True story from World War II about a group of survivors in a
raft after their ship is torpedoed by a German sub. The formula is a bit too much 'disaster-movie-101'
for my taste, and it doesn’t measure up to the cinematic validity of something
like Hitchcock’s Lifeboat (1943), but it’s nonetheless a gripping man
vs. the elements story. Tyrone Power, in
one of his last roles, plays the ranking officer who takes charge of the
situation and makes some progressively grim decisions that he considers best
for the group. First order of business
is pruning off the weaker appendages; which translates into leaving the injured
and frail for the sharks so that those who have the best chance of survival can
keep the dwindling provisions to themselves.
It’s a moral conundrum that director Richard Sale wisely leaves in the
audience’s hands; this is definitely one of those "what-would-you-do?"
kind of movies. If the film has a real
weakness, it is American Power’s overwrought, painfully earnest performance,
which is totally out of step with his more down-to-earth British co-stars.
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