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

The film's director, Lloyd Bacon, was head of the US Navy's photo unit during World War I and star Humphrey Bogart was in the US Navy during the war. He was also an avid recreational sailor.

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Goofs

The 'Northern Star' really is a doomed ship. When we see the crew's quarters the portholes are NOT blacked out. The only better way to have your number called up is to light up the transmitter and send a signal HERE WE ARE.

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Quotes

Boats O'Hara: A hundred? That's only a spit in the ocean. It will take thousands, they're building them ships so fast.

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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

Edited into Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

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Soundtracks

Night and Day
(uncredited)
Written by Cole Porter
Performed by Julie Bishop (dubbed by Martha Mears)

User Reviews

Memorial for the merchant heroes

I got to this movie more or less by chance and didn't know the background. However, this thing is rather gripping, suspenseful and emotional. It stars H. Bogart and R. Massey as the 2nd in command forced into the lead, when Massey as the skipper is heavily wounded in an air-attack on his Liberty freighter on the way to Murmansk. The ship is trailed by a German U-Boat, that is kept at distance during day light, but will certainly torpedo them at night and prevents them from rejoining their convoy, as they don't want to disclose it's course to the Germans. How they finally go thru alive and reach Murmansk offers many ways to show the heroics of the unlisted merchant sailors, who contributed in the same way as the Navy to the victory in war. All that is conveyed very well, sometimes to message-like, sometimes to much propaganda, but what you expect in 1943 ?. Some fun on the side : In the German (dubbed) version , all the Germans (esp. Pilots and Sub Marine Commanders) speak a (original, non dubbed) heavy chewing gum English, whereas the Americans speak perfect German. Such is the war (in the movies)