MovieChat Forums > The Cruel Sea (1953) Discussion > Screams from the Stokers

Screams from the Stokers

posted 17 years ago by trenthouseforlife
10 replies | jump to latest

The most awful moment in the movie when Ericson can hear the screams as his men are trying to escape the flooding compartments. And then later on the Bridge, when from nowhere he has a flashback and hears them again on a clear and sunny day. Really sobering whenever I watch it.

PS I am in the Mob right now and they STILL use this film at Dartmouth College for training purposes. It comes on and it's in black and white and everyone laughs to begin with, but NOBODY'S laughing when that bit comes up or when they depth-charge the merchantmen. I've got a lot of time for this movie! And of course, the book is excellent as well. You can tell Noel Coward never served in WW2 by comparing this gritty piece of work to the fantasy propaganda piece that is "In which we serve". John Mills - "Gor Blimey guv'nor, the bosch gorn and shot me in me leg! It don't half smart!"

Alright, that's not an exact quote, but you get my drift.

[–] TorontoJediMaster 17 years ago

I just saw In Which We Serve last week. I totally agree that it isn't as good as The Cruel Sea. However, you have to remember that IWWS was made during the war itself, while TCS was produced eight years after the war had ended. Postwar films were better able to depict realism than wartime films were.

Overall though, I though IWWS was an excellent film for the time it was made. I'd say it was far, far better than anything Hollywood produced during the war.

[–] trenthouseforlife 17 years ago

Roger dodger, you make a good point about wartime circumstances. A layman finds it harder to look beyond the overt discrepancies to the context in which both these films were made. I reckon they might have had a job in convincing the censors to allow the going british public to watch such a grisly account as the Cruel Sea.

Funny how these days we don't seem so ready to hold back on present horrors, but rather we try to use films more as anti war vehicles, as if the wars could be prevented by rubbing people's noses in it?

[–] DBloodnok 17 years ago

I think there is an interesting comparision between TCS and IWWS. I enjoy both films but, for me, TCS is the better piece of cinema. However, IWWS is superior to TCS in one respect - in that it attempts (if a little ham-fistedly) to depict the experience of those below-deck. The Battle of the Atlantic as shown in TCS is seen through the eyes of the officers whereas IWWS features main cast members who are ratings. For all the chirpy Cockerney we get to hear (oh Shorty and no mistake etc etc etc), it's a fair effort I think, particularly for 1943.

"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."

[–] jkholman 17 years ago

"...Overall though, I though IWWS was an excellent film for the time it was made. I'd say it was far, far better than anything Hollywood produced during the war. "

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An exaggeration [probably unintentional]. While many Hollywood films during WWII were rather hoakey, one exception does come to mind and it possibly rivals In Which We Serve; that would be Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (released in 1944). Like IWWS, TSOT does have propaganda pieces in it, but once the mission gets going the camera work, special effects, and high tension are hard to beat even by todays standards. The aeroplane wreck off the China coast is every bit as gritty as the sinkings and immediate aftermaths as the two British war films. All three films have much to recommend them. My favourite scene in IWWS is when Celia Johnson's character gives a discourse on the sailor's wife true standing in the scheme of naval life.

[–] Romojo 14 years ago

I'm with you on Celia Johnson's performance in IWWS. My favourite part for her was when she is passed the telegram by the maid. She looks at it. Wonderful.

But - when Coward in IWWS bids goodbye to his men, then looks at the officers and walks out. Not a dry eye in my house.

--
I will not be pushed, stamped, filed indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.

[–] krasnegar 17 years ago

The most awful moment in the movie when Ericson can hear the screams as his men are trying to escape the flooding compartments. And then later on the Bridge, when from nowhere he has a flashback and hears them again on a clear and sunny day. Really sobering whenever I watch it.

"...and he closed the voicepipe with a murderer's hand..." (from the book).

I have managed to catch the last fifteen minutes of this film like three times on TV. I shall have to get it from Netflix; the book is one of my favourites, and was one of the reasons i joined the US Navy in 1967.

[–] nickm2 16 years ago

Guys:

Yes...I Haven't seen the film in over 25 years (I was in college in Greece when I last saw it!) but the suddeness of that torpedo strike & the screams of the stokers AND the Captain hearing those screams again in his mind when he gets aboard his NEW Corvette---REALLY shudder inducing...

nickm

[–] krasnegar 17 years ago

For a book completely about the struggle to keep a wounded ship afloat, and what happens to her crew, Monsarrat's other book, "HMS Marlborough Will Enter Harbour" is an amazing read.

Also, may i recommend Monsarrat's shorter piece "The Ship that Died of Shame", the story collection of the same name, and the film based on it (absurdly retitled "PT Raiders" in the US) starring Richard Attenborough.

[–] gerardrd 10 years ago

sat on a rainy day feeling sorry for myself start watching the cruel sea suddenly my life is not that bad....

[–] waswasere 10 years ago

I've always wanted to see 'HMS Marlborough...' filmed. My personal naval book favourite.

"I know it looked like I fell... but it was all part of my plan!"