In Which We Serve (1942)

Directors:

Noel Coward
David Lean

Writer:

Noel Coward (by)

Release Date:

23 December 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

The Greatest Motion Picture Of Our Time! [USA Theatrical]

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.

Plot Keywords:

Captain | Officer | Destroyer | Bomber | Crew

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Noel Coward	...	Captain E. V. Kinross R.N. / Captain 'D'
Derek Elphinstone	...	No. 1
Michael Wilding	...	Flags
Robert Sansom	...	Guns
Philip Friend	...	Torps
Chimmo Branson	...	Midshipman
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 'Shorty' Blake
Geoffrey Hibbert	...	Joey Mackeridge
Frederick Piper	...	Edgecombe
Lionel Grose	...	Reynolds
Leslie Dwyer	...	Parkinson
Charles Russell	...	Fisher
John Singer	...	Moran
Robert Moreton	...	Coombe
John Boxer	...	Hollett
Kenneth Evans	...	Posty
Johnnie Schofield	...	Coxswain
Franklyn Bennett	...	Commander Spencer (as Franklin Bennett)
Charles Compton	...	No. 1. 'Tremoyne'
Walter Fitzgerald	...	Colonel Lumsden
Gerald Case	...	Jasper
Celia Johnson	...	Mrs. Alix Kinross
Daniel Massey	...	Bobby Kinross
Ann Stephens	...	Lavinia Kinross
Joyce Carey	...	Mrs. Kath Hardy
Kay Walsh	...	Freda Lewis
Kathleen Harrison	...	Mrs. Blake
Dora Gregory	...	Mrs. Lemmon
Penelope Dudley-Ward	...	Maureen (as Penelope Dudley Ward)
Barbara Waring	...	Mrs. Macadoo
Eileen Peel	...	Mrs. Farrell
Lesley Osmond	...	Nell Fosdick
Josie Welford	...	Emily
Kay Young	...	Barmaid
Trixy Scales	...	Mona Duke (as Trixie Scales)
George Carney	...	Mr. Blake
Wally Patch	...	Uncle Fred
Michael Anderson	...	Albert Fosdick (as Mickey Anderson)
Jill Stephens	...	May Blake
Everley Gregg	...	Nurse
Roddy Hughes	...	Photographer
Norman Pierce	...	Mr. Satterthwaite
Juliet Mills	...	Freda's Baby
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Neville Chamberlain	...	Himself (archive sound) (voice)
Richard Attenborough	...	Young Powder Handler (uncredited)
John Brabourne	...	Soldier in the Dunkirk Sequence (uncredited)
Leslie Howard	...	Voice (uncredited)

Directed by
Noel Coward
David Lean

Writing credits
Noel Coward		(by)

Produced by
Noel Coward	....	producer
Anthony Havelock-Allan	....	associate producer
Herbert Smith	....	executive producer in charge of production (uncredited)

Original Music by
Noel Coward
Clifton Parker		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Ronald Neame		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Thelma Connell		(as Thelma Myers)
David Lean		(uncredited)

Casting by
Irene Howard		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
David Rawnsley

Makeup Department
Tony Sforzini	....	makeup artist (as Toni Sforzini)

Production Management
Michael Anderson	....	unit manager
Sydney Streeter	....	production manager (as Sydney S. Streeter)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kenneth Horne	....	first assistant director (uncredited)
Tom Payne	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Norman Spencer	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
William C. Andrews	....	associate art director (as W.C. Andrews)
G.E. Calthrop	....	art supervisor to Noel Coward
Norman Delaney	....	set dresser
John Elphick	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Alfred Roberts	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
Gus Walker	....	assistant construction manager (uncredited)
Harry White	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
C.C. Stevens	....	sound recordist
John Aldred	....	sound assistant (uncredited)
Walter R. Day	....	assistant sound (uncredited)
Desmond Dew	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Douglas Woolsey	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Derick Williams	....	special effects cameraman
W. Percy Day	....	matte painter (uncredited)
Frank Gibson	....	visual effects production manager (uncredited)
Stanley Grant	....	special effects camera operator (uncredited)
P.G. Hemfrey	....	first assistant camera: visual effects unit (uncredited)
T. Pickett	....	model assistant (uncredited)
Charles Staffell	....	special effects camera assistant (uncredited)
Bill Warrington	....	model supervisor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Guy Green	....	operating cameraman
Jack Atcheler	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Jim Body	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Jock Dymore	....	chief electrician (uncredited)
Norman Foley	....	focus puller (uncredited)
B. Francke	....	camera operator (uncredited)
J. Green	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Alan Hume	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Max Rosher	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Henry Slagter	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Ray Sturgess	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Reginald Beck	....	supervising editor (uncredited)
Pat Danes	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Peter Taylor	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Norah Walsh	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Renee Woods	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Muir Mathieson	....	conductor
Roy Douglas	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Other crew
I.T. Clark	....	naval advisor (as Lt. Commander I.T. Clark O.B.E. R.N.)
C.R.E. Compton	....	naval advisor (as Lieutenant C.R.E. Compton R.N.)
T.W.J. Lawlor	....	naval advisor (as Able Seaman T.W.J. Lawlor)
Betty Curtis	....	continuity (uncredited)
Irene Howard	....	rehearsal director (uncredited)
Gordon Parry	....	location manager (uncredited)
Maggie Unsworth	....	assistant continuity (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Two Cities Films (as A Two Cities Film)

