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Donald Sinden, who played Lockhart, suffered in real life from negative buoyancy, meaning he could not float or swim; this was discovered while filming the sinking of Compass Rose. His co-star Jack Hawkins, playing Ericson, saved him from drowning in the open-air water-tank at Denham Studios.
- For a night scene firing the corvette's 4-inch gun, the crew swapped a pyrotechnic round for a live one without telling Donald Sinden, who was playing the officer in charge of the gun. He sighted a small light bobbing on the water, a fishing boat, and the live shell missed it by an estimated 2 to 3 yards.
- The film has cult-like status in the Royal Navy: for "Cruel Sea Night", new mess joiners watch it wearing life jackets and are sprayed with water whenever HMS Compass Rose hits heavy weather or lines like "Snorkers!" are spoken, a rite of passage held in as high regard as crossing the line.
- After seeing Jack Hawkins's scene cut together, Michael Balcon had Charles Frend re-shoot it with Hawkins keeping a grip on himself, then ordered a third version with just an odd tear or two. Hawkins noted that the finished film used the original first take after all.
- In Nicholas Monsarrat's novel the cowardly officer Bennett was Australian, and the Englishman Donald Sinden was screen-tested for that part while the Welshman Stanley Baker was tested for Lockhart. At Jack Hawkins's suggestion, and after further tests, the two swapped roles.
- Because the English Channel in summer was too calm to portray the winter Atlantic, the ships were taken to the Portland Race, where conflicting tidal streams and a sandbank create predictable but dangerous waves. Ships normally avoid it, but Compass Rose was taken straight through at peak tide for the shots.
- Editor Peter Tanner needed a shot of Compass Rose sailing left to right to show it returning to Liverpool, so he reversed the film. Viewers read movement from right to left as heading home, he explained to Donald Sinden.
- Virginia McKenna launched her career with her small role in the film and met her first husband, Denholm Elliott, on the set.
