The fate of Captain Langsdorff
One of the surprising things about this film is that it makes no mention of what happened to Captain Langsdorff, who after all is pretty much the central character of the movie.
Two days after the Graf Spee was scuttled, Langsdorff committed suicide in Montevideo. It's said he draped himself in an old Imperial German flag -- considered an insult to the Nazis -- before shooting himself.
Given the film's focus on the personalities involved, much more than on action sequences, it's very strange that absolutely no mention or even hint of Langsdorff's end is made, especially since Langsdorff is portrayed as a fair and noble adversary. It certainly was an integral part of the overall story of the pursuit of the Graf Spee, and considering that Frau Langsdorff is listed among those the producers thanked for their help on the picture, you'd think they'd have paid tribute to a gallant foe by describing his sad but principled end. It's certainly an inseparable part of the story, and its omission is unjust.
There was of course no need to include a scene depicting Langsdorff (Peter Finch) actually killing himself. But a coda could have been added where some of the other characters -- say, Captain Love -- learn of Langsdorff's finish, and their regretful reaction to it. This would have been far more powerful an end to the film than the sight (however poetic and beautifully photographed) of the British ships sailing off into the sunset. (Or rather, two sunsets, since the sun is shown having set as the vessels move out to sea, before we later see them sailing away, with the sun once more hovering above the horizon.)
All in all, a bad decision to omit this information, and what could have been a genuinely poignant scene. Far better than more of the turgid, stilted dialogue put in the mouth of that usually superb actor, Anthony Quayle...a rare lapse by the normally superlative Emeric Pressburger.