Single-Handed – 1953 | 83mins | Drama, War | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Though set during WW II, Single-Handed was adapted from C.S. Forester’s boys own adventure Brown on Resolution, and had previously been filmed as Forever England (1935) with John Mills in the lead role.

Gripping adventure about Canadian seaman Brown (Jeffrey Hunter), the out-of-wedlock son of a high-ranking naval officer (Michael Rennie), now serving with the Royal Navy is one of only two survivor’s of a British ship sunk during a battle with the German pocket battleship Essen. The German vessel rescues Brown and the seriously injured Petty Officer ‘Stokes’ Wheatley (Bernard Lee), but when it puts into the deserted Resolution Island for repairs, Brown escapes with a rifle and decides to delay the ship’s departure by sniping at German seamen working on the vessel. A British Navy warship then moves in and sinks the ship. The squadron commander – unbeknownst to Brown his own father, then meets him at Buckingham Palace where Brown is decorated with the Victoria Cross for valour. The film also has an alternate ending in which Brown is killed without ever knowing that the commander of the cruiser squadron is the father.