Absolutely the worst movie.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

As I write only 90 people have rated this film which suggests very few have seen it. That is a shame. It is however a difficult film to "sell" to a modern audience so used to fast-paced action, fireballs, gore and the odd bit of gratuitous nudity. This is understated in almost every way with true heroism treated as "just get on with it chaps." Made in 1943 it clearly has a 'propaganda' element to it, ordinary British (plus one American) merchant seamen facing terrible adversity and just getting on with the job. Not a hint of melodrama in sight. In one scene having re-boarded their crippled ship, the men have to decide whether to return to N. America (safer but against prevailing winds) or try to make it home but face further possible German attacks. They take a vote! A cool, calm measured vote at that. Having laid out the possible flaws in this film I would still urge anyone to watch it. It is not a wartime epic, it is a very good film.

This wartime propaganda film is pretty good in that it focuses on the strengths and determination of the British marine rather than relying on stereotypical portrayals of the enemy to stir up patriotic fervour. What we have here is a display of stiff-upper-lippery right through the ranks, from the plum-voiced officers down to the cor-blimey cockney galley slaves.The story is a true one: a hardy band of survivors from a tanker under fire from German guns spend two days in a cramped lifeboat before finally sighting a ship only to find that it is the tanker from which they fled, somehow miraculously afloat and, with a little TLC, capable of transporting the crew back to land. I'm not quite sure why they spent two days rowing doggedly – admittedly they had to distance themselves form the flaming tanker and its cargo of oil, but surely it would have made more sense to remain reasonably close to where they had been as that would have been – and was –where the search for them would have begun.There are a number of situations and obstacles the resourceful sailors have to cope with and, for the most part, they meet each one with jut-jawed resolution. Mervyn Johns, the little man with the loving wife at home encapsulates the spirit of the bulldog breed, battling on even with a tummy ache. His officer wonders out loud at Johns' endurance, prompting the remark from another officer that is something along the lines of 'you can never tell a person's reserves of strength until they're up against it' – a rallying call to the British audience – fighting alone with no major allies at the time – and a warning to their enemies. There's an Irishman amongst the crew, a Scot and a Taff. There's even a Yank, a sop to the US box office, and probably a deliberate attempt to get the film seen as widely as possible in the States to drum up pro-British sentiment.The film is entertaining enough and you find yourself rooting for the disparate group, even though each is only given the briefest of character sketches before settling comfortably into pre-defined roles designed to appeal to as broad a spectrum of the population as possible, but it lacks any real emotion or depth.

The San Demetrio is a tanker that is apart of an trans-Atlantic convoy travelling to England from the States. When the convoy is attacked by an U-boat their destroyer is sunk and the San Demetrio is damaged very badly and the crew abandon ship. All the life boats are picked up but one boat drifts and is lost. Weeks later the crew in the lifeboat come across a ship, only to find that the San Demetrio has survived despite burning badly. The crew re-board the ship but find that getting the fire out is only the first of the dangers they must overcome.I must have read the wrong synopsis when I thought of watching this film – I thought it was a standard action packed film where the crew of a tanker battle against the u-boat. Regardless of this, I was glad I watched it as it was different from the usual wartime propaganda in some ways and was quite enjoyable, if not thrilling. The plot shows the men battle through difficult conditions and being heroes without realy thinking of it – they were just doing their duty and being themselves. This message is still important today and is told in a low-key way with the need for action etc.However, being low-key means that not all the tension of them being on a burning ship (that could explode) comes through. Likewise the majority of the danger they face remains with them and I never felt gripped or on the edge of my seat – the most I could say is that it was interesting rather than involving. The cast do well despite the irritating addition of an American to the cast (yes, the studios have been doing it that long!), but this is a minor annoyance. The rest are all good British stiff upper lips regardless of class or rank.Overall this is an enjoyable little film but I wanted it to be as exciting on the screen as it could have been. Sadly the low-key nature of the film makes the tension turn into more interest than edge-of-seat tension.

The tale of tanker on a return trip to Galviston, Texas. It has a bit of a run in with a "Jerry" boat and the remainder of the film depicts the courage of the crew trying to keep things afloat. As the film was made during World War II the sentiments are entirely predictable/understandable.Gordon Jackson looks worryingly young and the Britishness of the movie is summed up when the Captain risks blowing up the boat for the sake of giving the crew a hot cup of tea.Don't expect anything too spectacular but enjoy a feelgood movie 1943 style.