Brown on Resolution

Pre-WW2 propaganda piece proving that the British people have the sea in their veins and courage in their hearts. Sentiment and nationalism are laid on thickly and there are many special treats for those who enjoy watching model warships floating in a bathtub while pretending to shoot each other.

I doubt there'd have been a dry eye in the house during the 1930s but today you've really got to be in the mood for this kind of thing to rise above cliche. If you could happily watch "Mrs Miniver" or "Goodbye Mr Chips" tonight, then you're already in the right mood.

John Mills in one of his first starring roles gives a genuinely excellent performance as a heroic British naval seaman.

Brown on Resolution is an interesting film as one of the actors, an Irishman Henry Hugh Gordon Stoker was in World War I the Captain of an Australian Submarine "AE2". In 1915 this submarine was the first to penetrate the mined narrows of the Dardanelles, to enter the Sea of Marmara and after a series of naval engagements was scuttled. H.G. Stoker became a prisoner-of-war where his natural acting talents were used in a number of ways including unsuccessful escape attempts. He left the Navy about 1921 to persue an acting career. He was recalled to active service in 1939. He plays the part of Captain Holt with a certain authenticity.

A truly splendid idea: make a film about World War I, in the film-lookouts that were fashionable one hundred years ago. In this respect 'Forever England' is marvelous.

But unfortunately this film's plot provides us with the usual cheap stuff about the English, coming out superior against a bunch of slightly retarded Germans. This below-level picture is aggravated by the extensive use of boy scout-morals, insulting your common sense.

The reality from World War I was far different: a grim & merciless struggle. In the end Germany was defeated because its opponents England and France were greatly supported by the USA. Before this American intervention, England's superior navy deadlocked Germany's superior army.

When this film was remade by Fox in the fifties audiences were given a choice as to whether Brown lived or died.John Mills early in his film career gives an excellent performance as Brown.Also on his way up is a very young Jimmy Hanley.On her way down is Betty Balfour,star of the silent era,whose attempt at a comeback flopped.There were only two more film appearances after this.

C. S. Forester was wonderful at writing evocative seafaring yarns and this is one of his better stories. The film starts with couple of strangers who meet on a train and end up missing their connection and spending a few days together. Advance a few years and a powerful Nazi raider sinks a British warship and picks up the survivors. For one of them - "Albert Brown" (John Mills) the war isn't over and when the ship puts into a remote location to effect repairs, he steals a rifle and heads ashore from where he promptly takes pot shots at the repair crew. His plan is to delay the mending long enough for a pursuing Royal Navy flotilla to catch up and destroy the enemy ship. Walter Forde has assembled a strong cast of British actors - with a young Jimmy Hanley and Howard Marion-Crawford amongst them to keep the adventure moving along well, after a fairly slow start, that builds to an exciting denouement - and a question: could "Brown" be the result of that assignation many years earlier...?