The Cruel Sea - BBC Radio 2 full-cast dramatisation (BBC Radio Collection): Starring John Thaw & Cast

click here for more details, find new or used items	Nicholas Monsarrat, Joe Dunlop Used from £12.50 Pages: (Audio Cassette) ISBN: 0563382805 Pub: BBC Audiobooks Pub date: 1998-01-05 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 165244

Reader Reviews:

Eerie (2/2 people found this helpful)

Like all the reviewers of this film I admire it passionately. I too revere every one of the actors/actresses who gave such memorable contributions to this extraordinary film which has everything and yet, no reviewer to date has mentioned the import of the late, private scene in the film - on the bridge - between the dogged, but insistent concussed Captain, (Jack Hawkins) and his doubting Thomas, No.2 officer (Donald Sinden), that there is a silent enemy beneath the bows of the vessel they and their crew know as She.

When Donald Sinden finally, threw in his lot and wholeheatedly committed himself to the Captain I believed in the eerie, ineffable, mysterious and untaught and was/am convinced of an invincible brotherhood.

I watched the film over but that particular scene has never registered in the same way. Perhaps I'm nuts.

Wonderful (2/2 people found this helpful)

I first studied this classic at high school in England. The author's knowledge and love of the sea and naval battles shine through. His characterisations and the motivations he gives his cast are well-thought out. He is able to bring the reader onto the corvettes during battles, skirmishes, slack times. Monsarrat superbly describes the brutality of war, the beauty of the landscapes and seascapes, romance, pride in what the sailors are trying to achieve. A masterpiece and thoroughly deserving of its reputation. Buy it!!

A true as fiction gets (2/3 people found this helpful)

This is a story about people and their battle with the sea. Featuring a great cast, this film accurately depicts the task faced by the tiny escorts and their crews in keeping the sea lanes open. Compared with current war films this lacks special effects and if made today, the story would be adapted to be much juicier. However, this black and white classic stands the test of time and watching it again I have enjoyed it more than some of Hollywood's modern naval films.

Possibly the greatest war film of all time (6/6 people found this helpful)

It may be a bold title, but the film sets out to portray the true life of the war at sea on the North Atlantic convoy routes and does it brilliantly. It succeeds because it sticks closely to the original book by Nicholas Monsarrat, who actually was an escort commander on convoys and knows better than most what it was really like.

There is no attempt to glorify anything or vilify anyone. The Germans are portrayed as men to be hated and destroyed only because they can do their job well, and that job is to starve Britain into submission. It is just a story of ordinary men who are pushed into a situation where fear and death stalk them constantly and where they have to do horrifying things on a daily basis. There is no death or glory scenario; indeed, when death reaches them, it is often in a fairly horrible way and they are expected to die quietly and without fuss. The most memorable scene is when the commander decides to depth charge a contact which might be a U boat, despite the fact that there are survivors of a torpedoed ship in the water and they will surely die. There is a love interest too but, like so much in the war, it ends in tragedy. The enemy is the war and the cruel sea, not just the U boats.

The cast is a roll call of great character actors: Jack Hawkins as the often irascible captain, Donald Sinden as the loyal 2nd in command and includes fine performances from Denholm Elliott, Stanley Baker and a very young Richard Attenborough.

Yes, it's old and in black and white. Yes, it's dated. But it tells a story of the ordinary men who fought an unglamorous war to keep Britain fed and the brave German sailors who tried to stop them. As such, it's essential.

Classic (13/13 people found this helpful)

I've just read this book for the first time- I've been meaning to for years, but just.... well, just never got round to it. It is, however, quite simply stunning. The writing is so sharp, and really brings actions and events into life. You really do end up feeling for the characters.
Its not really a book about naval or military history- its about experiences, hardship, comradeship- and the Second World War happens to be the time in which its set- But its a book about people, basically, and I can't recommend it enough. Really, really a humbling, thoughtful read.

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