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In Which We Serve (1942)
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Overview
User Rating:
Directors:
Writer:
Noel Coward (writer)
Release Date:
23 December 1942 (USA)
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Tagline:
IT STANDS ALONE - The Greatest Of All Motion Pictures! [Australia theatrical] more
Plot:
This "story of a ship," the British destroyer HMS Torrin, is told in flash backs by survivors as they cling to a life raft. | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars.
Another 4 wins
&
1 nomination
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NewsDesk:
User Comments:
Possibly the best film yet about wars totality
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Noel Coward | ... | Captain E. V. Kinross R.N. / Captain 'D' |
| Derek Elphinstone | ... | No. 1 |
| Michael Wilding | ... | Flags |
| Robert Sansom | ... | Guns |
| Philip Friend | ... | Torps |
| Ballard Berkeley | ... | Engineer Commander |
| Hubert Gregg | ... | Pilot |
| James Donald | ... | Doc |
| Michael Whittaker | ... | Sub |
| Kenneth Carten | ... | Sub-Lieutenant R.N.V.R. |
| John Varley | ... | Secco |
| Bernard Miles | ... | Chief Petty Officer Hardy / Walter Hardy |
| Caven Watson | ... | Brodie |
 | John Mills | ... | Ordinary Seaman Blake / Shorty Blake |
| Geoffrey Hibbert | ... | Joey Mackeridge |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
USA:115 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Sound System)
Certification:
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
This was Richard Attenborough's first screen role (he had been recommended for his small but important part by director turned agent Albert Parker). He is uncredited purely because of an oversight.
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Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: During the scene in which two Army officers returning from Dunkirk join Kinross on the bridge of his ship, the way the cigarette smoke rises betrays the fact this scene was shot indoors.
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Quotes:
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)
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This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (37 total)
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"In Which We Serve" is not only a wonderful pastiche of British society during the second world war, but a complex, yet correct statement of a very simple theme -namely the duty of a country's citizens to defend the system it believes in. The simplicity of the story is one of the movie's key strengths, but the most appealing aspect of the film is, for me at least, the way in which each scene reflects the preceding and suggests the subsequent one. The motivation behind this may have been to demonstrate the unifying elements of the various different characters and their individual stories, but the skill with which this is done makes for a wonderfully satisfying experience. The film is excellently crafted, moving from a semi-documentary style that would have been instantly recognizable to cinema audiences of the forties, with the then common weekly news reviews; and then moving into everything from light-comedy to exciting action and pure drama. It is a film that for many will seem old-fashioned, but only in some of its sentiments, never its techniques or its wisdom. And the "old-fashionedness" of some of it -such as the love scene between John Mills and his girlfriend on the bench by the water- has a poignancy that is nevertheless almost painful in its innocence. Above all the film expresses one immensely important concern: dignity. It is reflected in the words and actions of all the characters, and shines through the film with the immense pride the film-makers (Noel Coward especially) put into making this film. It is an important film not least because it is not afraid of expressing loss -for many the thought of a film about a sinking British ship was a shocking risk to take in a time of war. And it is an entertaining film as well, in the best tradition of British cinema. Like the other main Coward/Lean masterpiece "Brief Encounter" this film can be enjoyed on so many levels that it demands multiple viewings. And like "Brief Encounter" you will discover new subtleties each time...