Le renard des océans

After wading through our modern crop of difficult, complicated productions it was refreshing to watch this little number. Not unlike diving into that Pacific ocean.

It's not ground breaking. It's not even a work of genius. But isn't that the point and the purpose of a film ? A lesson that many directors seem to have forgotten these days with films that always have to try and out do one another. Be "clever clever", or make some drawn out post modern social commentary. I don't know about you, but I go to see a film to have a break from those things. To relax.

The scene where Wayne and Turner talk in a clearing is natural. I could have stumbled in on their conversation out of the trees. There seems to be no effort in what they do. Who's paying these people !? I want to see sweat and tears ! Oh wait, they're acting.

The story is obscure in an attractive sort of way .. not unlike another Wayne film "Blood Alley", but is told in that easy way that seems to come to matinees. Dropping off the screen like some dog eared work of fiction that you read on holiday.

My John Wayne Marathon continues.

This is one of those Wayne movies that might fit in on a double bill with Chained Heat. It is not one of his better efforts, but it is still watchable.

John Wayne as a German might be a stretch, but it still features a strong woman part by Lana Turner, and a good supporting cast, including Paul Fix (Giant) as a former soldier turned cook, Lyle Bettger (The Lone Ranger) as a borderline psycho first officer, and James Arness (Gunsmoke) as a crewman frustrated to the point of near-mutiny.

It's a pretty good yarn about sailors wanting to go home.

1955 marked the last year of John Wayne's streak of being number one at the box office and it was films like The Sea Chase that helped bring about an end to his reign.

I cannot understand for the life of me why John Wayne, as American as they come was cast as a German. Right around the same time there were players like Curt Jurgens or the newly arrived in Hollywood Yul Brynner who would have been far better and believable in the role of freighter captain Karl Ehrlich. Brynner in fact later on did quite well in the film Morituri playing a German freighter captain. James Mason would have done well also. What was the Duke thinking.

Offhand I can only think of three films in which he played a non-American, this one, The Long Voyage Home, and The Conqueror. Of course The Conqueror was one of the biggest flops in film history with Wayne as Genghis Khan. He did all right in The Long Voyage Home, but it's a small part in an ensemble production. John Ford must have been very patient with him getting that proper Swedish accent there. Wayne did not have Robert Mitchum's ear for dialect. In fact Mitchum might have been able to play Karl Ehrlich.

The story starts in Sydney harbor right before the Nazis march into Poland. With war talk in the air, Captain David Farrar visits his old friend Wayne on his tramp steamer and he brings his new fiancé, Lana Turner. Wayne knows her to be an adventuress and probably an agent for the Nazis. He tells her to leave Farrar while the leaving is good, little dreaming he'd be asked by the German consul to transport Turner back to Germany.

Wayne sneaks his ship out of Sydney Harbor and the Royal Navy gives chase. While stopping at an island for supplies, second officer Lyle Bettger, a hardened Nazi, murders the survivors of a fishing vessel who were stranded there. Of course the atrocity redounds to Wayne's ship and gives the Royal Navy real reason to pursue.

David Farrar is a fine British sea captain in the best stiff upper lip tradition. Of course Lyle Bettger adds to that wonderful group psychotics he developed a patent on during the fifties. Lana Turner is well cast in her role as femme fatale.

A whole lot of young players are in the crew of Wayne's ship like James Arness, Tab Hunter, Richard Davalos, and Alan Hale, Jr. When the ship stops and makes some repairs and provisions, the crew is put to work cutting down trees. Lots of topless beefcake for the audience there.

In addition Richard Davalos has a very touching death scene, probably the acting highlight of the film.

It's not the worst film John Wayne ever did, but fans of the eternal Duke will find his playing a German incongruous to say the least.

Exciting flick on the danger waters of the Pacific with Wayne as a seasoned Captain undertaking several adventures and risks . As the Second World War breaks out , -1939- German freighter captain Karl Ehrlich (John Wayne) is about to leave Sydney , Australia , with his his boat , the Ergenstrasse (it was portrayed by the real HMCS New Glascow , a Prestonian-class frigate) , as he is determined to steer his vessel back to Germany . But a suspicious beauty is aboard as the British Commander Jeff Napier's (David Farrar who narrates the tale by voice-in-off) girlfriend , she's called Elsa Keller (Lana Turner) . As Elsa , a mysterious woman , is on board , that's why Ehrlich has been ordered to return to Germany safely along with whatever secrets she carries . Then the brave skipper sails despite an English blockade , being pursued by British and German navies as he abandons Down Under . As Karl must smuggle throughout enemy Oceans plenty of warships and cruisers . When Ehrlich's fiercely Nazi chief officer Kirchner (Lyle Bettger) commits an atrocity , the British chase becomes deadly . As Ehrlich tries to get his ship back to Germany across the Pacific , Atlantic Oceans and through a gauntlet of Allied warships .

