Watch The Sea Chase For Free

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Blistering performances.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

" . . . A liar, and a coward!" Warner Bros. calls out "Karl," as its thinly-disguised stand-in for America's self-appointed Real Life Snitch-in-Chief, John Wayne, cleverly cast as--who else?--"Il Duce" himself, John Wayne. No one ever accused Mr. Wayne as being the sharpest thorn in the Forehead, so Warner Bros. was able to fool him into playing himself by casting Lana Turner to represent his Real Life Henchwoman\Crime Partner, Hedda Hopper. Lana's "Elsa" and Wayne's "Karl" are made for each other here, as were John and Hedda in Real Life (please see TRUMBO). Early on in THE SEA CHASE, Karl rattles off a list of his four ship captain "friends" whom Nazi Master Spy Elsa has destroyed and driven to suicide. Any normal man would not be able to kiss the lips of the wench who offed so many buddies, especially AFTER telling her that hanging's too good for her. (This would be like seeing Samuel L. Jackson necking with Jennifer Jason Leigh in THE HATEFUL EIGHT.) But for closet sadist Wayne, this wasn't even acting--it was Second Nature. Along with REAP THE WILD WIND (on the set of which Wayne and Hopper hatched their Plot against the U.S. Constitution), THE SEA CHASE bookends a Full Confession by Wayne to his Fascist Crimes Against Humanity. It's no wonder that Il Duce hated screenwriters, after his drinking buddies saw these films and told him how he'd gotten hoodwinked into showing his True Colors.

Decent war film starring John Wayne, Lana Turner, Lyle Bettger, Tab Hunter, James Arness, John Qualen and Paul Fix. Wayne plays a German ship captain, Karl Ehrlich, who, because he's not a Nazi and opposed to them, has been stripped of his command and given an old ship, the Ergenstrasse. Now, short on fuel and food, he's trying to get it from Australia back to Germany. Before they leave, he's asked by the German consulate to take an intelligence agent, who is about to be arrested, on the ship. It's a woman, Elsa Keller, the fiancé of his old Royal Navy friend (David Farrar). She was given the assignment of marrying into a British Navy family.Once on the ship, though initially they dislike each other, Ehrlich and Elsa are drawn to one another, and Chief Officer Kirchner (David Farrar) who is on board ship under protest, wants her for himself. When Kirchner is sent aboard to get supplies in Auckland, he kills four unarmed fishermen. He tells Ehrlich that the men are fine and well-provisioned. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy intends to capture the ship and hang everyone on it for the murders. On the Ergenstrasse, Ehrlich, determined to get home, drives his men hard as they break up wood for fuel.John Farrow, an experienced director, oversaw this film but apparently he was distracted. Okay, no one on the German ship and no other Germans speak with a German accent because obviously, they would be speaking German, not English with a German accent. Perfectly correct. But why, oh why, did John Wayne's butchering of "auf wiedersehen" get past the director? It was the only German he spoke! Instead of saying wiedersehen with a soft "v", he pronounces the beginning of the word like he's saying wiener. It is such a glaring error and sounds ridiculous. Later, when Ehrlich is writing a report, the camera focuses on what he is writing, and it is clearly written "Ehrlick" and not "Ehrlich." Sloppy.Wayne is masculine and authoritative as Ehrlich, and the soft-spoken, sexy Lana is appealing as Elsa. Wayne here is about 48, and Turner 35 (according to Maureen O'Hara, Turner took a year off and was actually born in 1920). They're both too old for their roles.A young Tab Hunter has a small role in this, as does a blond James Arness. "The Sea Chase" looks to be a big-budget color film for the wide screen. If only someone had paid attention to the dailies.

John Wayne plays the role of a German merchant sea-captain, determined to get himself, his crew and his little freighter back to the fatherland. Playing the technical enemy was a rare outing for steadfast patriot Wayne, but he brings all of the staunch masculine values to bear that have typified just about every character he has ever played. His little ship might just as easily be a floating Alamo with a German flag.He slips his moorings at night in the fog in order to escape internment. On board is a German kiss-n-tell agent played by busty Lana Turner. She, in turn, is the formerly betrothed mistress to a British navel captain, played by David Farrer. Farrer also provides the intermittent narrative voice-over.There's plenty of familiar faces in the crew. Not least is Lyle Bettger, who should have done what Wayne did and invent himself a more memorable name. He plays his ruthless and vicious first officer. He also provides a little competition for the charms of Ms Turner. Ever-reliable John Qualen turns up to stoke the other boiler.And it's a sea chase. David Farrer's Captain doesn't much care for losing his woman, or the fact that she was a spy. But the case is compounded when the first officer murders some marooned sailors, black-balling Wayne and his vessel.There's lots of adventures along the way as a cat-and-mouse pursuit pitches the British navy against our elusive tramp-steamer. Ms Turner's character has to learn that there's actually more to men than her mammary-glands can gratify. Farrer is frequently out-foxed. Qualen keeps the engine running. There are several interesting dynamics with the rest of the crew - especially when it comes to using lifeboats as fuel.The ending is a bit flimsy. After such sterling and steadfast characters have been developed throughout the movie, the ambiguous melting away of the stars isn't very satisfying.But it's a good old 1950's adventure with all of the standard features of the period. Well worth a watch.

It is always astonishing to see in Hollywood movies Germans characterized as good guys. And that in 1955, only ten years after WWII. The Germans have usually to play the role of the bad and ugly, if there are no Red Indians or Russian communists or WWII Japanese around (Hollywood's axes of evil). Interestingly as most immigrants before WWI were Germans and every 5th white American is of German descendance (many Hollywood Stars know this, even Harrison Ford and Doris Day). How could anyone believe that such a film was getting a blockbuster? It is what many Hollywood historical movies makes boring: the US-boys are always the tough guys. And if others are some sort of heroes they will have to say the text-line: "Ah, I am sorry I am no American, but I should definitely be,and in my heart I am already, you know!" When do we get MORE realistic films? May be the Us boys do not get along in Irak, because they sit to high on their horses? A classical American failure it seems. I hasten to ad that there are time and again noteworthy exceptions to the rule - which astonish me even more- where filmmakers show almost incredible self-criticism. Not surprisingly often good films! I gave seven stars, two alone for the courage to do something different, one for King Duke and the rest for being average.