Seagulls Over Sorrento

I first saw this film as an 8 year old and went along with my family in eager anticipation of seeing a Gene Kelly musical which my mother thought it would be. Needless to say I came away feeling disappointed at having viewed a dry black and white offering with no songs or dances and no women at all. More than sixty years later remembering the above , I purchased the DVD determined to fairly re-assess the film and now admit to enjoying it on it's own merits.

It's a nice intimate little piece with a good sense of atmosphere that highlights the challenges of men of diverse characters and backgrounds thrown together in an isolated location devoid of women. Many familiar faces from British films of the 1950's all of whom contribute to the very human elements of the plot. Sid James is here given much more screen time than in previous efforts and he actually seems to appear just as frequently as Gene Kelly which may come as a surprise to some. Kelly is fine in a role that hardly stretches his acting ability any more than his British counterpart ; John Justin. Bernard Lee is as strong and reliable as ever and I must single out David Orr whose attractive and ultimately haunting contribution impressed me over and above them all.

I recommend this near forgotten but surprisingly pleasing gem to those like me who relish watching intimate films on their own.

I would love to have seen the looks on faces of cinema goers as they came out from watching this film back in 1954 - I suspect it would have been a mixture of wonderment at why the film was made, amazement that Gene Kelly couldn't act his way out of a paper bag, curiosity to know if a contract has been taken out on the script writer, and suicidal depression at having spent time and money going in the door in the first place. I have given this one point above the worst possible score as I am sure it had honorable aspirations i.e. to reflect the commitment of brave men during the war. But to be sure, this was no Dam Busters!!

TCM has shown this film twice in the last week, both times at 5 AM, for some unknown reason they bill it as a comedy, probably because it has Sid James as one of its stars, or possibly because it was directed by the Boulting Brothers, and though it did rely a lot on coincidence, and most of the time the music was fair, even top musicians have off days, the actors carried out their parts well. Even so, this is not one for DVD, unless you could add lots of out-takes from Sid and Gene, who knows??

Fine performances by Gene Kelly, David Orr and Bernard Lee (The original "M" from 007) cannot save this dull melodrama. Kelly plays an American Lt./Scientist, trying to determine why an experimental British torpedo carrying a new explosive warhead blew up four seconds after release, killing both the British scientist and torpedoman. It's pretty heavy stuff (no women, desolate island), unleavened by attempts at lame humour (Sidney James, doing his best with the material). The film fails at drama, because the subplots require too much coincidence. The film fails as mystery because the plotting require both Navy scientists to violate the most basic rule of fault isolation to forward the story. Once the solution is found, the film continues with some phony "derring do" which creates zero tension. Even the cinematography and score (by the usually reliable Miklos Rosza [BEN HUR, THE POWER]) are subpar. The score in particular is inappropriate and sounds like leftovers from better movies (BEN HUR, in particular).

For Gene Kelly fans looking for something different...

The first thing I thought when I saw the webpage for this on IMDB was "Is THAT Gene Kelly and why does he look so tough?!". Yes, despite his pretty dancing boy image, sometimes Kelly made other films...tough films such as "The Black Hand". "Pilot #5" and this one, "Seagulls Over Sorrento" (also known as "Crest of the Wave"). I do appreciate how he didn't allow himself to be typecast....but did this abberation work?

This film was set in the present day...and it took me a bit to realize it was not a WWII picture. Some British submariners are working on a new explosive for their torpedoes and there is an explosion...killing their expert. Since no one else in the British Navy knows about this explosive, an American officer (Lt. Bradville....played by Kelly) is stationed on the Scottish island where the work is being done. He brings along two assistants....though some of the sailors seem taken aback with them...and it's a case of US versus THEM (much like in the film "The Devil's Brigade").

Despite being a military film, because there's no war going on, it's not an especially exciting movie. Now this is NOT to say it's bad in any way...but it's not action-packed and is much more cerebral than you'd likely expect. Well made and interesting.