The Sea Shall Not Have Them
VHS movie cover
Directed by	Lewis Gilbert
Written by	Lewis Gilbert Vernon Harris
Produced by	Daniel M. Angel
Starring	Michael Redgrave Dirk Bogarde Anthony Steel Nigel Patrick
Cinematography	Stephen Dade
Edited by	Russell Lloyd
Music by	Malcolm Arnold
Production company	Angel Productions
Distributed by	Eros Films (UK) United Artists (USA)[1]
Release dates	30 November 1954 (UK) May 1956 (US)[1]
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£165,857[2]

The Sea Shall Not Have Them is a 1954 British war film starring Michael Redgrave, Dirk Bogarde and Anthony Steel. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and is based on the 1953 novel by John Harris, about a North Sea rescue during the Second World War. The musical soundtrack is by composer Malcolm Arnold.

The film title is the motto of the Royal Air Force's Air Sea Rescue Service.^[3] Gilbert called it "standard fare" but it "did very well."^[4]

Plot[edit]

It is the autumn of 1944. Allied armies are sweeping through France towards Germany. A British Lockheed Hudson has been damaged in aerial combat with a German Messerschmitt, with both aircraft ditching in the North Sea, twenty miles off the Dutch coast. The four crew from the British aircraft are unable to send a complete mayday alert, although a signal fragment reaches England. Among them is Air Commodore Waltby (Michael Redgrave) who has a briefcase containing secret German plans related to rocketry. Flight Sergeant Mackay (Dirk Bogarde) assumes a leading role in the rescue dinghy, tying everyone together to prevent anyone falling overboard, and sharing his boots with the pilot despite the cold. As the weather closes in and a freezing cold night descends, aircraft suspend their search, leaving the now waterlogged dinghy to face the sea alone. Cryptically, Waltby orders the crew members that if he dies, they must get the briefcase to London or throw it overboard should they face capture.

An RAF Air Sea Rescue sea launch is deployed to the search. Commanded by Flying Officer Treherne (Anthony Steel), Launch 2561, or "Sixty One" in radio signals, struggles against the bad weather, mechanical problems and a fire in the galley. Second in command, Flight Sergeant Singsby (Nigel Patrick) dominates the crew, playing a benevolent but demanding hand with the questionable seamanship of junior ranks. On the second day, updated intelligence about the dinghy's likely location is received from the downed German Messerschmitt pilot, who the RAF has since rescued. RAF Air Sea Rescue is now aware the dinghy has drifted inshore, far from its ditching point. As the weather clears, "Sixty One" sights the dinghy and approaches for rescue, negotiating fire from enemy shore batteries and a mine field. Launch 2561 safely returns to England where the briefcase with secret documents is delivered. An injured Flying Officer Treherne and Flight Sergeant Mackay are applauded by senior officers.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

The film was based on a 1953 book by John Harris, which became a best seller.^[5][6]

In August 1953, it was announced that both Rank and ABPC were competing for the film rights, which were expected to go for $20,000.^[7]

Producer Dan Angel arranged one of the strongest male casts of the era.^[8] It was one of a number of sea-related themes made in Britain following the success of The Cruel Sea.^[9] It was one of a number of war movies Anthony Steel made in which he was supporting of an older British star.^[10]

There were six weeks filming on location in Felixstowe, followed by studio work at Riverside.^[11]

Referring to the film's title, Noël Coward said of the film's two male stars, "I don't see why not. Everyone else has." Redgrave was reportedly bisexual, while Bogarde was homosexual.^[12]

The film was shot at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith and Felixstowe in Suffolk. Filming had finished by June 1954.^[13]

Reception[edit]

Critical[edit]

Variety said the film "has several basic ingredients of a boxoffice success; tough but believable plot, a cast too big for the average theatre marquee and exciting action sequences in the climax when the missing air crew is picked up within range of enemy shore batteries."^[14]

Box office[edit]

According to Kinematograph Weekly it was a "money maker" at the British box office in 1955.^[15] The film performed poorly at the US box office, like most British war movies of this era.^[16] Gilbert says every one of the films he made with Danny Angel - six in all - were successful financially.^[4]

John Harris self-caricature from the late 1970s

John Harris (18 October 1916 – 7 March 1991) was a British novelist. He published a series of crime novels featuring the character Inspector Pel, and war books. He wrote with his own name, and also with the pseudonyms of Mark Hebden and Max Hennessy. His 1953 novel The Sea Shall Not Have Them was the basis for a feature film of the same name in 1954. He was the father of Juliet Harris, who published more Inspector Pel books under the name of Juliet Hebden.

