Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

cynthiahost I just recently received the VHS version of this picture form nostalgia family video.Although the transfer is analog and not very sharp, it is a Good broad cast print.It looks like early Eastman color.Its a medium budget film and an early anti Nazi intrigue film. The word Nazi is never used cause at that time they didn't want to start a war yet. The plot is that the captain of Darmouth naval college has been murdered. The murder was intended for the head of the college, by played Leslie Banks, because he knew of the torpedo, in the bay. He gets aid from his son who wants to quit the military and go into business with with a friend an alleged astronomer visits this college then claims he's a an agent. This was the first and only feature in a early single strip color process called ,Dufeycoulor, which used tiny micro color lenses , rather than dye emolution,. Now this was a probably restored print using Eastman color process. Its hard no notice any grainy look since its printed un sharply on tape. but i bet you if projected on screen the grain would be more noticeable.It was used only for one feature because of the war needs to salvage film stock. Joan bridge,who was a Technicolor associate adviser, was an associate adviser for Dufycolour. My guess ,also, Technicolor, of england, might have bought them out too too

Chris Gaskin Sons of the Sea was screened recently on BBC2 and I was pleased I taped it. This is a rare early British colour movie from 1939.The Captain of the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth is murdered and and his replacement fears he was the intended target. With the help of his son who is at the college, he tries to find out what exactly happened. Also, there is an agent from the Secret Service staying at the college and the professor at the local observatory isn't acting normal either. Strange goings on...This movie was filmed on location at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth and as a regular holidaymaker in this area at Paignton, I have visited several of the locations filmed in this, including Dartmouth and Kingswear. The railway scenes were shot on what is now the preserved Paignton and Dartmouth Railway. Not a lot has changed since 1939.The cast includes Leslie Banks, Kay Walsh, Cecil Parker and Nigel Stock. Good parts from all.Sons of the Sea is worth a look at if you get the chance. Very enjoyable.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Igenlode Wordsmith I actually enjoyed this film a good deal more than anything I'd read had given me to expect. I suppose in retrospect it's (very literally!) a schoolboy story of a pre-war Britain where murder is the preserve of dastardly foreign agents, a naval career is the highest pinnacle to which any right-thinking boy can aspire, and even the enemy is honourable -- but then I always enjoyed those tales on their own terms, and the murder-mystery here, while not deep, is skilfully told. The culprit is fairly obvious from an early stage, despite a trailed red herring of truly clumsy proportions, but the focus shifts imperceptibly from 'who' to 'who next?', and there's a real tension in the sunlit afternoon that leads up to the events of the final part of the plot.Given what is evidently a low budget or a high sensitivity threshold for gore and explosions -- the body count is all off-screen -- this story of murder and espionage adopts a detached and narrowly-focused viewpoint that perhaps inadvertently echoes the observer/telescope motif running through it: scenes are shown at face value, without a guiding detective figure to steer viewers' deductions, the villain declines the obligatory revelation of his true identity, motives and plans, and we learn of the boy Philip's fateful interview only at second-hand and piecemeal after the event, with no more certain knowledge of whose version to trust than the characters themselves. The result -- for me at any rate -- was a surprisingly understated and effective treatment of what is basically an Agatha Christie or W.E.Johns-type story, relying on the classic plot-lever of vital knowledge locked up in the head of one man. The slow-moving and potentially sentimental amnesia-scenes culminate in a genuinely chilling moment of breakthrough; and the 'flag-waver' finale caught this viewer, at least, into an unfeigned lump in the throat. For those with the requisite knowledge, there is also a wide range of naval melodies to be picked out of the sound-track!I felt the only false note was Philip's sudden change of career plans by the end; not perhaps implausible as a reaction to events, but presented abruptly as a 'fait accompli' rather than as a revelation of self-discovery. This could have been more convincingly handled to achieve the desired outcome.Otherwise, the film came across as an enjoyable little piece, and an unintended snapshot of its era with its boyish emphasis on honour, duty and service and its carefully non-specific foreign threat -- attractively photographed, with good use of its location, and well-judged touches of comedy and drama bringing to life the secret-agent-by-numbers plot. This is a Boys' Own adventure in the best sense of the term; not up there with "The Four Feathers" or "Beau Geste", but good lively matinée fodder.

ubercommando An early British colour movie from the 1930's (the only others that spring to mind are The Divorce of Lady X and The Four Feathers) but sadly not as enjoyable as the other two. As has been mentioned, this showcases the Dufaycolour film process and it does good give results; making the 1930's colourful without overpowering the viewer with garish colours (compare with other early Technicolour movies). The shots of lovely Devon countryside are a bonus as well: As a recent visitor to Devon, I was amazed to recognise Dartmouth, Slapton and Brixham in this movie, all of which seems little changed to this day.The plot is plodding and so so. The direction stilted and stiff and the acting is, at times, woeful but this is all balanced by a intriguing look, in colour, of an era long gone.