Reviews

One of the earliest 'flying saucer' movies and probably the best. There are limited, but effective, special fx which add to the feeling of tension. The film was based partly on a story from the 1930's entitled 'Who Goes There'. The film's final credit 'Watch The Skies' became a litany for the 'golden period' of ufology in the 1950's.

The extensive use of overlapping dialogue makes this a film that rises above the normal run-of-the-mill movie. This is something that is usually reserved for the stage and almost totally ignored in films where constant cutting of head to head shots make it almost impossible to do effectively. It is also a difficult process for actors to get right without umpteen takes….something frowned upon in the days of expensive film. Usually only the star names were allowed to get away with it. It would also require lots of rehearsal before shooting could commence. There would be none of today's current "*sigh*…Take 24…s'okay, we've got enough now for the bonus extras on the DVD you guys!....let's make this one count…yeah, I'm looking at you Gervais…."

One of the best exponents of the cross-talk art was Cary Grant, a veteran stage actor, in the 'screwball comedies' of the thirties.

But there are no 'names' in this movie, just plenty of actors who know their stuff. Ken Tobey was always a favourite of mine from when I first saw him on the BBC in the late fifties in a series called 'Whirlybirds' and watched out for him ever after. One of those breed of journeymen actors who, whatever they appeared in, 'never knowingly undersold'….as the expression goes.

The first time I saw this movie was back in 1971 when the three British TV channels (BBC1, BBC2 & ITV) used to close down around 10.30 or 11 at night. But occasionally, BBC2 used to show a series of movies of a particular genre till well after midnight. Heady stuff for those who would normally go to bed when the National Anthem was played. It was a series of sci-fi movie classics like (I'm relying on memory here) 'Destination Moon', 'Quatermass', 'Red Planet Mars', 'Fiend Without A Face', 'Forbidden Planet', 'X-The Unknown' and of course, 'The Thing from Another World ' that kept me up late on Saturday nights.

'The Thing from Another World' was what got me interested in watching the skies and reading up on UFO's etc., something that has never left me yet. It is a simple, clever and very effective film in the way it racks up the tension and while the monster may be a little 'hokey', the film, as a whole, does not disappoint. The 'fire' scene in particular is very well done.

I have been trying to get younger members of my family to watch this film but have been unsuccessful due to them having seen the remake and even though I have a colourised version, more ominously, "…it's still a black and white movie…don't watch any black and white films…"

Whilst I can watch and enjoy the likes of 'Lord of the Rings Trilogy and 'Battleship' etc., and marvel at the cgi, 'they' want it all spread out on a plate for them….so they don't have to use their imagination. Poor saps!

I'm a huge fan of this consistently excellent series and really miss it now that is is finished. Throughout every episode the acting of the leads or 'names' has been the hallmark of excellence but whoever was responsible for the casting of the lesser characters, who in many cases may only have had one line, well....they set the benchmark in believability. Added to this mix is the writing which never drops into the mediocre, something that always happens in long series. That's not to say that there was always a high standard but there was always a good standard of mystery & suspense.

This particular episode, however, was a highlight for me. It is rare for a TV episode to make one sympathetic of a killer but Mark Linn-Baker's portrayal of Wally Stevens self-betrayal did just that. His denouement at the end of the episode was almost too difficult to watch. Vincent D'Onofrio and Katherine Erbe's performances only served to emphasise how great an episode this one is.

The other superb episode that stands out is Series 8 episode 9, Family Values, where once again the ingredients of acting, writing & direction all mesh together to provide something memorable.

Whenever I recommend this series to friends I always ask them to watch these two episodes and generally, unless they've been jaded by the mindless pap served up today, they love it.

Have to say that I find bad language on-screen offensive..really offensive. I swear like a trooper myself but generally find that scriptwriters and directors use swearing for 'padding' a movie or for 'street-cred'....but to me it's just pure laziness.

I also have to say that this is the funniest film I have ever watched.... ..I mean it! The scene on the bridge was so funny it hurt my hernia! And the London copper's incredulity also cracked me up! He was convinced he had a killing-crew under arrest because of the evidence against them, but with their obvious lack of villainous phsycopathy they had him sitting on the fence eventually.

Because the film made me feel like a third man in the removals crew, the swearing became what it was...genuine between blokes.

Mark Stirton and all the actors & crew deserve huge plaudits for making a superb film that unfortunately won't be seen by a massive audience because of the dialect and the language.

The Yanks may complain about the accents or lack of subtitles but we Brits don't complain or ask for subtitles for their movies where the dialect is pure Southern or from the Ozark's etc....we just re-tune our hearing... ..it's dead easy y'know.

This will be a short review. I've read the other comments and I'm surprised that some people have taken this movie so seriously and judged it from the viewpoint of today's values instead of when it was made. It's a bit like putting a bra on Venus de Milo or painting eyebrows on the Mona Lisa '...because that's where we are today....' style of revisionism.

Get over yourselves, people!

The film is a bit of fluff, well acted by all, reasonably well scripted, and directed with a light touch...and that's it. It is not a social document although it reflected some of the values of 60 years ago. I've never seen the prequel, though I want to.

My only other comment is about a scene which I find very touching. It is where mother-to-be Elizabeth Taylor has left her husband Don Taylor and gone back to her parents. Spencer Tracy is caught up in the dispute between them that has caused the separation. His concern is for her attitude that the marriage is finished...but Tracy knows the husband is a good man. You need to see the scene through to appreciate it, but suffice to say that all three actors make it work. Elizabeth Taylor has rarely looked more beautiful nor more vulnerable. Their performances are not just about acting but re-acting.

