fjjjuris I read the book when I was very young. It was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and my mother was a member. I was very interested in learning all about WWII and wasn't sure it was OK to read fiction to improve my knowledge. I don't know when I first saw the film. There were only two first-run theaters in my hometown in the early 1950's. But I eventually saw the film and 40 years later purchased the DVD.Now I probably watch the film twice a year. I watched not so long ago with a friend when my wife was out for the evening. He became completely engrossed. I think he teared up in the scene where Erickson says "There are some men in the water just there." At the end, all my friend said was, "Well!" There are any number of superb reviews here. So this is added only as a heartfelt "Yes!"

oscar-35 *Spoiler/plot- The Cruel Sea, 1953, Tells the story of a British navy 'corvette' ship and it's captain with crew in the dangerous North Atlantic WW2.*Special Stars- Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden, Denholm Elliott, Stanley Baker *Theme- British Navy teamwork can conquer overwhelming odds against you. But sometimes the Sea gives no justice.*Trivia/location/goofs- B&W, British, Stanley Baker has a quick role in the early part of this film as a overbearing alcoholic command officer.*Emotion- An interesting story and well acted. This documentary-like story shows the hardship, loneliness, and the danger of everyday shipboard war service in the North Atlantic during WW2. This film crystallizes the action and adventure on the high seas and adds classic stature to this unforgettable war-time epic. The pacing was too slow to keep this film's watch-ability from hurting this worthy film of British civilian naval heroism.

Tweekums I first saw this film many years ago but only just got around to watching it again after sorting through some DVDs that came free with the Telegraph; I wish I hadn't waited so long as it is a cracking film. As it opens former Merchant seaman Lieutenant-Commander George Ericson is about to take his first command in the Royal Naval Reserve; HMS Compass Rose. We are quickly introduced to new officers Lockhart and Ferraby who are fresh out of shore based training and the first officer Sub-Lieutenant Morell. After a brief period of training the ship joins the Atlantic convoys where her crew must contend with German U-boats and the harsh conditions. Not everybody is cut out for it; Morell; a martinet when things were going well can't handle the stress and is hospitalised with an ulcer; much to the relief of the junior officers! As their war progresses they must deal with the effects of U-boats on the ships they are escorting and live in constant fear that they could be the next ship to go down. Victories are few and far between and when their luck finally runs out the losses are significant and the survivors will never be the same again.Most wars films made after the war had finished either concentrate on one particular action or glorify the heroics of our heroes over their dastardly foe; here things are different to follows a ships commander from the time of his first command till the war is over. Both he and his crew are seen as real people who are affected by the events they live though and the decisions they make. Nothing illustrates this more than the scene where Ericson has to take actions that will kill survivors of an attack in order to destroy the U-boat and ultimately save more lives. Jack Hawkins does a fantastic job as Ericson and is ably supported by Donald Sinden, John Stratton, Denholm Elliot and Stanley Baker. Surprisingly the film hardly seems to have dated; some of the model work looks a bit obvious by today's standards but the rest of the film looks just about perfect; no amount of CGI can equal footage of real depth charges detonating or the seamless inclusion of actual war time footage. Even the fact that the film is black and white doesn't date it; in fact it just adds to the sense of reality and the bleakness of their situation. There are no blood and guts to be seen but there are some incredibly tense scenes; I flinched at every noise as they had to repair the engine knowing that a U-boat could spot them at any moment and the scenes in the life rafts were distressing as the number of survivors fell. Even away from the sea it wasn't all happiness as one of the crew learns that his sister has died in an air raid and another discovers that his glamorous wife is being unfaithful. If you have any interest in naval warfare or just want a cracking film with believably real characters then I heartily recommend this; it is a classic.

writers_reign Whenever I come to review a film I read first any other reviews unless, as in this case, there are several pages and then I read only the first page. Having just done that very thing it seems that all the reviews were written by people who had an extra knowledge of the subject, i.e. ex-naval personnel and/or those with relatives - fathers, brothers, cousins, possibly even husbands - who had served or are still serving in either the Royal navy or the Mercantile Marine. In other words people who were closer to the subject than someone like me, an impartial and dispassionate observer. I remember seeing this film on television years ago but retaining little memory of it. Seeing it again I found it competently made, well photographed, acted and directed, but was unable to detect any quality that would eclipse Noel Coward's definitive In Which We Serve. With that in mind it was perhaps unfortunate that someone involved - maybe the original novelist, Nicholas Monsarrat, maybe the scriptwriter, Eric Ambler - had seen fit to steal from Coward the situation of two shipmates connected to someone on shore who subsequently dies in an air raid. Coward wrote two chums whose wives shared the same house; here the only difference is that one of the shipmates is about to marry the sister of the other. It's watchable but, I feel, overpraised.