Distributors

• British Lion Film Corporation (1942) (UK) (theatrical) (presents) (as British Lion Film Corpn.Ltd.)
• United Artists (1942) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1956) (USA) (TV)
• Columbia Films (1945) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Gaumont (1944) (France) (theatrical) (as Compagnie Parisienne de Location de Films)
• Belle & Blade Studios (video)
• Criterion Collection, The (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (laserdisc)
• Elephant Films (2004) (France) (DVD)
• F.J. Lucas (Brazil) (video)
• Future Film (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• LW Editora (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• TV3 (1987) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Royal Navy  this film is dedicated to, "whereon under the good providence of God, the wealth, safety and strength of the kingdom chiefly depend" (as The Royal Navy)
• Forster & Son  officers uniforms (as Forster & Son Ltd.)
• London Symphony Orchestra, The (LSO)  music played by (as The London Symphony Orchestra)
• Royal Navy  this film would not have been possible without the help, guidance and co-operation of the following (as The Royal Navy)
• Royal Air Force (RAF)  this film would not have been possible without the help, guidance and co-operation of the following (as The Royal Air Force)
• 5th Battalion Coldstream Guards, The  this film would not have been possible without the help, guidance and co-operation of the following (as The 5th Battalion Coldstream Guards)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:115 min | UK:114 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | UK:U | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

D&P Studios, Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Two Cities Films

Trivia:

This film's dedication states: "This film is dedicated to the Royal Navy whereupon under the good providence of God, the wealth, safety and strength of the kingdom chiefly depend."

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As Shorty and Freda travel by train on their honeymoon,the rear-projection background (of the view from the train window) runs from left to right. However, when Captain Kinross and his wife enter the compartment and we see the opposite window, the projection runs the same way, making it look as if the train is repeatedly changing direction.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Voice:[voiceover] This is the story of a ship...
[long sequence of ship-building and launch]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Eternal Father, Strong to Save

Eyes wet, lump in my throat, but stiff upper lip all the way

In Which We Serve, is a blistering film, that never fails to hit the mark. The story revolves around the Life and Sinking of a Royal Naval Destroyer HMS Torin, and the gallant men that served on her.

Loosly based on the story of HMS Kelly a real Royal Navy Destroyer commanded by Lord Louis Mountbatten, it takes us back to the days when Britannia really did rule the waves.

The ship is sunk during the battle of Crete, and the main characters of the movie are then clinging to the life raft awaiting rescue. The film is a combination of flashbacks showing the effect that War has on the sailors and their families back home.

Sir Noel Coward is brilliant as the upper class Captain that commands the ship and the respect of his crew. Sir Bernard Miles is equally as pleasing as the middle class Petty Officer, and Sir John Mills gives a movie-making performance representing the majority of the Royal Navy, as the ordinary every day working class able seaman.

I've noticed that a lot of reviews of this movie talk of the class divide between the three characters, but I disagree entirely. First of all it is a true depiction of what the class structure was like in those days coupled with the fact that it was a message to say that in War time EVERYBODY is in the same stink, regardless of Class. A prime example of this is when the ship sinks. At home these men may lead different lifestyles. but after having a ship blown from beneath them. they are all the same.

Cowards film is a masterpiece, and his score is haunting and beautiful. Sir David Lean's directorial debut, (under the watchful eye of Coward), is something to be proud of, and it's no surprise they were to team again.

One the best moments of this movie is when the crew of the Torin rescue Coldstream Guardsmen from the bloody beaches of Dunkirk. On the dockside back in Blighty the Guardsmen disembark. Tired, wounded, and emotional. One word from an officer, and these broken men SNAP to attention regardless of how they feel, and in perfect unison are marched away. leaving John Mills to say "If I weren't so tired I'd give 'em a cheer......and that's no error" Incredible.

This is a triumph for War time movie making and remains a milestone in British Cinema which also includes Lord Attenborough's movie debut.

This Movie never fails to bring a lump to my throat. and the younger generation should be MADE to watch this movie. Who knows? it may help to restore this countries flagging patriotism.