San Demetrio London (1943)

Top cast31

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Arthur Young

Captain George Waite

Walter Fitzgerald

Chief Engineer Charles Pollard

Ralph Michael

2nd. Officer Hawkins

Neville Mapp

3rd. Engineer Willey

Barry Letts

Apprentice John Jones

Michael Allen

Cadet Roy Housden

Frederick Piper

Boatswain W.E. Fletcher

Herbert Cameron

Pumpman Davies

John Owers

Steward

Gordon Jackson

Messboy John Jamieson

Robert Beatty

'Yank' Preston

Charles Victor

Deckhand

James McKechnie

Deckhand

John Coyle

Deckhand

Duncan McIntyre

Deckhand
(as Duncan MacIntyre)

Rex Holt

Deckhand

Mervyn Johns

Greaser John Boyle

Lawrence O'Madden

Capt. E.S.F. Fegen V.C. Royal Navy

Directors
- Charles Frend
- Robert Hamer
Writers
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

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Trivia
Captain E.S.F. Fegen of HMS Jervis Bay received the Victoria Cross for his attack on the Admiral Scheer.

Goofs
The fires on the ship are clearly not burning oil, but gas. Otherwise, there would be thick black smoke and pouring water on it from buckets would result in an explosive spread (for that same reason one should never try to extinguish burning fat in a frying pan by pouring water on it). Addendum: the oil on board was aviation fuel, not crude oil. There would have been no other way to put the fires out than to use water. I am not sure the original criticism is valid, particularly so as the Chief Engineer was the technical adviser on the film.

Quotes
[last lines]
Mr. Justice Langton: It is right and proper, and a part of my duty which I shall gladly discharge, to recognise to the full the courage, devotion and sacrifice of each of these men. I should not like to leave this case without thanking everybody concerned for having given me the best working day of my life, in listening to the very modest recital of some gallant gentlemen concerning a memorable achievement.

Crazy credits
Closing credits: This story is based on fact and most of the characters in the film are portrayed from life with their permission. The remaining characters are fictitious, and in such cases any similarity to any incident, name or individual is coincidental.

Connections
Featured in Tuesday's Documentary: The Ealing Comedies or Kind Hearts and Overdrafts (1970)

Soundtracks
Say Si Si
(uncredited)
Music by Ernesto Lecuona

A rather talky and studio-bound dramatisation of an incident widely reported back at home during the autumn of 1940 handled with customary British sang froid.

The film was sufficiently unheroic for Churchill to take exception to it, so it evidently seemed less cosy at the time than it does now.