Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst (1957)

Director:

Michael Anderson

Writers:

Eric Ambler (screenplay)
Lawrence Earl (book)

Release Date:

14 June 1957 (Denmark)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

While sailing lawfully up the Yangste in 1949, the British warship Amethyst found its return to the...

Plot Keywords:

Disguise | British Navy | 1940s | Chinese Revolution | Royal Navy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Richard Todd	...	Lt. Cmdr. Kerans, RN
William Hartnell	...	Leading Seaman Frank
Akim Tamiroff	...	Col. Peng
Donald Houston	...	Lt Weston RN
Keye Luke	...	Capt. Kuo Tai
Sophie Stewart	...	Miss Charlotte Dunlap
Robert Urquhart	...	Flt Lt Fearnley RAF
James Kenney	...	Lt Hett RN
Richard Leech	...	Lt Strain RN
Michael Brill	...	Lt Berger RN
Barry Foster	...	PO McCarthy RN
Ray Jackson	...	Telegraphist French, RN
Thomas Heathcote	...	Mr. Monaghan RN
Sam Kydd	...	AB Walker RN
Ewen Solon	...	ERA Williams RN

Also Known As:

Battle Hell (USA)
Escape of the Amethyst
Their Greatest Glory
Yangtze Incident

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) | UK:U (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Associated British Elstree Studios, Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Everest Pictures Ltd.

Trivia:

HMS Amethyst sustained more damage during filming than during the actual battle.

One of the best

Brtiain during the 1950's (when it had an thriving film industry) produced a plethora of fine war films, usually in black and white which gave a documentary feel about them and added to the realism and usually used only British actors (When made in colour and Cinemascope and usually with an imported US star they felt more contrived- The Bridge on the River Kwai excepted) Many have gone on to become classics like Ice Cold in Alex, The Dam Busters, The Cruel Sea and Reach For The Sky.

Yangtze Incident, the true story of the attack on HMS Amethyst by the Communist forces in China in 1949 is also one of the better ones and a bit unjustly forgotten about. It reunited Richard Todd with his Dam Busters helmer Michael Anderson and was produced by Herbert Wilcox (husband of Anna Neagle) shortly before he went bankrupt. The upper lips of the cast has never been stiffer but the heroics are natural and never overdone and the action scenes are tremendously exciting and all the better for using real and actual ships (The Battle of the River Plate for this reason is such a disappointment because the ships used bore little or no resemblance to the actual ones (exept one the INS Delhi is the actual HMS Achillies), especially the American heavy cruiser portraying the part of the Graf Spee}

The acting of the cast is uniformly (sic!) excellent with Richard Todd giving once again a low key but nevertheless authoritative performance

( he Jack Hawkins and Kenneth More seem to have the monopoly on this type of role)

All in all a good film the king they don't make any more and a pleasant and relaxing way to while a way a couple of hours on a cold wet miserable Sunday afternoon.