Rent The Silver Fleet (1943)

3.6 of 5 from 53 ratings
1h 24min
Rent The Silver Fleet Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
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Synopsis:
When the Nazis overrun Holland, they seize its largest shipyard and turn it into a production centre for their U-Boats. Jaap Van Leyden (Ralph Richardson), the shipyard's owner, is called to a meeting with the head of the Gestapo and offered a deal; collaborate and help to boost U-Boat production - or else. But there's something the Gestapo don't know: Van Leyden is actually a hero of the local resistance and he sets in motion a desperate plan to strike back against the U-Boat production plant. There are two completed U-Boats in his yards.
One becomes the target of a daring theft while the other gives Van Leyden an opportunity to launch a do-or-die assassination attempt against his unsuspecting Nazi masters.
Actors:
, , , , , , , , , , , , George Schelderup, , , , , , ,
Directors:
,
Producers:
Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Writers:
Vernon Sewell, Gordon Wellesley, Emeric Pressburger
Studio:
DD Home Entertainment
Genres:
Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama
Collections:
British WWII Films: The Home Front and Europe, Drama Films & TV, The Instant Expert's Guide to Powell and Pressburger, Top 10 British Actresses of the 1940s, Top 10 British War Films (1939-45), Top Films, WWII Films: Beaches, Oceans and Camps
BBFC:
Release Date:
08/02/2010
Run Time:
84 minutes
Languages:
English Mono
Subtitles:
None
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
B & W

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Reviews (1) of The Silver Fleet

War Propaganda. - The Silver Fleet review by Steve

Spoiler Alert
13/04/2023

This might have been just another wartime B film by a minor director about the resistance in Europe. But there is a touch of class, which may be evidence of its producers, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. They brought in a superior crew, including cinematographer Erwin Hiller who shot on location, with East Anglia standing in for Netherlands.

There is a sensitivity to history, mythology and national identity which is typical of Powell and Pressburger. Ralph Richardson plays a Dutch shipbuilder who draws inspiration from his country's resistance to the Spanish piratical 'silver fleet' in 1628. He fronts up as a Nazi collaborator while secretly sabotaging the submarines built in his shipyard.

So he is despised by his countrymen, and doubted by his wife (Googie Withers). Richardson gives his standard performance of the war years, energetic, puckish and a bit mysterious. Esmond Knight contributes a caricature of a gestapo officer, cartoonishly grotesque, uncultured and sadistic. Even his own colleagues laugh at him.

While the Nazis are unrealistically ineffectual, there is some fascinating dialogue which touches on fascist assumptions of national superiority. An uncredited Pressburger co-wrote the script which offers a lyrical reflection on patriotic sacrifice. It's propaganda, and sometimes sentimental, but there is a thread of quality woven all the way through.

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