Action in the North Atlantic (1943)

An American tanker is sunk by a German U-boat and the survivors spend eleven days at sea on a raft. They're next assigned to the liberty ship "Sea Witch" bound for Murmansk through the sub-stalked North Atlantic.

Directors:

Lloyd Bacon, Byron Haskin (uncredited)

Writers:

John Howard Lawson (screenplay), Guy Gilpatric (story)

Stars:

Humphrey Bogart, Raymond Massey, Alan Hale

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Humphrey Bogart	...	Lt. Joe Rossi
Raymond Massey	...	Capt. Steve Jarvis
Alan Hale	...	Boats O'Hara
Julie Bishop	...	Pearl O'Neill
Ruth Gordon	...	Mrs. Sarah Jarvis
Sam Levene	...	Abel 'Chips' Abrams
Dane Clark	...	Johnnie Pulaski
Peter Whitney	...	Whitey Lara
Dick Hogan	...	Cadet Ezra Parker
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Virginia Christine	...	Pebbles (scenes deleted)
Ray Montgomery	...	Aherne (scenes deleted)

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...

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Plot Keywords:

sinking ship | tanker | raft | convoy | u boat | 

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Taglines:

Warner Bros. thunderous story of the men of the merchant marine!

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Genres:

Action | Drama | War

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

12 June 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Heroes Without Uniforms

Filming Locations:

Santa Barbara, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$2,600,000, 31 December 1943

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was producer Jerry Wald's final film before entering US military service.

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Goofs

Guide wires are visible on the submarines and torpedoes.

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Quotes

Lieutenant-Commander: [Seeing the battered Liberty Ship pulling into the harbor in Mermansk] It's a miracle!
Rear Admiral Williams: That isn't a miracle; it's American seamanship.

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Alternate Versions

The colorized version and many b&w TV prints, are edited to fit a two-hour time slot. Most of the cuts involve the interactions of the crew (notably Alan Hale Sr) in the rec room and virtually all of Raymond Massey's domestic scenes with Ruth Gordon with the exception of his actual arrival home. Also omitted are most of the scenes of the cook, extended scenes of the destruction of Massey's ship early on as well as several interstitial and transitional scenes.

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Connections

Featured in American Masters: You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008)

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Soundtracks

Blow the Man Down
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

One of the very best wartime propaganda films

The term "propaganda" has taken on a very negative connotation, though propaganda can also be a very positive thing--encouraging the masses through logical and/or emotional appeals to get on the bandwagon on a certain topic. In this case, the effort was noble--encouraging people to understand why we were fighting the Axis powers as well as drumming up their support. Now these types of films were made in the hundreds in the USA during the war and many of them are pretty forgettable. However, this might just be one of the very best due to its magnificent writing and acting. Plus, in many ways it's similar to the British wartime film IN WHICH WE SERVE (1942)--but I think that ACTION IN THE NORTH Atlantic is actually a bit better film. Much of this is because the acting is at least equal to the British film (Humphrey Bogart and Raymond Massey versus Noel Coward and John Mills in the 1942 film) and the story is a bit more exciting in ACTION IN THE NORTH Atlantic. Plus, I admired how the often forgotten men of the merchant marine were shown to be heroes--after all, a lot of them died transporting supplies to Britain during the war.

Both films excelled because unlike some jingoistic wartime films, the Allies were NOT shown as super-humans who could do ridiculous things (like in the movie AIRFORCE where a B-17 shoots down fighter plane after fighter plane--something that just could never have happened). In fact, both films feature ships being sunk right out from under the stars in the first half hour of the film! But here's where the films really succeeded, as they showed the indomitable human spirit that despite losses, continues to bravely and without too much complaint do their job. Balancing this need with the families back at home make these both stellar films. In fact, now that I think about it, I STRONGLY recommend you see both. Yes, they are similar, but also different enough to provide a lot of entertainment and wonderful insight into our history.