Glory at Sea (1952) User Reviews (14)

Never Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 30 July 2004]

This is the only film I know that dealt with Anglo-American destroyers for naval base leases trade that Roosevelt and Churchill made before America entered World War II. Monetary transactions were forbidden by the Neutrality Act so FDR came up with the idea to give up 50 aged American destroyers in turn for leases on naval bases the British had in the Western Hemisphere. This was the precursor of Lend Lease.

Trevor Howard plays the captain of a crew taking over one of these ships and remember the ships are old. But as he said addressing his crew it was good to remember that old expression about never looking a gift horse in the mouth. He plays the part well in the best stiff upper lip tradition. Supporting Howard are James Donald, Richard Attenborough and over from America, Sonny Tufts.

Good easy to take war film about a little remembered historical event and the old gift horse does meet a gallant end.

Enjoyable, understated war film

[m-h-w-bullen · 7/10 · 2 February 2007]

Just to add to malcolmgsw's comments.

The film has some elements of truth to it. The original destroyer concerned was USS Buchanan, renamed in the Royal Navy HMS Campbelltown. This ship did indeed carry out the raid on St Nazaire, in March 1942. The purpose was to prevent the use of the dock by the German battleship Tirpitz in case she should ever breakout into the Atlantic. It was the only dock outside Germany which could accommodate the ship.

One scene stands out for me in the film. It takes place in ex boxer Sid James's pub where some of the crew of our ship are relaxing. A crew of another ship starts to wind them up and this leads to a fight. However, we don't see this fight. As it begins, a bell goes off like the bell at the start of a boxing match. At the same time, the camera focuses on a photo of Sid in his boxing days, one of many which adorn the walls of his pub. Then as the fight ensues, the camera fixes on other boxing pictures from the wall as each blow is struck. Very enjoyable!

Howard at his best

[malcolmgsw · 7/10 · 5 June 2006]

This film was shown last week on Channel 4.The critic in the Radio Times rather annoyed me as he was rather disparaging about it,saying that it took a long time to get going.He seems to forget that this film is of its era and likes to take its time to tell its story.I have to say that in fact i think that many of the action sequences look rather cheaply staged and some of the special effects work is very amateurish by current standards.However this film does stand up very well mainly because of the marvelous performance from Trevor Howard.In particular the scene when he receives news that his son has been killed in action.I would say that this is only slightly inferior to the marvelous "The Cruel Sea" which sets the standard by which all such films of the period must be set.The only jarring note was the obligatory fading American star to boost the chances of a sale to the USA.Sonny Tufts had to be one of the worst actors of that or any other period.

Inspired by H.M.S. Campbeltown

[howardmorley · 6/10 · 8 September 2014]

Viewers might as well know the inspiration for the screenplay to this 1952 movie based on facts gleaned from Wikipedia.

Based on the lend/lease arrangement of the UK/USA during WW2, Britain was leased an old destroyer by the US Navy.This was used in the St Nazaire raid of 1942. An explosive charge consisting of 24 Mark VII depth charges—containing a total of 4.5 short tons (4.1 t) of amatol high explosive—was fitted into steel tanks installed just behind the steel pillar that supported her most forward gun mount. The charges were to be detonated by multiple eight-hour time pencils connected together by cordtex, set before steaming out and cemented in to prevent any interference with the detonation.HMS Campbeltown steamed from Devonport to Falmouth, Cornwall on 25 March 1942 to join the other ships that would take part in the operation. The crew —which would be evacuated with the commandos—was reduced to 75 men, under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Stephen "Sam" Beattie.

A flotilla of 21 vessels—Campbeltown, 16 Fairmile B motor launches, one motor torpedo boat, and a Fairmile C motor gun boat acting as the troops′ headquarters—left Falmouth at 14:00 on 26 March 1942, escorted for most of the crossing to France by two "Hunt"-class escort destroyers.[2] Apart from a brief clash with German submarine U-593, whose captain misreported the task force's course and composition, the ships reached France unmolested. One motor launch suffered mechanical problems and had to return to England.

The preliminary air raid carried out through heavy cloud by 35 Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys and 25 Vickers Wellingtons was much smaller than originally planned and was ineffective, merely alerting the defenders of something unusual happening. Nevertheless, by flashing genuine German recognition signals, the force, with Campbeltown flying the flag of the Kriegsmarine, approached to within less than 1 mi (1.6 km) of the harbour before being fired upon. Campbeltown—as the largest target—drew most of the fire. During the final approach, the crew of Campbeltown lowered the emblem of the Kriegsmarine and hoisted the White ensign of the Royal Navy.