Biography[edit]

Harris was the son of Mr & Mrs E. J. Harris, of the Stag Inn, Herringthorpe.^[1] A product of Rotherham Grammar School, he worked for the Rotherham Advertiser^[2] from late 1932 or early 1933 as a reporter, later moving to the Sheffield Telegraph. Shortly before the Second World War, he and colleague Harold Evans briefly freelanced in Cornwall.

Harris later served in the Royal Air Force as a corporal attached to the South African Air Force. After the war he rejoined the Sheffield Telegraph as a political and comedy cartoonist (his creations included the Calamity Kids and Amateur Archie), and stayed until the mid-1950s when, following the outstanding success of his 1953 novel The Sea Shall Not Have Them—later, in 1954, made into a film of the same name—he became a full-time author. From 1955 he lived at West Wittering, near Chichester, West Sussex. His first published novel was The Lonely Voyage (1951), and he went on to write more than 80 works of fiction and non-fiction, including Covenant With Death (1961). He also wrote as Max Hennessy and Mark Hebden. As Hebden he published a series of crime novels featuring the character Inspector Pel.

He married Betty Wragg,^[2] daughter of Mr & Mrs H Wragg, of Tenter Street, Rotherham, at St Michael & All Angels Church, Northfield, Rotherham, on 31 January 1947. They had a son, Max (b 1949), who later moved to the USA; and a daughter, Juliet (b 1954), who later moved to France. Juliet continued the Pel detective series created by her father.

Bibliography[edit]

As John Harris[edit]

• The Lonely Voyage (1951)
• Hallelujah Corner (1952)
• The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1953), US Title: The Undaunted
• The Claws of Mercy (1955)
• Getaway (1956), US Title: Close to the Wind
• The Sleeping Mountain (1958)
• Road to the Coast (1959), US Title: Adventure's End
• Sunset at Sheba (1960)
• Covenant with Death (1961)
• The Spring of Malice (1962)
• The Unforgiving Wind (1963)
• Vardy (1964)
• The Cross of Lazzaro (1965)
• The Old Trade of Killing (1966)
• Light Cavalry Action (1967)
• Right of Reply (1968)
• A Kind of Courage (1972)
• Smiling Willie and the Tiger (1974)
• Ride Out the Storm (1975)
• Take or Destroy (1976)
• Army of Shadows (1977)
• The Fox from His Lair (1978)
• Cotton's War (1979)
• Swordpoint (1980)
• North Strike (1981)
• Harkaway's Sixth Column (1983)
• A Funny Place to Hold a War (1984)
• Up for Grabs (1985)
• The Thirty Days' War (1986)
• China Seas (1987)
• Picture of Defeat (1988)
• So Far from God (1989)
• Flawed Banner (1991)

- The Martin Falconer Series (for junior readers)

• The Fledglings (1971)
• The Professionals (1973)
• The Victors (1975)
• The Interceptors (1977)
• The Revolutionaries (1978)

- The Ira Penaluna Series (in chronological order)

• The Mustering of the Hawks (1972)
• The Mercenaries (1969), US Title: The Jade Wind
• The Courtney Entry (1971)

As Mark Hebden[edit]

• What Changed Charley Farthing (1965)
• The Eyewitness (1966)
• The Errant Knights (1968)
• Portrait in a Dusty Frame (1969), US Title: Grave Journey
• Mask of Violence (1970)
• A Killer for the Chairman (1972)
• The Dark Side of the Island (1973)
• A Pride of Dolphins (1974)
• The League of 89 (1977)
• Death Set to Music (1979)
• Pel and the Faceless Corpse (1979)
• Pel Under Pressure (1980)
• Pel Is Puzzled (1981)
• Pel and the Bombers (1982)
• Pel and the Staghound (1982)
• Pel and the Pirates (1984)
• Pel and the Predators (1984)
• Pel and the Prowler (1985)
• Pel and the Paris Mob (1986)
• Pel Among the Pueblos (1987)
• Pel and the Touch of Pitch (1987)
• Pel and the Picture of Innocence (1988)
• Pel and the Party Spirit (1989)
• Pel and the Missing Persons (1990)
• Pel and the Sepulchre Job (1992)
• Pel and the Promised Land (1993)

As Max Hennessy[edit]

-The Kelly McGuire Trilogy

• The Lion At Sea (1977)
• The Dangerous Years (1978)
• Back to Battle (1979)

-The Goff Family Trilogy

• Soldier of the Queen (1980)
• Blunted Lance (1981)
• The Iron Stallions (1982)

-The Dicken Quinney Trilogy

• The Bright Blue Sky (1982)
• The Challenging Heights (1983)
• Once More the Hawks (1984)