Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 20, 2019 11:31:30 GMT -8
Gift Horse
View on Amazon Prime Video (included with basic subscription) • or rent
Info: IMDB • (1952) • 1.37:1 aspect ratio • UK
Genre: War Drama
Runtime: 100 minutes
I was surprised at how thoroughly engaging this movie was throughout. But this is certainly a factor of loving a bit of British stiff-upper-lipness rather than the goofy, juvenile-oriented garbage coming out of most of Hollywood these days.
That is to say, most of you out there won’t like this because you have denuded tastes. But for those who like a bit of subtle realism instead of a Rambo-goes-to-sea movie, this may be for you.
I was trying to figure out the American equivalent of Trevor Howard. Howard plays, particularly in this, the starched-neck, reliable (well, only sometimes in this), unemotional, good-guy who is pressed into often impossible circumstances. Glenn Ford was the nearest equivalent that came to mind. And yet the British and American sense of “the strong, silent type” is even then so different as to make such comparisons only approximate.
Howard plays a somewhat aging Lt. Cmdr. Fraser who had previously been court-martialed and resigned from the Royal Navy. But needs must. They need every warm body, especially when the American have just lent them 50 or so mothballed destroyers to fight the Wolf Pack in the Atlantic. Most of his quickly thrown-together crew lack sea experience and there’s no telling if he has the leadership skills to contend with both this fact and a very out-of-shape ship.
Shades of The Caine Mutiny in that his subordinate officers hardly fall quickly in line behind their captain. Having read a fair share regarding the British Navy, the crew typically are an interesting mix of very-proper officers and enlisted (or impressed, in days gone by) men who often being little better than animals.
In this one, the officers are allowed to show imperfections and the enlisted men, although course and rowdy, show some honor and spunk. And there is personal loss included on all fronts. This film having been released in 1953, it would have had an especially intimate impact on movie goers. Even today, it gives you a stark and frank idea of the hardships and sacrifices endured by otherwise normal, everyday men who are thrust into something much bigger than themselves and cope the best they can.
There is honor, dignity, duty, and respect in this film as a tight framework. But what really sets it apart is that the human element is contrasted against this framework. The framework holds. The humans hold together. But this is anything but a bland stereotype of a movie where some are all-good and some are all-bad.
A young Richard Attenborough plays a chirpy Able Seaman ‘Dripper’ Daniels and is good in the role. James Donald as Fraser’s No. 1, is particular emblematic of this movie that includes many hardly larger-than-life-men. He is certainly no Rambo-at-sea and there are shades of Fred MacMurray in him. But it works because it seems quite realistic. Through the cauldron of combat good character would be (or could be) forged. But that is yet to happen. And in the early going, not all of these men are particularly commendable.
Bernard Lee plays A.S. ‘Stripey’ Wood. I kept thinking, “That guy looks a lot like ‘M’ in the Bond films.” Well, despite the cockney accent, that is indeed who he is. He’s a somewhat minor character but still interesting.
Sonny Tufts (one of the enlisted men) is particularly effective as Ordinary Seaman ‘Yank’ Daniels. I would say most movies of this general type show the enlisted men as rather rank and crude stereotypes. What makes Gift Horse different is how these lesser characters are given depth, realism, and dignity.
View on Amazon Prime Video (included with basic subscription) • or rent
Info: IMDB • (1952) • 1.37:1 aspect ratio • UK
Genre: War Drama
Runtime: 100 minutes
Quick Rating: Surprisingly entertaining throughout — if you like a bit of British understatement.
Summary: In 1940, a mothballed American destroyer is commissioned in the Royal Navy. Her experienced Commanding Officer has had a checkered career and the crew are mostly lacking sea experience. A series of mishaps seem to dog the ship for some time, and the personal lives of the crew are turbulent, but at last the ship's company make good and the destruction of a U-boat marks their first success.
I was surprised at how thoroughly engaging this movie was throughout. But this is certainly a factor of loving a bit of British stiff-upper-lipness rather than the goofy, juvenile-oriented garbage coming out of most of Hollywood these days.
That is to say, most of you out there won’t like this because you have denuded tastes. But for those who like a bit of subtle realism instead of a Rambo-goes-to-sea movie, this may be for you.
I was trying to figure out the American equivalent of Trevor Howard. Howard plays, particularly in this, the starched-neck, reliable (well, only sometimes in this), unemotional, good-guy who is pressed into often impossible circumstances. Glenn Ford was the nearest equivalent that came to mind. And yet the British and American sense of “the strong, silent type” is even then so different as to make such comparisons only approximate.
Howard plays a somewhat aging Lt. Cmdr. Fraser who had previously been court-martialed and resigned from the Royal Navy. But needs must. They need every warm body, especially when the American have just lent them 50 or so mothballed destroyers to fight the Wolf Pack in the Atlantic. Most of his quickly thrown-together crew lack sea experience and there’s no telling if he has the leadership skills to contend with both this fact and a very out-of-shape ship.
Shades of The Caine Mutiny in that his subordinate officers hardly fall quickly in line behind their captain. Having read a fair share regarding the British Navy, the crew typically are an interesting mix of very-proper officers and enlisted (or impressed, in days gone by) men who often being little better than animals.
In this one, the officers are allowed to show imperfections and the enlisted men, although course and rowdy, show some honor and spunk. And there is personal loss included on all fronts. This film having been released in 1953, it would have had an especially intimate impact on movie goers. Even today, it gives you a stark and frank idea of the hardships and sacrifices endured by otherwise normal, everyday men who are thrust into something much bigger than themselves and cope the best they can.
There is honor, dignity, duty, and respect in this film as a tight framework. But what really sets it apart is that the human element is contrasted against this framework. The framework holds. The humans hold together. But this is anything but a bland stereotype of a movie where some are all-good and some are all-bad.
A young Richard Attenborough plays a chirpy Able Seaman ‘Dripper’ Daniels and is good in the role. James Donald as Fraser’s No. 1, is particular emblematic of this movie that includes many hardly larger-than-life-men. He is certainly no Rambo-at-sea and there are shades of Fred MacMurray in him. But it works because it seems quite realistic. Through the cauldron of combat good character would be (or could be) forged. But that is yet to happen. And in the early going, not all of these men are particularly commendable.
Bernard Lee plays A.S. ‘Stripey’ Wood. I kept thinking, “That guy looks a lot like ‘M’ in the Bond films.” Well, despite the cockney accent, that is indeed who he is. He’s a somewhat minor character but still interesting.
Sonny Tufts (one of the enlisted men) is particularly effective as Ordinary Seaman ‘Yank’ Daniels. I would say most movies of this general type show the enlisted men as rather rank and crude stereotypes. What makes Gift Horse different is how these lesser characters are given depth, realism, and dignity.