MovieChat Forums > The Sea Chase (1955) Discussion > Question on the Ending SPOILER WARNING

Question on the Ending SPOILER WARNING


It wasn't clear to me but did John Wayne and Lana Turner manage to escape to Norway at the end or did they die when the ship sank? Of course it has been many years since I have seen this movie.

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You don't see it either way - leaving you to make your own decision as to their "ending".

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The voiceover of Napier says "i have a good idea how..." , indicating that Ehrlich would have gone down with his ship at the end

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No it indicates that Ehrlich always survived and with the beach being shown at the end we are to assume that Wayne and his lady-friend got away to that island by lifeboat.

Deputy Davo's Pig Squeezing Country and Western Comedy Show.

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In the book, Ehrlich was killed - he refused to surrender when the Marines boarded the ship and went down fighting. It was the young Nazi and the girl who tried to get away by boat, but it turned out to be a bad idea - the island was a coastal defence base and the Norwegians weren't kidding about the 'Keep Off' sign. The movie was on TV here this afternoon, but I missed the end. However, my memory from the last time I saw it (about thirty years ago) is that the Duke and Lana made it ashore.

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ending doesnt show any norwegian beach!!

i reckon they died

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Saw it today and yes--the final voice over is done over the beach

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SPOILERS:

Yes, the ending shot is of a beach, presumably in Norway, and has David Farrar, the British captain of the Rockhampton, narrating and saying that some debris had washed up on shore and was all that left of the Ergenstrasse, Wayne's ship. No trace was found of Wayne and Turner, but he states that knowing Wayne as he did, he has his suspicions of what happened and that the fjords are capable of hiding two people easily. So, its open-ended and left up to the viewer to surmise what happened.

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"No trace was found of Wayne and Turner, but he states that knowing Wayne as he did, he has his suspicions of what happened and that the fjords are capable of hiding two people easily. So, its open-ended and left up to the viewer to surmise what happened."

This is correct! It was unlikely they survived; Wayne at the very least being severely injured, no lifeboat, frigid water temperatures etc. But no absolute conclusion can be drawn.

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It could just have been the old British captain refusing to believe that Ehrlich and Elsa died in the shelling, given that Ehrlich was innocent of the Auckland Islands murders and that Captain Napier had virtually murdered his former old friend.

IMO, I don't think Ehrlich made it, cos the last time you see him, he'd been blown onto his back by a shell, and he was barely moving. The beach scene at the end may imply his final resting place, or freedom in death.


They call me the wanderer.

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most likely the final resting place

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