I've watched this film regulary since I was a kid. I think its a fantastic piece of cinema. The XO is a perfect example of a bullying 1st Lt (who are still around today I can tell you) Anyone else think that there's room for a newly made WWII naval flick?
share[deleted]
Actually the quote is "snorkers - good oh!".
Bennet is an Australian (well is supposed to be an Australian in the movie).
Good oh! is an Australian term (fairly old - my grandfather's era) sort of equivilant to "cool!" or "great!"
Just wondering. Are Snorker the same as Bangers?
shareBut not as in bangers and mash.
Nothing exists more beautifully than nothing.
Jtan -where do you get that the First Lt is supposed to be Australian in the film? And re 'good-oh', I'd never heard of it being particular Australian. It's used (and has been used) for the longest time in Britain (I use it all the time, seriously!) - it might be one of those phrases that has moved around between former Empire/Commonwealth countries.
"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."
"Good Oh" is about as English as you can get. I don't think it is used as much as it usedto be though. My father was on the convoys and he too loved the book and the film.
shareA voyage 'round the Internet seems to point to Australia as a source for "snorker".
But just to break up the monotony and provide the kind of insight that only the Scots can offer, here's a paean to the snorker, with possible apologies and tip 'o the tam to Burns:
TAE THE BRITISH SNORKER.
Great sizzler o’ the banger race,
Wi ye a’ luv tae fill ma face.
Mix’d wi’ stilton, herbs or apple,
Ye still a’ welcome doon ma thrapple.
Unlike haggis filled wi’ oat an’ offal,
Why did’nae Burns aboot ye waffle?
Ye’re nae sleekit lak a chipolata,
Which weel hardly mak a breckie starter.
But as ye lie mid wad and rashers,
Saliva slobbers roond ma gnashers.
So al’ ye luvers o’ a bit o’ porker.
Gie a grand “Och Aye”….
……TAE THE BRITISH SNORKER.
with link (chuckle) to same:
http://www.giw44.dial.pipex.com/extrapomes7.htm
In Nicholas Monserrat's novel 'The Cruel Sea' the first officer of the Compass Rose is referred to as - Lt James Bennett of the Royal Australian Navy.
shareThanks for that poem-it brought a tear to my eye and a grumble to my belly.
shareBennet's character is not meant to be a bully, he is meant to represent an inability of the lower middle class to command (he is mentioned to be a second hand car salesman and is shown to be cowardly) the other officers clearly slight him for this
shareThe novel makes clear that he is both incompetent and lazy. He clearly does not like hard work and wants a transfer off the corvette to have an easier life.
shareHe is written as a crude bully, who picks on Ferraby, the most vunerable of the junior officers as a way of hiding his own short comings. The other officers comtempt of him come from the fact that even though he is incompetant and lazy the navy have placed him in a position of authority above them. Even the Capt is aware if these but is powerless to do much about this. As an illustration of this, he has to tear a strip of Bennett near the start of the film. The Compass Rose is about to leave port for the first time, Ericson has to call the First Lieutenant to his cabin to find out if all the crew on board, something which is his job to ensure and let the skipper know. When it becomes obvious that he doesn't know, he is told to find out and then inform the captain. He tells the captain that h would get Ferraby to check, at which he is told to do it himself, or a new first officer would be found.
Some of the 1st Lt charector flaws aren't really shown in the film, to get a better feel for the conditions I would recommend reading the book, even just once.
having just watched the film, but not read the book, i found the thinly-veiled class-contempt weighted on this character a great flaw, really the only significant one.
its clear the writer was a snob. but a hell of tale well told, that aside.
in a world where everyone has an opinion on everything, you get a lot of bad opinions - me
[deleted]
yes, good observation. and it was a break-through role for Mr. Stanley Baker, who probably was most famous for his starring role in ZULU.
he definitely charted his own course, perhaps understanding that his rather harsh but powerful features worked well more usually as an adversary.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Baker
in a world where everyone has an opinion on everything, you get a lot of bad opinions - me
I just saw this on tv the other day so my memory is fresh.
The Baker character might be Australian in the book but in the film I don't think he is meant to be Australian.
He is described as having been a used car salesman 2 months prior to the scenes at the start of the film,which were set in early 1940 I think.
I think he was meant to be a RNVR (ROYAL NAVY VOLUNTEER RESERVE)officer serving full time due to the war.
