The billboard outside the Odeon cinema, Leicester Square, said: "Michael Redgrave and Dirk Bogarde in The Sea Shall Not Have Them". Passing by, Noël Coward said, "I don't see why not. Everyone else has."
The NFT in London planned to show this movie in the 1990s as part of a Lewis Gilbert season, but had to cancel the screening when they found out no cinema prints existed.
AC 2 Milliken had the lowest RAF rank. AC stood for Air Craftsman, of which there were grades 1 and 2. Both 'ranks' were abolished in 1964 and all new recruits were Air Craftsman or Air Craftswoman. In RAF slang of the time, the lowest ranks were known as Erks. This originated from a designation of AIRK (Air craftsman) from WWI. It was in common usage for some time but not heard now.
Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson portray husband and wife in this movie. They were indeed married in real life.
The title refers to the motto of the R.A.F.'s Directorate of Air Sea Rescue, which was created on February 6, 1941, and later became known as the "R.A.F. Search and Rescue Force".