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Storyline
Lieutenant Joe Rossi is 1st Officer on a Liberty Ship in a great convoy bound from Halifax to Murmansk. After German subs crushed the convoy his ship loses the convoy and is heading alone to Murmansk. In spite of attacks by German planes and subs he get the ship safely to Murmansk... Written by
Stephan Eichenberg <eichenbe@fak-cbg.tu-muenchen.de>
Plot Summary
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Warner Bros. thunderous story of the men of the merchant marine!
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Very few early World War II films featured African-Americans in the US military. Star
Humphrey Bogart was quoted in 'The Pittsburgh Courier' on 26 September 1942 as saying that he wanted to have a black Merchant Marine captain in this film. He said, "In the world of the theatre or any other phase of American life, the color of a man's skin should have nothing to do with his rights in a land built upon the self-evident fact that all men are created equal."
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Goofs
The entire time the crew is in the Crew Mess Hall the clock above the door reads 4:15, it never changes time.
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Quotes
Goldberg:
[
During night-time sound blackout]
I wish I was in Times Square.
Gun crewman:
Why?
Goldberg:
I'd take a subway home.
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Connections
Featured in
Warner at War (2008)
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Soundtracks
"Blow the Man Down"
(uncredited)
Traditional
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"Action in the North Atlantic" contained all the stock clichés, including the well-integrated crew with each member delivering his own stereotyped ethnic exhortations, the traditional burial at sea of a prized compatriot, and a tough stand against the enemy
All the performers took a back seat to the special effects as two spectacularly staged shipboard explosions and fires dominated the film
As, respectively, the lieutenant and captain aboard a merchant-marine ship, Bogart and Massey had little real chance to show much more than pure determination in their roles, but both alternated effectively between moments of tenderness when on shore with their loved ones (Julie Bishop for Bogart, Ruth Gordon for Massey) and extreme courage on board ship
Both men uttered the usual wartime banalities as the enemy, consistently portrayed as vicious and inhuman, went about its business of machine-gunning men in lifeboats, maniacally smiling all the while
Firmly directed by Lloyd Bacon, "Action in the North Atlantic" still works as a war actioner