Sailors Three was the first
and most popular of the comedies that Tommy Trinder made for Ealing
Studios, and also the film that marked the end of director Walter Forde's association with
the company. This is the film that secured Trinder's place in the
movies and bought him a place in the nation's heart, boosting the
morale of his country at a time of crisis and anxiety. Britain's
favourite cheeky chappie is at his funniest, getting the laughs with
ease through a successful partnership with two other comedic talents,
Claude Hulbert and Michael Wilding. Rumour has it that
the film was originally conceived as a vehicle for John Mills.
The story, inspired by the Battle of the River Plate, is a familiar one
in which British nerve and ingenuity triumph over Nazi thuggishness
(the Germans even threaten to shoot women and children!), and the
special effects now look even more dated than the clichés.
However, the jokes are top-notch and invariably hit the mark, thanks to
the perfect split-second timing of the three leads. Two cheery
musical numbers sung by Trinder (a respectable songster as well as a
mirth-maker) add to the gaiety of the affair, helping to make this a
gem of a classic comedy. Ah, us lucky people.
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Film Synopsis
During WWII, a British destroyer, H.M.S. Ferocious, patrols the South
Atlantic, her mission: to locate and destroy the German pocket
battleship Ludendorf. Whilst the ship refuels in Brazil, three of
its crew - Tommy, Lulu and Johnny - pay a visit to a night club in
search of female company. Attracted by Lulu's sister Jane, Tommy
boards her ship just as she is about to set sail for England with her
family. The three sailors end up in the ship's bar and become so
drunk that they do not realise the ship has left port. In an
attempt to get back to their own ship, Tommy and his friends set off in
a pilot boat, but end up climbing aboard the Ludendorf...
Franz Kafka's letters to his fiancée Felice Bauer not only reveal a soul in torment; they also give us a harrowing self-portrait of a man appalled by his own existence.
Continental Films, quality cinema under the Nazi Occupation
At the time of the Nazi Occupation of France during WWII, the German-run company Continental produced some of the finest films made in France in the 1940s.