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Sealed Cargo (1951)

posted 11 years ago by richardmarquis-149-126832
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This has always been one of my favourite films; I first saw it when it came out, when I was six.
I remembered the scene where Captain Bannion (Dana Andrews) discovers the hidden cargo of scores of torpedoes in the hidden hold of Claude Rains' old sailing ship, supposedly carrying just barrels of rum. The sliding doors, sounds of a modern motor, and immaculate state of the hidden hold stayed with me for years, until I could finally order a DVD of it a few years ago, when I enjoyed it all over again. I just saw it again this morning on BBC2, and it had lost none of its excitement or charm. The standout performance is of course that by Claude Rains, who combines charm, authority, menace and underhanded Nazi unreliability perfectly. But he was a great actor. He is now mainly remembered for his performance as Louis, the charmingly corrupt Police Chief in Casablanca, and it's final line, when Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Louis (Claude Rains) head out across the desert to escape from Casablanca: "Louis, I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship" a sign that Rains, for once was finally on the side of the good guys at least at the end.

[–] waltereckland 7 years ago

This is one of those hidden gems that pop up every now and then that keep you watching old movies. Claude Rains is the greatest supporting actor who ever lived and he does his usual bang up job in this film

[–] bnwfilmbuff 7 years ago

I just saw this for the first time and enjoyed it immensely. I especially enjoyed the way the story was told. Dana Andrews and Carla Balenda had great chemistry, and Claude Raines and Phillip Dorn gave standout performances. I don't get some of the reviews and lower rating than I would have expected.