At 01:34 on 28 March, four minutes later than planned, Campbeltown rammed the dock gate. The Commandos and ship's crew came ashore under heavy German fire, and set about demolishing the dock machinery. 162 of the raiders were killed (64 commandos and 105 sailors) out of the 611 men in the attacking force. Of the survivors, 215 were captured and 222 were evacuated by the surviving small craft. A further five evaded capture and travelled overland through France to Spain and then to Gibraltar, a British territory.

German photo of HMS Campbeltown, taken before it exploded The charges in Campbeltown exploded at noon, an hour and a half later than the British had expected. Although the ship had been searched by the Germans, the explosives had not been detected. The explosion killed around 250 German soldiers and French civilians, and demolished both the front half of the destroyer and the 160 short tons (150 t) caisson of the drydock, with the rush of water into the drydock washing the remains of the ship into it. The St. Nazaire drydock was rendered unusable for the rest of the war, and was not repaired until 1947.

The delayed-action torpedoes fired by the motor torpedo boat into the outer lock gate to the submarine basin detonated, as planned, on the night of 30 March. This later explosion led to panic, with German forces firing on French civilians and on each other. Sixteen French civilians were killed and around thirty wounded. Later, 1,500 civilians were arrested and interned in a camp at Savenay, and most of their houses were demolished, even though they had had nothing to do with the raid.Lt-Cdr Beattie—who was taken prisoner—received the Victoria Cross for his valour, and in 1947 received the French Légion d'honneur.The Victoria Cross was one of five that were awarded to participants in the raid, along with 80 other military decorations.

I rated this film 6/10 as above average and certainly not up to the level of "The Cruel Sea" (1952) produced in the same year, which which some users have compared it.

Understated and underrated

[YohjiArmstrong · 12 September 2012]

Plot: A disgraced captain fights to turn his inexperienced sailors, rebellious officers and outdated ship into a fighting force

This underrated little gem is about a little known historical episode in the Second World War where British island bases were swapped for antiquated American ships. The plot is fairly standard; a tough-but-fair officer has to turn an inexperienced crew into a crack fighting force before they are thrown into a final challenge that will test them to the limit. In between the plot adopts an episodic format, shifting between (largely failed) missions at sea and moments for the crew to bond (and fight with other crews) on land. There are lots of familiar but nonetheless effective moments; the chap whose girl runs off with another man, the former trade unionist turned ship's lawyer, the deaths of family in German bombing raids. Like many 1950s films there is a reliance on sets rather than location shooting, and on archive to fill in the gaps. It's obvious but acceptable, and more than made up for by a fast-paced, witty screenplay full of neat historical detail and deeply human moments. The climax, involving the Raid on St Nazaire, is a slightly under-utilised - five more minutes of screen-time to stretch out the tension would have made for a much better ending - but nonetheless heroic end. There is one terrific scene where the camera cuts away from a bar-room brawl and instead illustrates the fight by cutting to photographs of boxers on the wall (the pub landlord's former career) every time a blow is landed. What makes the film so good is the terrific banter between the crew, and the magnificent understatement of the actors. There is no shouting, only a deep and dignified horror at the effects of war; the quiet grief of the characters is infinitely more powerful for not being Hollywood histrionics. Highly recommended.

A missed opportunity

[timsmith37 · 6/10 · 10 July 2007]

Compton Bennett's surefooted direction and a sterling performance from Trevor Howard keeps this leaky old vessel afloat. You have to wonder though at the misguided optimism of the producers in thinking that casting the execrable Sonny Tufts would be a draw across the Pond. Curiously the part that was obviously written for an American, the raffish Canadian first officer, goes to that archetypal English gent, James Donald. And very uncomfortable he looks too. The most interesting character is Richard Attenborough's Dripper Daniels. It is Attenborough in familiar mouthy ranker mode, but with the added twist that his character is a trade union organiser in civilian life. Some fun is had with this, but the portrayal is perhaps more sympathetic than it would have been if the film had been made a few years later. The message of all-pulling together is a reminder of just how soon after the war this film was made. The film certainly takes its time to build up to the raid on St.Nazaire, which is dealt with rather perfunctorily. This must count as a missed opportunity as the raid was one of the most remarkable operations of the war. Instead we have a rather conventional tale of a raggle taggle ship's crew bonding into a disciplined fighting force. In fairness the vintage of the film means that some of the clichés may not then have been clichés, but it is fairly turgid at times, not least the anodyne romance between Donald and wren Joan Rice. An unrecognisably youthful Robin Bailey and a winsome Dora Bryan shine out among the supporting players.

