Seven Waves Away aka Abandon Ship! – 1957 | 100 mins | Drama | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Seaborne drama of thought-provoking complexities that updates the true story of Alexander Holmes, a seaman put on trial in 1842 after throwing lifeboat passengers overboard to prevent it from capsizing. The gripping sea adventure deals with how people react in the face of adversity and the moral conflict between being a humanitarian and a realist. Tyrone Power gives an honest rather than sympathetic portrayal and he is supported by a cast of familiar British stalwarts.

After their luxury liner SS Crescent Star is sunk in the South Atlantic by a derelict mine, a group of over twenty survivors take refuge in a lifeboat intended only nine. Executive Officer Alec Holmes (Tyrone Power) is told by the fatally-injured captain to “save as many as you can” before assuming command.

Crammed into the lifeboat or clinging to it in the water are an veteran opera singer Dorothy Knudson (Marie Lohr), nuclear physicist George Kilgore (Michael Relph), his wife and child, ships nurse Julie White (Mai Zetterling), racketeer Michael Faroni (Eddie Byrne), Maj. Gen. Barrington (Clive Morton), famed playwright Aubrey Clark (Noel Williams), gambler John Hayden and his mistress Edith Middleton (Moira Lister) and several members of the crew including junior officer Will McKinley (Stephen Boyd) and ships cook Morrow (James Hayter). Soon, the captain dies from his injuries.

Holmes must take charge. There are 27 people on a lifeboat intended for a maximum of 14, and with food and water running low and a storm approaching, Alec decides it’s survival of the fittest and that the weak, injured and helpless must be cast overboard. Wounded ships engineer Frank Kelly (Lloyd Nolan) throws himself overboard and it’s left to Alec to take the tough decision as to who else is disposed of overboard. The survivors come through the storm and many consider Holmes a hero… that is until rescue comes into view.