Watch For Those in Peril For Free

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The Brits put out some first-class movies during the war years and for a decade afterward, including gems like "The Cruel Sea" and "The Dam Busters." They were an exhilarating blend of stiff-upper-lip sentiment and thrills. "For Those in Peril" doesn't rank among the best but it has its moments.Ralph Michael is a Pilot Officer in the RAF assigned to the fast, lightly armed Motor Torpedo Boats that were used to pluck downed fliers out of the English Channel. His Commanding Officer is David Farrar. I can't think of why the RAF mans the boats instead of the Navy or the Coastguard but it doesn't matter.The plot accommodates itself to the facts. Michael had flight experience before the war and is filled with chagrin at being assigned to a flightless post. He's a little too candid about his disappointment until Farrar finally brings him up short.After the introduction to one of the boats, its mission and its capabilities, the film takes us out to bring back the crew of a downed British bomber. The crew is in a life raft sitting in the middle of a mine field.The mission takes Farrar's boat and its companion boat through just about all the dangers that a boat on such a mission might encounter. ("The Memphis Belle" does the same thing with a B-17.) If it can happen to an MTB, it happens to this one. They're strafed by two German fighters, suffer an engagement with an armed German trawler, shelled by shore batteries, blinded by fog, and menaced by mines.The photography and the model work are impeccable, considering the period. But the events during this single mission seem rushed and sometimes adventitious. I'll give one example. Two MTBs are more or less trapped in the mine field by that German trawler, which out guns them. At the last moment, a ship of the Royal Navy rushes in, demolishes the trawler, and disappears at once. What the hell was THAT? What kind of ship was it? How did the Navy know the MTBs were in hot water? What kind of armament did she carry? Why did she zip away without waiting to provide cover against air attack? The combat scenes, though exciting, are also confusing.Not to bash the movie. It's informative and exciting. If only David Lean had been able to get his hands on it.

The majority of it was filmed at Newhaven and some, such as the Walrus flying over the Church at nearby Shoreham by Sea where the plane was based. Although released 1944 said locally to have been filmed in mid 1943. Many useful shots of Royal Air Force Air Sea Rescue craft of No 28 Air Sea Rescue unit as well as Royal Navy Coastal craft (ie Motor Launches and Torpedo boats )from HMS Aggressive which was based in the ferry port of Newhaven. There are also several shots of Royal Navy Patrol Service Armed Trawlers and other Auxillary craft. Acting a little wooden by modern standards but never the less a valuable insight into a Port at War

Even more interesting is that Richard Hillary, who wrote the original short story, was a Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain who was shot down in 1940, and bailed out with extensive burns and was rescued by the Margate lifeboat.He is better known for his book The Last Enemy, published in 1942 (filmed 1956), which describes his call up, experience, and recovery. He was killed on active service in 1943.After three months of skin grafts, he was sent to the US in 1941 on a promotional tour to garner war interest, and did many radio talks, and had an affair with Merle Oberon. In the late 1990s, recordings of those talks (often quoting from the book) surfaced, and were included in a Channel 4 drama/documentary (Oxford Film and Television) in 2000 called Richard Hillary: A Fighter Pilot's Story.

Another story along the same lines as 'The Sea Shall Not Have Them' The big difference in this film ,is that it was made during the war, with several real life sailors participating as crew members of the M.T.B. and so has an authentic feel about it. The film follows launch 183 and the skipper (David Farrar) who has to teach a new crew member,who has been rejected by the R.A.F. and is feeling bitter, the skills of handling the launch in all sorts of adverse conditions. Then when a British bomber crash lands in a minefield, 183 is sent to retrieve the crew in the face of the German shore guns. While certain scenes are not as dramatic as 'Sea Shall Not Have Them', the fact that it was shot in 1944, makes it interesting to watch.