A British submarine, Trojan, accidentally runs into a drifting mine that blows off her bow and floods her stern. The central section sinks to the bottom with twelve men left alive. Submarine rescue ships come to her aid but it's a long hard slog, introducing air into the hull and trying to lift the wreck with wires. There is a means of escape from the submarine but it will accommodate only eight of the survivors, leaving four men (chosen by lot) to a problematic future.
Frightened men trapped aboard a disabled submarine at the bottom of the ocean. You'd expect a lot of drama, speech making, and philosophizing on what it's all about. Well -- there is a little of that, but not too much.
The drama centers around the stoker, one of the four losers, played by a baby-faced Richard Attenborough. When the boat is disabled, he reveals himself as a sniveling coward. (Note: No cowardice is complete without its "sniveling" qualifier.) But in the course of their isolation, the four remaining men are drawn together and Attenborough learns to overcome his fear and to care for a shipmate who is sick.
John Mills is the captain who remains behind. And aside from Attenborough, there are also Wylie Watson as the comical but sensitive cook who doesn't know how to pronounce the word "Pisces" in the Astrology column, and Nigel Patrick as Number One.
Happily, although these four are stuck in a disabled undersea wreck, the film makers are not. Scenes in the submarine alternate with the efforts of those ashore and those in the rescue craft to haul the mauled hull to the surface. These men are led by the reassuring Bernard Lee. Lee is a fine actor but, as it turns out, can't solve every problem that comes along.
Because we are able to keep abreast of the rescue efforts and the difficulties involved, we're spared the isolation and claustrophobia of that sunken wardroom. This turns what could have been an ordinary, stiff-upper-lip talkfest into a rather dramatic and well-done story of men facing death while others try to help them.
It's based on a play. I can't imagine a play about a situation like this being anything but deadly, but it's a nicely executed film. Good and craftsmanlike.
Frightened men trapped aboard a disabled submarine at the bottom of the ocean. You'd expect a lot of drama, speech making, and philosophizing on what it's all about. Well -- there is a little of that, but not too much.
The drama centers around the stoker, one of the four losers, played by a baby-faced Richard Attenborough. When the boat is disabled, he reveals himself as a sniveling coward. (Note: No cowardice is complete without its "sniveling" qualifier.) But in the course of their isolation, the four remaining men are drawn together and Attenborough learns to overcome his fear and to care for a shipmate who is sick.
John Mills is the captain who remains behind. And aside from Attenborough, there are also Wylie Watson as the comical but sensitive cook who doesn't know how to pronounce the word "Pisces" in the Astrology column, and Nigel Patrick as Number One.
Happily, although these four are stuck in a disabled undersea wreck, the film makers are not. Scenes in the submarine alternate with the efforts of those ashore and those in the rescue craft to haul the mauled hull to the surface. These men are led by the reassuring Bernard Lee. Lee is a fine actor but, as it turns out, can't solve every problem that comes along.
Because we are able to keep abreast of the rescue efforts and the difficulties involved, we're spared the isolation and claustrophobia of that sunken wardroom. This turns what could have been an ordinary, stiff-upper-lip talkfest into a rather dramatic and well-done story of men facing death while others try to help them.
It's based on a play. I can't imagine a play about a situation like this being anything but deadly, but it's a nicely executed film. Good and craftsmanlike.