well-made war movie

[myriamlenys · 7/10 · 28 December 2018]

War has broken out in Europe and Great-Britain is using every resource available, including an old destroyer ship graciously sent by the USA. The ship suffers one mishap after another and the crew, officers and captain regard each other with a certain level of distrust, even dislike. As the months go by, the men begin to turn into a cohesive and reliable team...

A pretty good war movie, this one, with a good balance of light and shade. It also paints a fairly honest picture of the behind-the-scenes envy and pettiness Mankind is prone to, even in times of gravest national danger. People worry and bicker over careers, commands, ships and lawsuits, to the point where the poor captain is almost as wary of his colleagues and superiors as he is of the enemy...

There's not much in the way of action or battle scenes until the very last part of the movie. However, the waiting pays off, in the shape of a vastly impressive naval battle full of noise, speed and confusion.

Creaky war film worth watching for the acting and some novel scenes.

[Maverick1962 · 6/10 · 27 July 2014]

I've just watched The Gift Horse, a world war two film in black and white from 1952. I remember many titles of films from childhood which I never had the chance to see and so catch up with them now, and this is one of them. Based on a true incident where we made a swap with the Americans to obtain 50 old warships, this follows the exploits of one of these, commanded by the dependable Trevor Howard, who really carries the film, with a determined, but vulnerable performance, marvelous to watch. James Donald another actor known for these roles at the time, also has a major part, but is saddled with a side story which involves him romantically with Joan Rice, and consequently leaves him miscast. Robin Bailey is prominent and well cast I thought, as is the great Sid James, who runs a pub and there's a lovely scene where a fight breaks out in the pub and the camera ignores the guys fighting and goes to photographs on the wall of Sid in his boxing days, very novel. Lovely to see the wonderful Dora Bryan, and sadly I watched this only two days after she died at the age of 91. She would have been about 28 at the time. The film looks very dated and some of the scenes on the ship look like they were filmed in an old TV studio, but it's the acting that excels here, particularly Trevor Howard.

One of the lesser-known stories of heroism in WWII.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 7 September 2018]

"Glory at Sea" (aka "Gift Horse") is a rather unusual naval film. This is because of the movie centering on a glamorous ship, such as a battleship or aircraft carrier, the setting is an old destroyer which was used by the British through the Lend-Lease program. In other words, older and more obsolete American ships were leased to the Brits during the darkest days of WWII (before the US officially joined). However, this is NOT to say that the ship's record was undistinguished...in fact, what they ultimately did was incredibly brave and daring.

Overall, this is a very good and inspiring war film. It is odd that Sunny Tufts is in the picture...but despite his presence, the movie is well made and worth seeing.

Drowning, Not Waving

[rmax304823 · 4/10 · 9 November 2010]

The British made some fine war movies during the 40s and 50s, culminating with "The Bridge on the River Kwai," which may be the best ever made. This one, called "The Gift Horse" in the US, is about one of those old, retired destroyers that were lent to Britain in 1940 as part of Roosevelt's Lend Lease program, a way of providing aid without alarming an isolationist public.

The story follows the refurbishing of a destroyer, the travails of its stern captain (Trevor Howard), the antics of a couple of its crew (Bernard Lee, baby-faced Richard Attenborough, Sonny Tufts), and the deliberate sacrifice of the ship during a commando raid on Nazi facilities in the French port of St. Nazaire.

It has all the makings of a great film, something along the lines of "The Cruel Sea," only this time ending with a daring attack that ends in victory.

Sadly, the film is torpedoed thrice, wallows briefly in the swells, then sinks head first into the unforgiving sea.

Hit number one is just abaft the beam of the budget. They obviously needed more money to do a decent job. There IS some footage of an old four-piper snoozing along in the distance but for the most part the story is set bound. Everything seems to take place in the studio. Even the scenes aboard ship, while the captain is gritting his teeth and making momentous decisions, is shot not on a real bridge but on a cardboard replica of the flying bridge, where the set can be spare. Didn't they have access to a genuine vessel? Or a real dock? The model work during action scenes make the viewer wince. When the destroyer blows up, it appears to be a more than usually large firecracker exploding inside a box of breakfast cereal.

