La intocable

What a poignant picture that I'd watched in my childhood days, according my files it was in 1976, I stay baffled when saw the paltry rating 5.7, well as I'm a painstaking movie buff always ensue my feelings, therefore whatever be the rate it didn't changes nothing at all, this movie is proposed as non-linear story, Michael Cannon (Burton) just arriving at London put several advertisements on many majors newspapers, searching for a girl called just "Sea wife" signing as "Biscuit" only, after some months no answer from the girl, although he receives a message from a dying man from hospital, "Bulldog" is his nickname, there they remember all story of these four survivors of a shipwreck after their ship has been torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, they meets at life-raft and know themselves just by nicknames, Sea wife is a faithful beauty girl, actually just one knows that he is a Nun (Joan Collins), the mid age men Biscuit (Burton), the harsh and prejudiced Bulldog (Basil Sydney) and a black purser number Four (Cy Grant), they reach a pacific island, there Biscuit falling in love by Sea wife, who told to him which she already gave his hand to someone else (Jesus) in other hand the relationship between the racist Bulldog and the Number Four is getting worst, one of great movies of my tender age, finally l got it on DVD fully restored and color, due in 1976 my grandfather's TV was in black and white!!

Resume:

First watch: 1976 / How many: 5 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 8

"Sea Wife" is a film best enjoyed if you don't have particularly high expectations and accept it as it is. I liked it but could easily see folks complaining about one serious problem with the plot.

When the film begins, 'Biscuit' (Richard Burton) has arrived back in England after a very long absence. The first thing he does is arrange for some odd personal ads to be run in the various newspapers with odd messages from 'Biscuit' to someone called 'Sea Wife'. These messages turn out to be fruitless and eventually an acquaintance named 'Bulldog' contacts him and asks him to come see him about the messages. Then a lengthy flashback occurs. The time in 1942 and the setting is Singapore as the Japanese are invading. Biscuit is on board a ship that is trying to escape--as are many, many others on this overloaded ship. Eventually, the ship is torpedoed with it's out to see and Biscuit and four others end up in a life raft together. Oddly, they don't use their real names and they all assign nicknames to each other--Bulldog (for the nasty and extremely bigoted jerk), #4 because he was the fourth one aboard, Biscuit (this one made little sense) and Sea Wife since she was a lady. Their adventures make up most of the rest of the film and during this time, Biscuit falls for Sea Wife and she NEVER bothers to mention to him that she's a nun and that's why she's rebuffing his advances. WHY NOT JUST TELL THE GUY!?!?! And, if the story is being discussed by Biscuit and Bulldog, how can we see and hear conversations that go on between #4 and Sea Wife if they never told the other two about what they said?!?! Huh?!

On the other hand, the film was excellent in many ways. I particularly loved how the film focused on the horrible aspects of human nature. The ship sinking scene was great--very harrowing and exhibiting all the worst in mankind!! Likewise, Bulldog was a great character simply because he was so awful. Overall, a nice adventure film that occasionally didn't exactly make sense. Worth seeing but certainly not a must-see.

Joan Collins is a nun (!!) shipwrecked on an island with Burton. This movie is hilarious and sexy. Burton as usual is so serious he's got his tongue in his cheek because the script's morality won't let him use it to plow the ever-gorgeous Collins. I haven't seen it for years, but I still use Burton's growling "I love you, Sea Wife" to make my wife laugh. And a note on Collins: Evidently the eternal self-pitier Russell Crowe was upset to see himself compared to her at an awards show. But she is the one who was shamed; she was, is, and will always be wonderful. Enjoy this flick and "Land of the Pharoahs" as proof!

To me, the second best part of this movie was the lack of imagination used in the story. It provided me with so much inspiration—for days afterwards, I kept coming up with ways the story could have been better, and that was quite fun! The best part, of course, was watching Richard Burton, scruffy, sweaty, and shipwrecked.

Sea Wife starts out as a mystery. Richard Burton, cleaned up and in a suit, takes out a newspaper advertisement, looking for "Sea Wife" and signing it "Biscuit". The audience has no idea what he's talking about, but he continues to place personal ads, with no response. The movie goes back in time and becomes a shipwreck adventure! Four people are stranded in a lifeboat, each earning a nickname instead of sharing personal details. Richard Burton becomes "Biscuit" because he finds the food in the life raft, and Joan Collins become "Sea Wife" because she looks like a mermaid when she swims in the ocean.

Before the shipwreck, we see all four characters on the boat. Joan Collins is a nun, but her garments are torn off during the disaster, so Richard Burton is unaware of her religious calling when he meets her. Wouldn't it have been an infinitely better story if we didn't see her as a nun in the opening scene? Then, as the romance progresses, we wouldn't understand why she's exercising such willpower. There would be so much more tension if we didn't know her secret. Maybe the only way we'd believe she'd resist Richard Burton in a torn shirt is if we knew she was a nun.

Unless you really don't like shipwreck movies, I'd recommend watching this romantic adventure. There's plenty of eye candy, and parts of the story are really thrilling. Plus, it'll keep you talking afterwards about how you could have written a better story!

Enjoyed viewing this classic film from 1957 starring Joan Collins, (Sea Wife) and Richard Burton, (Biscuit). This film opens up with Biscuit running an ad in most of the London papers trying to locate Sea Wife and at first you think this must be some undercover agent trying to locate their partner. However, it turns out to be a love story which occurred during WW II when their ship was sunk by a Japanese Submarine and this couple wound up on a raft together. Biscuit fell in love with Sea Wife, however, she always turned down his sexual advances towards her and refused to give him a civil answer as to why she felt this way towards him. This is a hidden gem of a picture and worth your time to view and enjoy this great classic with great actors.