Marin de Sa Majesté

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.

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.

"Born to Glory" is almost like two films in one. The first part, which is actually pretty much unnecessary, is about a simple sailor, Albert Brown (John Mills) meeting and marrying a woman. This portion is pleasant but not especially compelling. However, when Albert goes to to sea the film improves considerably...especially after war breaks out and Albert's ship is sunk by a German ship. He and what's left of the crew are taken prisoner by the same German ship...a ship damaged but not sunk in the encounter. Albert manages to escape and then wages a one man war on the Germans...shooting at them and harassing them as they try to repair their ship. It's all very exciting...and a great example of a simple individual rising to the occasion. Overall, this is a well made and inspiring film--one that gets better as the movie progresses.

In this, his first starring role in a movie during the course of a remarkable acting career that would span no less than seven decades, John Mills is perfectly cast as a plucky young sailor. This was the first of many heroic rolls that Mills would subsequently fill. In fact, for a while Mills played so many heroes that it was jokingly asserted that Britain could not have won World War II without him.

Originally entitled "Brown on Resolution", this movie is based upon a story by C. S. Forester, the author of the famous Horatio Hornblower novels. However, Like "The African Queen", which was also written by Forester, this naval yarn is set in the early days of World War I.

John Mills plays Albert Brown, a young Royal Navy seaman, the illegitimate son of a Royal Navy Officer who is not actually aware that he has a child at all. Assigned to an antiquated British cruiser in the Pacific, Brown's ship is sunk by a more powerful German warship early in World I. Rescued by the enemy warship, which puts into a lonely Pacific island for repairs, Brown steals a rifle and escapes ashore in an effort to keep the Germans pinned down long enough for his own Navy to arrive on the scene.

This is the sort of old-fashioned "Ripping Yarn" in which the lone hero pits himself against overwhelming odds for reasons of loyalty, duty and honor that would seem incomprehensible to people nowadays, but which struck a deep chord with audiences back then.

Incidentally, this film is also notable to naval history buffs due to the fact that the British Admiralty allowed the producers to use real warships that were in commission at the time. Among those are the battleship HMS Iron Duke, which was the flagship during the 1916 Battle of Jutland, and which was then still in service as a gunnery training ship. Also featured is one of five British light cruisers of the Leander class, all of which subsequently distinguished themselves during World War II, most particularly HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles, which would famously battle the German pocket battleship Graf Spee. Also of note, although for a very different reason, is the WW-I vintage light cruiser cruiser HMS Curacoa, which portrayed the German cruiser in the film. On the night of 2 October 1942 HMS Curacoa was sunk in a tragic collision with the passenger liner Queen Mary. The 80,000 ton liner literally sliced the elderly cruiser in half, like a hot knife through butter. However, the Queen Mary was unable to stop to help the survivors because she was transporting 10,000 badly-needed U.S. Army troops to Britain. For obvious reasons the tragedy had to be hushed up until after the war was over, even the 10,000 troops who were on board the Queen Mary at the time being sworn to secrecy. Although 101 crew members were eventually rescued by other escorting warships, 337 went down with HMS Curacoa,

Notwithstanding the fact that 12 minutes has been edited out this is still an effective flag waver