Powerful

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

(56%) A very respectful wartime based drama featuring Noel Coward playing one of the most classy navy captains in cinema history. I've never really been a huge fan warship/submarine based films as they always seem to have such limited scope, but this is still a very well made film with a few famous up and coming young faces added into the mix, a fair share of action, and is still as watchable now as it was all those years ago. The plot is flash-back heavy as it cuts back and forth giving more insight into the men involved as well as their life before their service on board the almost worshipped destroyer Torrin. This is by all accounts is a propaganda piece, but as far as films of that nature go this is one of the very best.

I wasn't expecting much from this film and the slow start didn't heighten my expectations. However I stuck with it and am glad I did. It builds gradually and eventually becomes incredibly absorbing. It follows the survivors of a sunken warship as they float in the sea waiting to be rescued. Using flashbacks it shows their lives back home and on the ship before it sank. The stories are often mundane but show how life must have been at this tumultuous time in history. It boasts a strong cast featuring John Mills, Noel Coward and Celia Johnson who all bring life to the script. There are a number of very moving scenes as the true horror of the war is bought alive. As this was filmed whilst the war was still in full flow I can only imagine how the audience at the time, many of whom would have had family fighting abroad, must have felt. This is an unusual war film in that it shows little fighting but the stories of courage and determination more than make up for this. One of the best war films I have seen, Highly recommended.

Based mostly on the experiences of Lord Mountbatten on HMS Kelly, IN WHICH WE SERVE is a classic British flag-waver from 1943, attesting to the bravery and sheer grit of captain and crew as they struggle to survive after their ship has been sunk by a German torpedo. Structured as a series of flashbacks, the narrative focuses on different members of the crew from different socio-economic backgrounds: the bourgeois Captain Kinross (Noel Coward) leading a comfortable family life with his wife (Celia Johnson), and two children (Daniel Massey, Ann Stephens); the middle-class Chief Petty Officer Hardy (Bernard Miles), living with his wife (Joyce Carey) and her mother; and the working-class Ordinary Seaman Blake (John Mills) living in a modest terraced house with his family. While the film is redolent of the class-consciousness characteristic of that period (there is little no possibility of anyone wanting to improve themselves), it depicts a changing world in which everyone pulls together, both on the battle-front and at home. The loyalty and dedication of Kinross' crew is quite admirable, even under adverse circumstances: when one member (Richard Attenborough) steps out of line and neglects his duty, he is sternly admonished and never does it again. On the Home Front the crew members' wives and families stoically endure the pain of separation, while realizing that such experiences have to be endured during wartime. Even when Hardy loses his wife and mother (both victims of the Blitz), he vows to carry on at his post regardless. As Kinross, Noel Coward is a model of rectitude, as he tries to do the best for his crew; yet from the clever use of close-up, we understand the depth of emotion lurking underneath that British reserve, especially at the end when he says goodbye to his crew- members. IN WHICH WE SERVE is noticeably unsentimental in its approach: co-directors Coward and David Lean are not frightened to represent the seamier sides of life in World War II, while paying tribute to the bravery of everyone, whether on active service or remaining at home. It is this detachment from the material that makes the film so watchable, even after seventy years.

The purpose of this movie from 1942 was to raise the morale on the British home front during World War II and it achieves this objective in a superb piece of film-making that drew on the virtues that made Britain one of the toughest and most courageous countries in history. Loyalty, devotion to duty, the stiff upper lip in the face of tragedy, deference to authority, and the obligation of those in authority to their subordinates were considered the foundation of a stable country. In a series of flashbacks after a British naval ship is attacked, the movie reinforces the importance of these virtues and of each man and woman to the war effort.David Lean made his directorial debut under the guidance of Noel Coward, one of the deans of British stage and screen. The movie presents a number of young actors who went on to notable acting careers: John Mills, Bernard Miles, Richard Attenborough. Coward was the ship's captain and carries out his role, not only with the obligatory noblesse oblige, but with genuine affection for the men he leads. Celia Johnson, his wife, also rises to the occasion and in one memorable speech to a group of guests, makes known that she must share her husband's love with the ship he commands. Of course, she went on to several major roles, including Brief Encounter, another quintessential British movie in 1946. This movie is a textbook example of how the British expected their people to carry out their duty in the face of adversity. It is a pleasure to watch with its excellent dialogue and acting. It is definitely not the movie one would expect to be made in 2011 but it has style and grace, elements sadly lacking in many of today's movies.