In Which We Serve (1942)
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93% of critics liked it
(15 reviews) -
79% of users liked it
(729 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… 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
- Directed By
- Noel Coward, David Lean
- Genres
- Drama, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Oct 16, 1942 Wide
- Studio
- MCA Universal Home Video
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
No less than half a dozen credits for this film go to Noel Coward. And they're well earned.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Sean Axmaker, Turner Classic Movies Online
... an accomplished, sincere, and moving piece of filmmaking that honors the characters and involves the audience.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
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Cast
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Noel Coward
as Captain Kinross
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John Mills
as Ordinary Seaman Shorty Blake
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Bernard Miles
as Chief Petty Officer Walter Hardy
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Celia Johnson
as Alix Kinross
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Joyce Carey
as Mrs. Hardy
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Kay Walsh
as Freda Lewis
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Derek Elphinstone
as Number One
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Richard Attenborough
as Young Sailor
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Michael Wilding
as "Flags"
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Robert Sansom
as "Guns"
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Phillip Friend
as "Torps"
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Ballard Berkeley
as Engineer Commander
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James Donald
as Doctor
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George Carney
as Mr. Blake
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Kathleen Harrison
as Mrs. Blake
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Hubert Gregg
as Pilot
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Kenneth Carton
as Sub. Lieut. R.N.V.R.
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Gerald Case
as Capt. Jasper Fry
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Penelope Dudley-Ward
as Maureen Fenwick
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Leslie Dwyer
as Parkinson
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Walter Fitzgerald
as Col. Lumsden
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Geraldo's Orchestra
as Themselves
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Everley Gregg
as Nurse
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Dora Gregory
as Mrs. Lemmon
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Geoffrey Hibbert
as Joey Mackeridge
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Roddy Hughes
as Photographer
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Daniel Massey
as Bobby Kinross
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Juliet Mills
as Frieda's Baby
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Robert Moreton
as Coombe
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Brefni O'Rourke
as Dr. Drake
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Lesley Osmond
as Nell Fosdick
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Wally Patch
as Uncle Fred
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Eileen Peel
as Mrs. Farrell
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Norman Pierce
as Mr. Satterthwaite
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Frederick Piper
as Edgecombe
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Charles Russell
as Fisher
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Jonathan Singer
as Moran
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Ann Stephens
as Lavinia Kinross
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Barbara Waring
as Mrs. Macadoo
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Caven Watson
as Brodie
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John Boxer
as Hollett
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John Varley
as Secco
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Johnnie Schofield
as Coxswain
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Lionel Grose
as Reynolds
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Kay Young
as Barmaid
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Michael Whittaker
as Sub