This enjoyable picture packs thrills , drama , action , sea pursuits , it results to be pretty entertaining and appear as supporting players a lot of prestigious actors ; however , being overlong . John Wayne's good vehicle , though miscast as an obstinate Prussian skipper . The plot is plain and simple , as World War II begins , at its violent outbreak , a renegade as well as stubborn German freighter captain named Karl Ehrlich escapes from Sidney and must transport a mysterious passenger and arrive in his destination , Germany . Interesting and stirring script from James Warner Bella , John Ford's regular screenwriter , and John Twist based on a novel written by Andrew Geer . This ¨Sea chase¨ or ¨La Cacería¨ bears certain resemblance with "Blood Alley¨ (55) by William A. Wellman , also with a skipper Wayne , along with Lauren Bacall , pursued and surrounded by enemy ships and attempting to escape . The Wayne-Turner combination ignite the sparks you'd expect . Nice acting by the great John Wayne , here he takes an unusual character as Ehrlich , an anti-Nazi but proud German who hopes to outrun or out-maneuver the British warship pursuing him . A German Wayne rivaled only by his infamous Genghis Khan in ¨The Conqueror¨ film directed by Dick Powell , for strange role selection . And aboard his ship is the gorgeous and elegant Lana Turner who sings a wonderful song accompanied by the seamen . However , star Lana Turner and filmmaker John Farrow did not get along well during production , she felt Farrow gave her no direction at all and that he was unpleasant with her and her co-stars . There is a colorful secondary cast that includes Lyle Bettger as second-in-command officer , David Farrar as the British Commander , Tab Hunter as a young cadet , the veteran Paul Fix , the ordinary Alan Hale Jr , Richard ¨Dick¨ Davalos , John Qualen as chief machinist and John Doucette . Furthermore , two notorious support actors : Claude Akins , -Claude' normally dark hair was bleached blond for this character- and Gunsmoke's James Arness ; Akins later appeared on ten episodes of "Gunsmoke". Evocative cinematography in Cinemascope and WarnerColor by William H. Clothier , John Ford's customary cameraman . And thrilling and moving musical score by Roy Webb.

The motion picture was well directed by John Farrow . At his beginning he wrote short stories and plays during his four-year career in the navy ; in fact John was injured while serving as a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy in World War II . In the late 1920s Farrow came to Hollywood as a technical adviser for a film about Marines and stayed as a screenwriter , from ¨A Sailor's Sweetheart¨ (1927). He began directing in 1937 ¨Men in Exile¨ and ¨West of Shanghai¨ (1937). He married Tarzan's Jane , Maureen O'Sullivan , in 1936 and being Mia Farrow's father . John collaborated in the writing of several of his movies and shared the Academy Award for ¨Around the world in Eighty days¨ (56) . John was a good craftsman who directed all kinds of genres as Western : ¨Copper Canyon¨(50) , ¨Hondo¨ (53) with Wayne , ¨A bullet is waiting¨(54) ; Adventure : ¨Five come back¨(39) , ¨Two years before the mast¨(46) , ¨Botany Bay¨ (59) , ¨Back from eternity¨(56) ; Noir : ¨The Saint strikes back¨(39) , ¨The Criminal Court¨(46) , ¨The Big Clock¨(48) ; Crime drama : ¨Unholy wife¨(57) , ¨His kind of woman¨(51) , Historical : ¨John Paul Jones¨ (59) and Warfare : ¨Commandos strike at dawn¨(43) and this ¨Sea chase¨ (55) .

John Wayne is monumentally miscast as the captain of a German boat during World War 2. John Wayne pretty much plays the part as he plays all of his parts - simply as 'John Wayne'. He saunters through his role, not really acting but just being there; however, he does have a great screen presence. He's not a German, though, and his strong American accent does him no favours in the believability stakes, and the fact that all of the crew speak English make this a film that obviously doesn't care whether or not the audience will believe it. Of course, this is 1950's Hollywood, so we can't expect the crew speak German with subtitles or anything like that; but having a German crew speak fluent English doesn't really work.

Despite it's relative silliness, however, this film is decent throwaway entertainment. The plot follows the escapades of John Wayne...I mean Karl Ehrlich, a German freighter captain who must take his ship from Sydney, Australia to it's homeland of Germany. However, things are never that simple as hot on his heels are the British Navy, and as we all know; Britannia rules the waves, so John...I mean Karl has a job on his hands. A chase is always exciting to see in a film, and it is exciting here.... sometimes. The film never reaches the dizzy highs of other action adventure films, but it holds it's own in the entertainment department. There are several good sequences, such as a shark attack, several scenes of rough sea and a near mutiny among other things.

Lana Turner stars opposite John Wayne as the standard 'love interest'. Lana's performance isn't bad, and she looks nice; but the love part of the film seems very much like it was tacked on in order to get more people to go and see it. I know that this obviously isn't what happened, as all love interests in films like this are very much needed so that the story can progress and have nothing to do with getting more people into the cinema. Oh wait. Anyway, despite this needless element; The sea Chase is mostly well paced and it doesn't get boring often, and when it does it's not for long; so I recommend the film to anyone that just wants something mindless to watch for a couple of hours; like I did when I watched it.