In 1949, a British destroyer, HMS Amethyst, is proceeding along the Yangtse River in China on a peaceful mission to bring supplies to Nanking. However, a revolution is going on, the Chinese People's Liberation Army ("the Commies") have occupied one side of the river and shore batteries fire without warning on the ship.
The Amethyst sustains serious casualties and plows into the mud just out of range of the Chinese guns. Attempts to tow her off fail. Mao Tse Tung's army captures Nanking, so the Amethyst's mission is aborted. And, of course, there are now still more batteries along both shores of the river, blocking the Amethyst from the open sea. The grounded warship is visited by negotiators from the Chinese Liberation People's Republic Communist Marxist Invulnerable Heavenly Army Horde. They're willing to return some prisoners, allow the ship to be provisioned, and then proceed down the river to the sea. The only condition imposed by the humorless Chinese negotiators is that the British sign a statement that the whole affair was their own fault.
The captain of the Amethyst has been killed and his executive officer disabled, so they are removed along with the rest of the wounded to a hospital. A new captain arrives. This is Richard Todd. He's fair, stern, competent -- but what to do? Well, let me not spoil the ending by revealing that they slip away virtually unscathed at the last minute.
The story is so nicely structured in dramatic terms that it's hard to believe it hews close to history. It opens peacefully, turns at once into a furious battle, followed by a long mid-section involving negotiations between Todd and Akim Tamiroff as the Chinese Negotiator in Chief of the Chinese People's Heavenly Sent Liberation and Degaussing Army and Exalted Perloo Society. Then, when the end finally rolls around, the stress builds as the ship prepares to slip her chains and creep down the river to sanctuary.
Very little model work is used. This is to the film's advantage because models, no matter how sizable, are almost always identifiable for what they are. The texture is usually all wrong. Shell splashes send up towers of water with drops the size of basketballs. This movie uses real ships, and British destroyers were beautiful crafts. It's a pleasure to watch them in motion.
Acting. Richard Todd is a bit stiff, as usual, but his rigor fits the template of the role perfectly. I mean, what we don't need in this tense war drama is a captain who sits around conducting Gestalt group sessions with the men. Ian Bannen can be seen in a small role. He was to go on to become a marvelous and innovative performer. Also briefly visible is Barry Foster, who was a fanatic IRA man in "Ryan's Daughter" and a sex maniac in Hitchcock's "Frenzy." I was pleased to see that the script made a modest hero of Frenchy, the wireless operator. I was one myself and I can say without fear of contradiction that we are an under-appreciated lot.
One performance stands head and shoulders above the others, and that's Akim Tamiroff, a Russian, who essays the role of a gruff and manipulative communist negotiator, as Chinese as a plate of beef Stroganoff. My God, he must have laughed himself to sleep every night! What a ludicrous performance. The make-up alone -- that broad false nose, those pasted-back eyelids. And that semi-Chinese accent imposed on a Russian accent imposed on English dialog. You must hear him try pronouncing "original memorandum" to believe it. The only person who seems able to speak Chinese properly is Keye Luke as the Area Garrison Commander, probably because he was born in Guangzhou, China. When he first boards the frigate, he turns to his aid and says in Mandarin, "You wait here; I'll be back." I was happy to understand it, because it's all I remember after one nightmarish summer of studying Mandarin in New Haven.
Sure, Act Two is long and slow, but it's propelled by a good deal of tension, and the heat and boredom suffered by the men provides a neat contrast with the cathartic relief of the final escape. The script doesn't avoid all the clichés ("You mean, you're scared too?") but there aren't many, even though I'm beginning to suspect the musical score was written by Richard Wagner. It's an exciting story nicely transposed into film.
The Amethyst sustains serious casualties and plows into the mud just out of range of the Chinese guns. Attempts to tow her off fail. Mao Tse Tung's army captures Nanking, so the Amethyst's mission is aborted. And, of course, there are now still more batteries along both shores of the river, blocking the Amethyst from the open sea. The grounded warship is visited by negotiators from the Chinese Liberation People's Republic Communist Marxist Invulnerable Heavenly Army Horde. They're willing to return some prisoners, allow the ship to be provisioned, and then proceed down the river to the sea. The only condition imposed by the humorless Chinese negotiators is that the British sign a statement that the whole affair was their own fault.
The captain of the Amethyst has been killed and his executive officer disabled, so they are removed along with the rest of the wounded to a hospital. A new captain arrives. This is Richard Todd. He's fair, stern, competent -- but what to do? Well, let me not spoil the ending by revealing that they slip away virtually unscathed at the last minute.
The story is so nicely structured in dramatic terms that it's hard to believe it hews close to history. It opens peacefully, turns at once into a furious battle, followed by a long mid-section involving negotiations between Todd and Akim Tamiroff as the Chinese Negotiator in Chief of the Chinese People's Heavenly Sent Liberation and Degaussing Army and Exalted Perloo Society. Then, when the end finally rolls around, the stress builds as the ship prepares to slip her chains and creep down the river to sanctuary.
Very little model work is used. This is to the film's advantage because models, no matter how sizable, are almost always identifiable for what they are. The texture is usually all wrong. Shell splashes send up towers of water with drops the size of basketballs. This movie uses real ships, and British destroyers were beautiful crafts. It's a pleasure to watch them in motion.
Acting. Richard Todd is a bit stiff, as usual, but his rigor fits the template of the role perfectly. I mean, what we don't need in this tense war drama is a captain who sits around conducting Gestalt group sessions with the men. Ian Bannen can be seen in a small role. He was to go on to become a marvelous and innovative performer. Also briefly visible is Barry Foster, who was a fanatic IRA man in "Ryan's Daughter" and a sex maniac in Hitchcock's "Frenzy." I was pleased to see that the script made a modest hero of Frenchy, the wireless operator. I was one myself and I can say without fear of contradiction that we are an under-appreciated lot.
One performance stands head and shoulders above the others, and that's Akim Tamiroff, a Russian, who essays the role of a gruff and manipulative communist negotiator, as Chinese as a plate of beef Stroganoff. My God, he must have laughed himself to sleep every night! What a ludicrous performance. The make-up alone -- that broad false nose, those pasted-back eyelids. And that semi-Chinese accent imposed on a Russian accent imposed on English dialog. You must hear him try pronouncing "original memorandum" to believe it. The only person who seems able to speak Chinese properly is Keye Luke as the Area Garrison Commander, probably because he was born in Guangzhou, China. When he first boards the frigate, he turns to his aid and says in Mandarin, "You wait here; I'll be back." I was happy to understand it, because it's all I remember after one nightmarish summer of studying Mandarin in New Haven.
Sure, Act Two is long and slow, but it's propelled by a good deal of tension, and the heat and boredom suffered by the men provides a neat contrast with the cathartic relief of the final escape. The script doesn't avoid all the clichés ("You mean, you're scared too?") but there aren't many, even though I'm beginning to suspect the musical score was written by Richard Wagner. It's an exciting story nicely transposed into film.