Possibly the best film of naval warfare set in World War 2.

Heck, it's possibly the best war film about World War 2! It is a film that gets under your skin not because of a famous name being at the head of the credits but due to all concerned making it 'real'.

Based on an outstanding novel (well worth reading) by Nicholas Monsarrat, who relied heavily on his own experiences, the screenplay was by Eric Ambler, no mean author himself, who extracted, then honed, planed and polished the essentials of the novel giving the production team and actors a script that couldn't fail. (The book gives deeper background detail on the characters.)

The use of black and white film stock throughout allowed the mostly seamless insertion of combat film with an extremely fine touch. Even the occasional 'model' shots don't jar the senses like they tend to do in other war films. This film was released in the 1950's so 'propaganda' was not a motive in making it.

The perfidy of the Atlantic is shown at its most raw moods, touching everyone abroad on its waters regardless of race or ideology. Corvettes like the 'Compass Rose' were, for the most part, inherently unstable ships at the best of times…pitting them against the Atlantic gales, swells, mountainous waves, snow and ice with mostly 'hostilities-only' seamen was a test that few failed…and in the early years of the u-boat war, they were sacrificial targets as they tried to protect life-blood convoys carrying the men and matériel to and from Britain to Canada, the United States, the Mediterranean, South America, Russia and the Far East. The courage and determination of these seamen should never be forgotten.

The dramatic aspects are brilliantly realised due in no small part to the actors and actresses who appear in the film. In lesser roles and cameos, the likes of Fred Griffiths, Liam Redmond, Alec McCowen, Virginia McKenna, Bruce Seton, Walter Fitzgerald, Meredith Edwards, Megs Jenkins, Stanley Baker, Moira Lister and Sam Kydd put in such good performances that it seems almost churlish to name any of the actors in the film as they all made outstanding contributions to the 'feel' of it. Sam Kydd even does a couple of post-production short lip-syncs for a couple of other actors.

However, Jack Hawkins must get a special mention as he expresses the pride, commitment, conscience, shame, determination and strength of character that WAS Captain Ericson. I often wonder how many 'name' actors of that film period would have allowed themselves to shed tears on screen and let the 'stiff-upper lip' slide away to show a man whose heart has been ripped from his chest and yet who knows that regardless of what has happened, he has to go on.

Two other names I do want to mention are firstly Donald Sinden, as Lockhart, the No.1, who Ericson comes to regard as his 'rock' but wouldn't express it as so, and who gives a finely judged performance of someone mature but not cocky, learning the ropes under a commanding officer who is both patient and critical when necessary.

The other is John Stratton whose character of Ferraby is both carefully etched and compassionately extracted to show a personality who, although plucked from his home and his new wife and lacking in maturity, and feeling somewhat out of his depth, is determined to do what hundreds of thousands of volunteers & conscripts did at that time of Britain's greatest need.....their best. Unfortunately Ferraby, who like many others, had only so much nervous courage, and who, under the constant strain of the convoy losses and the not knowing when a torpedo would rip into the ship, finally cracked when the 'Compass Rose' was torpedoed and sunk. If he hadn't been serving with Ericson and Lockhart he probably would've have cracked-up sooner.

But this film must be regarded as a whole. It is a dramatic, sensitive, thought-provoking, finely-written experience, expertly directed by Charles Frend (who also directed that fine homage to the Merchant Navy, 'San Demetrio, London' in 1943). There is an atmosphere to the movie that lifts it above so many others. Even the 'love-interest' becomes an essential part of the film and not just a tacky add-on as so often seems to be the case.

Most of those involved in the making of this film had served in the forces and brought their expertise and knowledge to the set.

A final mention must be made about the bleak, intrinsic and melancholy film score by Alan Rawsthorne which puts the final sheen on a film that repeated viewings does not diminish in any way.

...and no, I've never been in the Navy nor have any of my nearest relatives as far as I'm aware.

As a footnote for those interested in the time-period depicted in the film....there is another superb novel that I would recommend (although difficult to obtain), based on his real-life 'below-decks' convoy escort experiences, and that is 'Very Ordinary Seaman' by J.P.W.Mallalieu and first published in 1944.

I've watched this twice now and I am still discovering things about it as I mull it over in my my mind.

This is the kind of thing TV did in the 'golden days' where writers, directors, producers and actors were able to experiment and stamp a certain amount of quality on the broadcasting channels before mindless, financially cheap, safe and brain-numbing pap became the drip-feed of torpor that TV serves up today as it sells the viewers to the advertisers for increasingly lengthy (and seemingly synchronised) advertising breaks.

Today, writers etc., have to scrabble round trying to raise finance to make these kind of short play-lets. The fertile breeding ground of the sixties and seventies has been lost to us....and it is a great loss.

This film, in its time-limit, says a lot about the casual-ness of death in a period of unbelievable destruction and the effects it would have on relatives. This is the distilled story essence of films like Gallipoli and Beneath Hill 60 etc., which took longer to stress their point (not a criticism, as I enjoyed those kind of films).

Whether one believes in ghosts or the afterlife doesn't really matter in this case. It is a well produced, written and directed short that doesn't disappoint. Graham Brisset (not a professional actor, I believe) is outstanding as the soldier. His voice and facial expressions as he comes to the realisation of what has happened (to him) are just spot-on.

This script (and the compressed area of action & dialogue) would make a wonderful stage play for an amateur or school production.