90 Days of Oscar Nominees #37 – In Which We Serve (1942)

In my attempt to have a more prolific repertoire of Oscar Nominated Films, I have taken it upon myself to watch 90 new Best Picture Nominees that I’ve never seen before between 5 Dec 2017 and The 90th Annual Oscars on 4 Mar 2018.

Here is my 37th review of the 90 chosen Films…

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“A happy and efficient ship – a very happy and a very efficient ship. Some of you might think I’m being a bit ambitious wanting both but in my experience you can’t have one without the other. A ship can’t be happy unless she’s efficient and she certainly won’t be efficient unless she’s happy” – Captain Edward V. Kinross

Number of Times Seen – 1 (8 Jan 2018)

Brief Synopsis – After their ship is attacked while in battle, its captain and crew reflect on how they got there.

My Take on it – This is a film that I’ve been meaning to see for quite some time especially since it was (co) directed by David Lean who gave us some amazing films as Director.

The story itself is bursting with patriotism and it works so well even after more than 75 years.

The characters are developed really well and the added benefit of the flashbacks is that we get to know them even better as the story unfolds before us.

The true character of these men becomes even more apparent as we get more insight into who they really are and how they got there.

The cast is superb and along with Noel Coward, we get great performances from John Mills, Richard Attenborough (in his debut), Bernard Miles and James Donald (a Future Lean favorite).

THis film was used to boost morale for the British (and Americans) in the fight against Germany during World War II yet it’s message against tyranny still resonates so many years later.

Bottom Line – Very patriotic look at war. We get to know the characters very well and the use of their backstories via flashback gives us so much insight into their true character. Amazing cast works really well here.  This was used as propaganda against the Germans during World War II and still resonates so well.  Lean does a great job in his first outing as director. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The Hays office tried to delete the words “God”, “hell”, “damn”, and “bastard” from the American release. Uproar from England forced the office to back down on everything except “bastard”. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy

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