THE SILVER FLEET is a very interesting and engaging slice of WW2 propaganda about saboteurs working to disable Nazi shipping in a Dutch dockyard in the Second World War. The film boasts a fine central performance from a youthful Ralph Richardson as the Dutch dockyard owner, a man despised by his own side - wife Googie Withers included - for being a Quisling.
This is a slow-paced and rather mannered production that nonetheless rises above the trappings of the WW2 propaganda genre to become something quite moving and profound. Richardson is excellent as the lead, but the supporting cast are no less impressive, and Esmond Knight particularly shines as the friendly Nazi; his performance is even more impressive when one realises he was blind at the time, but playing a sighted man. The ending of THE SILVER FLEET is simply fantastic.
This is a slow-paced and rather mannered production that nonetheless rises above the trappings of the WW2 propaganda genre to become something quite moving and profound. Richardson is excellent as the lead, but the supporting cast are no less impressive, and Esmond Knight particularly shines as the friendly Nazi; his performance is even more impressive when one realises he was blind at the time, but playing a sighted man. The ending of THE SILVER FLEET is simply fantastic.