True as a Turtle

"True as a Turtle" provides an enjoyable look back at sailing and society in post-war England. The boats are beautiful, the sailing lore fascinating, and the people delightful. This is a little know treat--especially for those who sail.

I went to the cinema to see this in 1958 when I was about 7 years old. Needless to say, I remember very little about the film, but there are a few scenes that stick in my mind.

For example: I remember the scene where Cecil Parker told a very young Keith Michelle (in one of his very early roles, before he became famous on television and at the cinema, portraying Henry VIII) to get off his ship, once in the mess room, and the other time when he was sat in the heads; and at the end of the film, when June Thorburn and John Gregson are seen cuddling up on their bunks together, while water is slopping around their feet, and the other actors are calling after them - a classic romantic ending, if ever there was one.

I have been trying to catch up with this film ever since I first saw it at the cinema and keep missing it when it comes on the television. However, I did manage to watch it on Talking Pictures this afternoon.

It was a very funny film, but very underrated and not as famous as some of the great British comedy films of the 1950s - they don't make them like this anymore.

I'll give it 10 out of 10.

On a poignant note: It was a pity about June Thorburn, a lovely actress, who adorned many a British film and television series. She was taken away so young, at the height of her career.

Gorgeously shot in Eastman Colour by Reg Wyer with an attractive cast. Despite - or perhaps because - of the extensive photography on location and at sea which at the time probably seemed very glamorous, today it all seems cramped, garrulous and drawn out (although enlivened by the business with the casino), with a relentlessly 'jolly' nautical score by Robert Farnon.

The presence of John Gregson - and the ending - already revives memories of 'Genevieve', with the women reluctantly dragged along again far more chic and much cooler and more sensible than the men.

John Greyson wants to spend the honeymoon on Cecil Parker's boat, 'The Turtle'. His fiancee, landlubber June Thorburn reluctantly agrees. The usual sorts of misadventures occur.

This is not in anyway an indictment of this movie. It is, in fact, a superior example of the landlubber-at-sea comedy-drama. I attribute this to the direction of Wendy Toye, one of the few woman directors working at the time. Although everyone has plenty to do, this movie offers us the viewpoints of the women confronting their men's seafaring hobby: Miss Thorburn, Elvi Hale as the guest of the boat's second mate, Keith Michell, and Avice Landone as Parker's long-suffering wife. As the two younger women are instructed in sea craft, we learn the ins and outs of small boats, and their reactions to the bumptious behavior of weekend sailors become ours. We even feel sympathy for Parker, a specialist in unlikeable, comic stuffed shirts, because his wife loves him.

Miss Toye entered show business as a child, and was choreographing ballets by the age of nine. Her movie career began in 1931 as dancer. Within five years, she was choreographing for the movies, and she began directing movies in 1952. She was in charge of half a dozen movies, then continued to direct on television through 1982. She was awarded a CBE in 1992, and died in 2010, aged 92.

First off - the colour was definitely faded and strange. I can see why someone thought it was colorized. But this didn't detract.

Seeing that it was an English comedy from this era about sailing, I anticipated "Carry-On type" cliches and stereotypes but was pleasantly surprised. A tiny bit of mystery, a bit of romance and a lot of authentic slogging around deck ...a pretty true picture of the "glamour of life on a sailing yacht". Lovely touches like the captain's wife and her tea no matter how dire the situation. A fun trip.