In Which We Serve (1942)

93% of critics liked it
(15 reviews)
81% of users liked it
(683 ratings)

Few morale-boosting wartime films have retained their power and entertainment value as emphatically as Noël Coward's In Which We Serve. To witness Coward's sober, no-nonsense direction (in collaboration with his co-director/editor, David Lean) and to watch his straightforward portrayal of navy… More Few morale-boosting wartime films have retained their power and entertainment value as emphatically as Noël Coward's In Which We Serve. To witness Coward's sober, no-nonsense direction (in collaboration with his co-director/editor, David Lean) and to watch his straightforward portrayal of navy captain Kinross, one would never suspect that he'd built his theatrical reputation upon sophisticated drawing-room comedies and brittle, witty song lyrics. The real star of In Which We Serve is the British destroyer Torrin. Torpedoed in battle, the Torrin miraculously survives, and is brought back to English shores to be repaired. The paint is barely dry and the nuts and bolts barely in place before the Torrin is pressed into duty during the Dunkirk evacuation. The noble vessel is finally sunk after being dive-bombed in Crete, but many of the crew members survive. As they cling to the wreckage awaiting rescue, Coward and his men flash back to their homes and loved ones, and, in so doing, recall anew just why they're fighting and for whom they're fighting. Next to Coward, the single most important of the film's characters is Shorty Blake, played by John Mills. (Trivia note: Mills' infant daughter Juliet Mills appears as Shorty's baby.) Even so, the emphasis in the film is on teamwork; here as elsewhere, there can be no stars in wartime. For many years, the only prints available to television were from the bowdlerized American version, which crudely cut out all "hells" and "damns." Fortunately, this eviscerated American release has since been shelved in favor of the full, glorious 115-minute version. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 54 min.
Directed By: Noel Coward, David Lean
Genres: Drama, Classics

In Theaters: Oct 16, 1942 Wide
On DVD: Mar 20, 2007
Studio: MCA Universal Home Video

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
No less than half a dozen credits for this film go to Noel Coward. And they're well earned.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
One of the most eloquent motion pictures of these or any other times had its American premiére at the Capitol Theatre last night.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Perhaps the most honored propaganda film of World War II, in which the survivors of a torpedoed British battleship recall their reasons for fighting through individual flashbacks.
Sean Axmaker, Turner Classic Movies Online
... an accomplished, sincere, and moving piece of filmmaking that honors the characters and involves the audience.
Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing
Noel Coward, who also co-directed and wrote the script, brings weight and dignity to the role of Captain Kinross.
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
a particularly memorable World War II British propaganda film, having successfully outlived its initial propagandistic value and solidified into a timelessly moving drama of human determination and tenacity
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Though agit-prop and sentimental, this UK WWII drama is superior to Hollywood's patriotic flagwavers, and it's important historically, featuring the directorial debut of David Lean (with Noel Coward), who became a major international figure in the 1950s
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Coward is at his peak in this patriotic, thoughtful WWII British production.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Noel Coward performed with unexpected brilliance here as co-director, writer, musical composer, and star of this stirring WWII drama.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It's dated, but still holds up as one of the better flagwavers.
Tom Milne, Time Out
Staged with what passed at the time for honest understatement, it now looks impossibly patronising, the epitome of stiff upper lip.
Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)
Coward's tribute to the Royal Navy during World War II is as stirring as it is human. He puts a face on war and those who fight it.
Richard Luck, Film4
In Which We Serve is not only one of the greatest of all British war movies but also marks the mighty David Lean's first major contribution to cinema.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies
Sentimental, to be sure, and a tad too stiff-upper-lipped at times, but it is a moving portrait of a navy destroyer, the men who served on it.

Read all 14 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

cody f

A good British war film about a stranded crew of a British Destroyer on a life raft. The whole film is told in flashbacks and that is what I think hurts the film. It was original then, but it takes you out of the story almost every time it happens. Coward's screenplay is great… More
A good British war film about a stranded crew of a British Destroyer on a life raft. The whole film is told in flashbacks and that is what I think hurts the film. It was original then, but it takes you out of the story almost every time it happens. Coward's screenplay is great and all of the characters are strong. David Lean helps him with the direction, which makes it look good and really helps the acting. Entertaing film all around, but I wish it was set up a little different without the all of the flashbacks.

Cast

            Noel Coward as Captain Kinross

            John Mills as Ordinary Seaman Shorty Blake

            Bernard Miles as Chief Petty Officer Walter Hardy

            Celia Johnson as Alix Kinross

            Joyce Carey as Mrs. Hardy

            Kay Walsh as Freda Lewis

            Derek Elphinstone as Number One

            Richard Attenborough as Young Sailor

            Michael Wilding as "Flags"

            Robert Sansom as "Guns"

            Phillip Friend as "Torps"

            Ballard Berkeley as Engineer Commander

            James Donald as Doctor

            George Carney as Mr. Blake

            Kathleen Harrison as Mrs. Blake

            Hubert Gregg as Pilot

            Kenneth Carton as Sub. Lieut. R.N.V.R.

            Gerald Case as Capt. Jasper Fry

            Penelope Dudley-Ward as Maureen Fenwick

            Leslie Dwyer as Parkinson

            Walter Fitzgerald as Col. Lumsden

            Geraldo's Orchestra as Themselves

            Everley Gregg as Nurse

            Dora Gregory as Mrs. Lemmon

            Geoffrey Hibbert as Joey Mackeridge

            Roddy Hughes as Photographer

            Daniel Massey as Bobby Kinross

            Juliet Mills as Frieda's Baby

            Robert Moreton as Coombe

            Brefni O'Rourke as Dr. Drake

            Lesley Osmond as Nell Fosdick

            Wally Patch as Uncle Fred

            Eileen Peel as Mrs. Farrell

            Norman Pierce as Mr. Satterthwaite

            Frederick Piper as Edgecombe

            Charles Russell as Fisher

            Jonathan Singer as Moran

            Ann Stephens as Lavinia Kinross

            Barbara Waring as Mrs. Macadoo

            Caven Watson as Brodie

            John Boxer as Hollett

            John Varley as Secco

            Johnnie Schofield as Coxswain

            Lionel Grose as Reynolds

            Kay Young as Barmaid

            Michael Whittaker as Sub
See full cast