I used to really like this film but there is something nasty about the writers attitude,after the war he became very anti what Britain had became,he did not like how Britain had become less class bound and more equal,he thought the country had gone to the dogs (see his book and film THE SHIP THAT DIED OF SHAME).
The book THE CRUEL SEA also promotes the idea that U boats were somehow aided by people in Ireland during the war while the fact is the Irish government was secretly helpful to the British war effort.
The writer seems to say was the war effort worth it,of course it was.
I prefer IN WHICH WE SERVE which is liable to encourage you to join the RN.
I wonder if the person who says that this film is still used by the Royal Navy as a training film is correct?
***...the fact is the Irish government was secretly helpful to the British war effort.***
It must have been VERY secret indeed.
The Irish Government actually sent a message of condolence to the German legation about the death of Hitler on April, 30, 1945.
Nobody else did that. Not even the Japanese.
Read, and learn:
http://forums.canadiancontent.net/international-politics/43020-ireland-sent-condolences-nazis-after.html
The Irish leader Eamon de Valera sent the message, against the advice of some of his colleagues. It was probably more an act of malice on de Valera's part, rather than a genuine message of condolence. If Ireland had really wanted to make things so much more difficult for the British, we would have known all about it.
shareIn the book 'Atlantic Escorts' by David K Brown, he mentions that the two Australian officers - in the original novel, that is, Bennett on Compass Rose and then Allingham on Saltash - "are both very closely based on real men and have been identified."
share
Be patient with Eric Ambler. He provided the world with a lot of fun. Perhaps pick up his autobio - Here Lies - I think it's called.
LL
I think he was meant to be a RNVR (ROYAL NAVY VOLUNTEER RESERVE)officer serving full time due to the war.
like erm, das boot or U571 for example lol.
shareThe Irish leader Eamon de Valera sent the message, against the advice of some of his colleagues. It was probably more an act of malice on de Valera's part, rather than a genuine message of condolence. If Ireland had really wanted to make things so much more difficult for the British, we would have known all about it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whether it was done as an act of spitefullness towards Britain or whether De Valera really meant it, either way it was a very despicable thing to do. Can you imagine the uproar there would be if someone did that nowadays!!!!!!
Despite the fact that the vast majority of his countrymen were sympathetic towards Britain in WW2 and thousands of Irish men volunteered and served in the British forces De Valera and his goverment DID indeed make things very difficult for Britain.
The treaty ports being one example. In 1922 an agreement had been drawn that allowed the Royal Navy to have access to facilities at three port locations in the Republic of Ireland which were vital for the defense of Britain in many ways. However Neville Chamberlain foolishly relinquished the rights of these port facilities for virtually no gain in 1937. De Valera refused point blank to allow British warships to use these facilities for refuelling at any time during WW2. This caused Britain great difficulties which were only partially resoved by the use of port facilities in Northern Ireland.
Also the Irish Government retained full diplomatic relations with Nazi Germany for the entire duration of WW2 much to the fury of the United States military. General Eisenhower was outraged at the security problems that was caused by the presence of Nazi spies in Ireland and worried that the D-Day landings could well have been compromised!!!!!
when you throttle a people for 500 years, sometimes they hold a grudge - ain't it awful?
in a world where everyone has an opinion on everything, you get a lot of bad opinions - me
Just rewatching the movie and, since posting on this thread several years ago, I now know that Bennett in the book is indeed an Australian, from the RANVR.
(SPOILERS AHEAD RE THE BOOK)
In the book, it's told that, once Bennett is invalided out, he's sent back to Australia. There, he cracks on that he was a great hero and took over control of COmpass Rose during a wolfpack attack due to Captain Ericsson losing the plot. Bennett is then assigned to PR work, touring factories in Australia, telling tales of his derring-do in order to encourage workers to hit production targets, probably while getting tons of snorkers.
"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."
[deleted]
I am an Australian of admittedly, advanced years. I must say that in Australia sausages are NEVER referred to as 'snorkers'. A bit of research inclined towards it being a Royal Navy term for them. It is quite conceivable that Bennett is using the Navy term being an Australian or not. In the book where he is from down under, Monsarrat could have made him use the Aussie term for sausages, 'snags'. My father who served in WW2 still calls them that. 'Snorkers' is never heard.
If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.