One of the best British war films ever - surely no other country could have made it, with its emphasis on realism, stiff upper lips, tragedy, stoicism. It's a tough, quite grim movie, rather down beat (the war really takes a toil on the characters - they lose loved ones, take solace in booze and bills). Yet it was the most popular movie of the year. Audiences don't mind a tough story if its done well and this is done extremely well. (And of course if it's based on a best seller).
Many memorable moments: sailors finding out one their sisters has been killed in a bombing raid, a sailor going crazy on a life raft, Jack Hawkins steaming through some British survivors to get a U boat, Denholm Elliot's wife not caring that he's going to sea, Donald Sinden's sweet romance with Virgina McKenna in the blackout, tears going down Hawkins' face, tense battle scenes.
The film made Jack Hawkins' the biggest star in British cinema and was a boon to the career of Virginia McKenna, Donald Sinden, Denholm Elliott, and Stanley Baker (who makes an instant impression even though he's only in the film for about ten minutes - they get rid of his character pretty quick). Extremely well done - the sort of movie that threatens to give 50s British cinema a good name.
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