Sons of the Sea

I stumbled across this film while flicking through the TV channels this morning, the BBC were giving it an airing on BBC2. I'll be honest I was about to move on as the acting struck me as pretty dreadful when the scene changed to an outdoor shot of Portsmouth like I'd never seen it before. Period cars in new condition and vibrant colour!

I'd thought from the indoor scene that first on that this was some 1950s film and was shocked to discover that it was a colour film made in 1939! Looked up the details on the IMDb here and was fascinated to learn about the film's unique history.

It's a shame that the story and the acting is not better, but for curiosity value alone this film is worth digging out. The colour has lasted very well and it provides an invaluable record of an England that no longer exists.

An early British colour movie from the 1930's (the only others that spring to mind are The Divorce of Lady X and The Four Feathers) but sadly not as enjoyable as the other two. As has been mentioned, this showcases the Dufaycolour film process and it does good give results; making the 1930's colourful without overpowering the viewer with garish colours (compare with other early Technicolour movies). The shots of lovely Devon countryside are a bonus as well: As a recent visitor to Devon, I was amazed to recognise Dartmouth, Slapton and Brixham in this movie, all of which seems little changed to this day.

The plot is plodding and so so. The direction stilted and stiff and the acting is, at times, woeful but this is all balanced by a intriguing look, in colour, of an era long gone.

I'm writing this (my first contribution to IMDb) after as long weekend in the locale where the film was shot. Can't say that I recognised Plymouth in the film, nor Brixham (as one or two others claim to have done)but several other settings were familiar, not least the little tower (now sadly dilapidated) where the commander embarks in the boat. The modern telephone directory lists two "Tradesmen's Arms" pubs locally (an inn of than name featured as a backdrop) but I didn't have a chance to check these out.I thought the plot creaked terribly and some of the acting was poor. It wasn't too clear whether the film was set in the war or in peacetime, but I've found out that production was announced in July 1939, with the premiere held the following March, so I guess that the plot was tweaked a bit as production continued, with the patriotic closing shots contributing to some flag-waving. When the enemy spy is finally unveiled he seemed very cheerful considering he would be facing the death penalty

SONS OF THE SEA is a rather dated spy thriller set in and around the naval training college in Dartmouth. The film opens with the murder of an official and sees his replacement investigating the crime, suspecting that he himself may have been the intended target. Meanwhile a visiting secret service agent looks into the murder while the antics of a local astronomer also raise suspicion.

This film is chiefly of note for both the way in which it was made and the way it was filmed. It came out in 1939 just at the outset of WW2 and the enemies are obviously Nazis although they are never mentioned as such by name. The most interesting thing about this though is that it was actually made in colour thanks to a process called Dufaycolor. It was only used for this one film but is pretty decent and a good rival to the more popular Technicolor process.

Otherwise this is pretty heavy going, lacking the lightness of touch of many other thrillers from the era. There's no humour to speak of, just a lot of heavy emoting and back-and-forth conversations. I found the acting of the protagonists to be more than a little stuffy as well which also sapped my enjoyment. And the ending just sort of dawdles along instead of being exciting like it should be.

The real star of this film (as it was in 1939), isn't an actor, but the then new Dufaycolor - full colour process. It is also possibly the first feature film to be shot using a single color negative (in contrast to the three b/w negatives needed for the three-strip Technicolor camera). In the case of Dufaycolor, the negative film was ruled with a mosaic of very fine red/green/blue lines. This is important to know when this film is viewed today as the colour is completely different from Technicolor. Because the film was shot with a conventional b/w camera, the restrictions of the bulky three-strip camera freed. This makes for some smooth, nimble camerawork. As a bonus, there are a good deal of clear, bright outdoor shots, the result of much filming around the cool blue seas and hamlets that stretch and cover the South coast of England. A landscape about to be changed by the approaching War. Even this film is intended to be a 'flagwaver' and a nod to Admiral Nelson is given in the final sequence. This is because, in this case, the Navy is honoured, including the Naval training college. The storyline is sadly, a conventional spy story. This is given depth by the always excellent Leslie Banks and the welcome appearance of Cecil Parker. The colour consultant on the film was the British colour film expert Adrian Clyne. He had good concepts for the way progressive colour films should look (which sharply differed with that of Technicolor's Natalie Kalmus). Even after 60 years, Clyne's composition is modern and vibrant. If Kalmus wanted pastels in 30s Technicolor, Clyne wanted effective colour compositions and wasn't afraid to use colour dramatically, but without the need to detract from the drama. In all, the film is an interesting experiment. No other Dufaycolor films were made. War shortages sealed the fate of this process. Viewed today, the drama is only average and anyone expecting a good spy story may be disappointed, however if looked at from the point of view as one of the few 1930s British films in colour (which has survived well) it is stunning.