End of the River

[torinfan]

Has anyone else seen this? I like the setting and the story. I first saw Sabu in The Jungle Book many years ago and he is a really good actor. He died way too young. Loved the beautiful Bibi Ferreira as his girl and eventually wife. The best part I liked was that riverboat. First thing I thought of was "The Love Boat." Can't imagine why though.

[batman]

I have it on VHS and found it ot be most entertaining. Not a classic but very enjoyable.

[torinfan]

It is fun to watch. I was enjoying some tea and biscuits while I was viewing it.

[Steve Crook]

It's not a masterpiece but it's very adequately done. Even more so when you realise how difficult it was to make with all that location filming half way up the Amazon in 1946/47.



It was produced by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. When they started having some major success they started to reward a few of the people that had been members of The Archers for some time with projects of their own.



Vernon Sewell had been the skipper of the supply ship that took Powell and his team to the Shetland Islands (North of Scotland) in 1937 for The Edge of the World. Gordon Wellesley had co-written Atlantic Ferry (aka Sons of the Sea) with Emeric in 1941. They were given the job of directing The Silver Fleet based on a story written by Emeric and produced by P&P.



Derek Twist had been the editor who saved The Edge of the World. Powell's book about that film is called "200,000 feet of Foula". That title doesn't refer to the height of the cliffs, they're high but not that high. It's the amount of film footage they shot in the 5 months they stayed on the island. Derek Twist managed to edit that 4 hours of film down to the 80 minutes that gave Powell his big break.



So Derek Twist was given the job of directing The End of the River with quite a few of The Archers team to help him. As well as Sabu the cast includes Archers regular Esmond Knight as the wicked gang-master Dantos, Raymond Lovell, Charles Hawtrey, Milton Rosmer and a few others. It was filmed by Chris Challis, edited by Brereton Porter and Reggie Mills and designed by Fred Pusey, all of them people who had worked with P&P on more than one occasion.



But it was a troubled production. It was difficult getting everyone to Brazil and the upper Amazon for the location shooting. That was still fairly much Terra Incognita in the 1940s. It was only in the 1920s that it had been fully mapped by Europeans and a British Army expedition to the Matto Grosso plateau in 1925 never came back.



The story is episodic and some parts work better than others. It's sometimes a struggle to believe that Manoel (Sabu) can really be as naive as he appears, even though he is meant to be a Brazilian indian running away from his village because someone wants to kill him.



Bibi Ferreira is a wonderful find. She was an actress, dancer and singer at the Brazilian Opera House in Rio de Janeiro as a young girl and was actress and manager at her own theatre in Rio when the film crew turned up and invited her to join them.



The ending is a bit sappy and overly moralistic. Comparing Manoel to a twig on the great river. But overall it's an adequate and quite interesting film



Steve

[torinfan]

I bet it was quite a challenge to film on location, the Amazon. Thanks for the info Steve!

[Freddy]

Listening to Christopher Challis A Tribute to Christopher Challis - Features - Heritage - The BAFTA site

He mentioned dismantling a coal fired Liverpool Ferry and transporting it to The Amazon which I presume was to be used as accommodation, storage etc. during the period of filming. This was the first I had ever heard of it and so far have had no luck in gathering more information.

The term Liverpool Ferry can cover both the Birkenhead and Wallasey Ferries with the latter sailing to Seacombe and New Brighton.
During WW1 two Wallasey ferries, the Daffodil and the Iris, because of their shallow draft, were involved in the Zeebrugge raid. (8 VCs were awarded) It was because of this action that they were allowed to put Royal in front of their names.



For info on the Zeebrugge raid. . . The Raid on Zeebrugge 1918

Please note the Royal Daffodil mentioned here is not the one used for the Dunkirk evacuation.


Below are the names of the Wallasey Ferries which could have been used for the film, as far as I'm aware all are coal fired, it was only later that the ferries were converted to diesel. These were operational at the time of the film.


Name: Leasowe [1]
Built: 1921
Tonnage: 734
Size: (LxBxD, ft.) 146.3x50.1x14.0
Details: Luggage boat. Sold for £1,850 & broken up at Preston 1948. Other accounts say left Mersey for Troon 1948.


Storey
1922
464
150.0x40.1x11.0
1,629 pass. To Navy 1942 as Net defence vessel.Sold to Cork Harbour Commrs. 1951 (£7,500). Renamed Killarney.


Wallasey [3]
1927
606
151.4x48.1x14.5
2,233 pass. In service 19.7.27. Cost £42,298. Reconditioned by Harland & Wolff 1958 (£62,401). Sold to Can Heyghen Freres, Antwerp (£5,150) 1964.

Perch Rock
1929
766
144.6x50.1x15.4
Luggage boat. Launched 25.1.1929. Last vehicle ferry in service 31.3.1947. Converted as relief passenger vessel 1947 (1,600 pass). Sold to Swedish owners 17.12.1953 (£8,800). Renamed Betula and converted into passenger and vehicle ferry.

Royal Iris II
1932
607
151.0x48.1x13.0
2,024 pass. In service 10.5.1932. Cost £43,290. Renamed Royal Iris 1947. Renamed St. Hilary 1950. Sold to Provinciale Waterstaat Suid Holland 1956 (£12,000). Converted to car ferry & renamed Haringoliet.



The Francis Storey

If you speculate that the criteria for choosing the ferry would be low draft and weight to accommodate possible sandbanks and berthing in shallow water then the Francis Storey seems to fit. However during this time the 'Zeebrugge' Royal Iris was still operational though in Cork.

Iris
1906
465
152.0x40.6x11.2
1,735 pass. Covered accommodation for steersman 3. 1911. Requisitioned by Admiralty 1917. Extensive refit and renamed Royal Iris 1919. Cruise ship with grey hull 1923. Sold 1931 to Palmer, Dublin. To Cork Hbr Commrs. renamed Blarney 1946. Scrapped at Passage West 1961.

As you can see that also fits the criteria, although now in Ireland, its history could make it remain in the memory as a Liverpool Ferry.

A Birkenhead Ferry could have been used but trying to find the history of them is proving difficult, Requests for more any information have been put out so hopefully we might be able to find the ferry used in the film without the need for speculation.


My thanks to the excellent History of Wallasey Index for supplying most of the information.

Paul

[Steve Crook]

Great stuff, thanks Freddy

Steve

[cassidy]

And there's me punching the air with delight as I thought the thread was about "Bend of the River" one of my favourite westerns !!!

[Steve Crook]

And there's me punching the air with delight as I thought the thread was about "Bend of the River" one of my favourite westerns !!!

Powell & Pressburger had a similar problem with their film The Battle of the River Plate. The American distributors thought that nobody in America would know where the river Plate was, think that it meant the Platte - and think that it was a western instead of a WWII naval battle

So they release it Pursuit of the Graf Spee although that sounds more like a caper movie with everyone chasing a Mittel European minor aristocrat

Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

So they release it Pursuit of the Graf Spee although that sounds more like a caper movie with everyone chasing a Mittel European minor aristocrat

Steve

That does sound a lot more fun than the film they actually made

[Steve Crook]

That does sound a lot more fun than the film they actually made

Especially if he bumps into the Graf Zeppelin

Steve