Movie Cosmos - In Which We Serve

Description:

The story of the HMS Torrin, from its construction to its sinking in the Mediterranean during action in World War II. The ship's first and only commanding officer is Captain E.V. Kinross, who trains his men not only to be loyal to him and the country, but—most importantly—to themselves.

Top Cast >

Noël Coward

As Captain E. V. Kinross R.N. / Captain 'D'

John Mills

As Ordinary Seaman Blake / Shorty Blake

Bernard Miles

As Chief Petty Officer Hardy / Walter Hardy

Celia Johnson

As Mrs. Kinross / Alix

Kay Walsh

As Freda Lewis / Freda

Joyce Carey

As Mrs. Hardy / Kath

Derek Elphinstone

As No. 1

Michael Wilding

As Flags

Robert Sansom

As Guns

Philip Friend

As Torps

Chimmo Branson

As Midshipman

Ballard Berkeley

As Engineer Commander

Hubert Gregg

As Pilot

James Donald

As Doc

Michael Whittaker

As Sub

Kenneth Carten

As Sub-Lieutenant R.N.V.R.

John Varley

As Secco

Caven Watson

As Brodie

Geoffrey Hibbert

As Joey Mackeridge

Richard Attenborough

As Young Stoker

Frederick Piper

As Edgecombe

Lionel Grose

As Reynolds

Leslie Dwyer

As Parkinson

Charles Russell

As Fisher

John Singer

As Moran

Robert Moreton

As Coombe

John Boxer

As Hollett

Kenneth Evans

As Posty

Johnnie Schofield

As Coxswain

Franklyn Bennett

As Commander Spencer

Charles Compton

As № 1. "Tremoyne"

Walter Fitzgerald

As Colonel Lumsden

Gerald Case

As Jasper

Daniel Massey

As Bobby Kinross

Ann Stephens

As Lavinia Kinross

Kathleen Harrison

As Mrs. Blake

Dora Gregory

As Mrs. Lemmon

Penelope Dudley-Ward

As Maureen

Barbara Waring

As Mrs. Macadoo

Eileen Peel

As Mrs. Farrell

Lesley Osmond

As Nell Fosdick

Josie Welford

As Emily

Kay Young

As Barmaid

Trixie Scales

As Mona Duke

George Carney

As Mr. Blake

Wally Patch

As Uncle Fred

Michael Anderson

As Albert Fosdick

Jill Stephens

As May Blake

Everley Gregg

As Nurse

Roddy Hughes

As Photographer

Norman Pierce

As Mr. Satterthwaite

Juliet Mills

As Freda's Baby

Leslie Howard

As Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Top Crew >

Noël Coward

Director, Writer, Music, Producer

David Lean

Director

Herbert Smith

Producer

Thelma Connell

Editor

Guy Green

Camera Operator

Ronald Neame

Director of Photography

Tony Sforzini

Makeup Artist

Douglas Woolsey

Special Effects

David Rawnsley

Art Direction

Norman Spencer

Third Assistant Director

Tom Payne

Second Assistant Director

Kenneth Horne

First Assistant Director

Norah Walsh

Assistant Editor

Jim Body

Clapper Loader

B. Francke

Camera Operator

Alfred Roberts

Scenic Artist

Max Rosher

Still Photographer

C. C. Stevens

Sound Recordist

C. R. E. Compton

Technical Advisor

G. E. Calthrop

Other

Sydney Streeter

Production Manager

Anthony Havelock-Allan

Associate Producer

William C. Andrews

Assistant Art Director

T. W. J. Lawlor

Technical Advisor

Michael Anderson

Unit Manager

I. T. Clark

Technical Advisor

C.P. Norman

Set Dresser

Muir Mathieson

Conductor

Derick Williams

Additional Camera

Reviews:

CinemaSerf (7/10)

A film that continues to divide opinion even now as it recounts the exploits of HMS "Torrin" a Royal Navy destroyer during WWII. I have to say that I found this to be just a little too much of a propaganda instrument than I was comfortable with - but it was made during the war, and it is very easy to be sitting now judging the activities of those who were actually risking their lives on an hourly basis, and of those charged with maintaining morale. Noël Coward heads this up as an almost aristocratic and really rather wooden "Captain Kinross" but the ensemble cast - John Mills, Bernard Miles, Richard Attenborough, Kay Walsh and Joyce Carey are much more engaging as the nuts and bolts characters and their spouses. The story is related in flashback form as the ship has been torpedoed and the sailors are in the sea awaiting rescue (or death) and delivers a poignant and thought-provoking evaluation not just of wartime behaviour, but of attitudes too.

2022-06-26