Strike number two is in the engine room that propels the plot. It's like a handbook of clichés, one following another with relentless determination. When the ship returns from patrol a crewman rushes home to see his wife and new-born baby. Both were killed during the bombing. The scene of his discovering this isn't shown. It's stated baldly in the dialog. Much of the movie is given over to the banter of the men, their comradely inter-ship fist fights in the pub, where bottles and glasses are smashed with abandon. Then there is the stale and uninteresting love affair between James Donald and Joan Rice, a pretty woman who can't act or who isn't given the chance. And just as Trevor Howard joins the crew in the wardroom for a glass of Christmas cheer, he's handed an envelope informing him that his son was killed in action. He shows his stiff upper lip until decorum allows him to wander off alone and forlorn into the shadows of the fake dock. The climactic raid on St. Nazaire was one of the most thoroughly planned and skillfully pulled off during the war, yet here it's described in a two-minute scene and executed confusingly during the final ten minutes. The script is so poor we never do find out exactly why the mission was so important. And it WAS important.

But the mortal wounds are delivered by Sonny Tufts as "Yank," the American newly assigned as the captain's cook, presumed to provide some comic relief because he has a few wisecracks. But his every appearance creates another vast hole on the screen. Sonny Tufts, a relative of the founder of Tufts University in Massachusetts, was born into an extremely wealthy Boston family whose ancestors came from England in the 1600s. Not caring for the family business, banking, he spent some time in Hollywood and made a few films while the professional actors were off fighting the war. By the time of this release he was a washed-up alcoholic. Nothing wrong with that, in itself. Some of my best friends are aging juice heads. But he can't act. And he looked depressingly like a man who had been marinated in booze for years and whose voice had been cured by millions of expensive Turkish cigarettes. What an embarrassment.

I call for a salute. Here's to the brave men and women whose money, talent, and avoidance of Sonny Tufts would have made a very good film possible. Wherever they are.

A derelict ship fighting it out against all odds and surviving all her own defeats with a vengeance

[clanciai · 10/10 · 10 September 2018]

In the beginning of the war when Britain was fighting for her life with France lost and German U-boats sinking all her convoys, Churchill desperately pleaded to Roosevelt for any kind of assistance. Roosevelt was rather reluctant to help a sinking ship, as he (like the ambassador Joseph Kennedy in London) thought it probable that Britain would have to submit to Germany, but he condescendingly let off some battle ships that were taken out of circulation and would be scrapped anyway. This is the story of such a ship, called "Gift Horse" all through the film, and Captain Trevor Howard very wisely considers it best not to look into the mouth of a gift horse. Of course, there is trouble with the ship all the way, as there is always something crucial that doesn't work when the situation becomes critical. So there are many incidents, but the most interesting thing about the film is how it almost documentarily goes into the private lives of the sailors. There are many extremely interesting insights into different fates of the war, including many heart-breaking trials, of course. Richard Attenborough is one of the crew, and there are some wonderful pub scenes with fighting parties, of which the second earns a place in lasting memorability. It's a great film on a minor scale but the more interesting for its absolute realism.

Acceptable fare

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 3 October 2019]

GLORY AT SEA is a typical wartime seafaring drama of the 1950s, with a better-than-average cast and enough dynamism and heroism to see it through. In some ways the back-on-land character material is in many respects more engaging than the more familiar naval battle, although things do build to a suspenseful climax. The stand-out here is Trevor Howard as the crusty lead and Richard Attenborough as the somewhat green sailor in an against-type role, while Bernard Lee is also good value. I could have done without the traditional romantic sub-plots but otherwise this is acceptable fare.

The 39 Year Old Trevor Howard

[Single-Black-Male · 13 September 2003]

He's quite interesting to watch is old Trevor Howard. His quintessential upper class English manner is endearing and engaging. He does have the grit between his teeth, and a depth of range in his voice. He won me over in this film.

raw

[sandcrab277 · 1/10 · 28 December 2019]

Pipsqueek richard attenborough runs his mouth incessantly to the point of exasperation ... someone should have stuck a sock in his mouth .. too many egos working here to get a good read ... there are quite a few of these ww2 convoy movies that are pretty good... this is not one of them