San Demetrio London (1943)

[bristow]

I was looking forward to this on Channel 4 earlier in the week, but managed to screw up the timer and missed it completely.

Anybody else record it, or have a copy they'd be willing to trade?

[Ted Holmes]

I recorded it and will gladly send a copy. Please send private message to arrange.

Cheers,

Ted

[Steve Crook]

See also my recent entry in the Watched Last Night thread

Steve

[bristow]

Ted - many thanks.

Steve - nice write-up there. Really looking forward to catching this now.

[hankoler]

Has anybody got a ,or where can i get a DVD of this fine film.

[batman]

There's a couple of deleted VHS tapes on ebay for about a fiver ... and one on amazon for £26! I can't find any dvds for sale though.

Bats.

[hankoler]

Posted a this thread here wanting a copy of this film and then get completely ignored. Don't why i bothered.

[foha80]

Originally Posted by hankoler Posted a this thread here wanting a copy of this film and then get completely ignored. Don't why i bothered.

I think the problem is that you gave the impression that you were looking for a DVD release of this film.

Terry

[batman]

Originally Posted by hankoler Posted a this thread here wanting a copy of this film and then get completely ignored. Don't why i bothered.

I didn't ignore you .... I had a good look on the net and couldn't find a dvd copy, only the vhs stuff. See my post from yesterday!

Bats.

[hankoler]

I didn't mean you Bats sorry.

[nanduthalange]

I have a commercial VHS recording of this film, which I bought from DDHE in years gone by. Remarkably, a true story and shot during wartime as a morale-booster. The real story is even more remarkable than portrayed in the film (though what is shown is essentially true) but obviously editing was needed for the film version. The homecoming scene of the stricken ship is certainly a special moment.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by nanduthalange I have a commercial VHS recording of this film, which I bought from DDHE in years gone by. Remarkably, a true story and shot during wartime as a morale-booster. The real story is even more remarkable than portrayed in the film (though what is shown is essentially true) but obviously editing was needed for the film version. The homecoming scene of the stricken ship is certainly a special moment.

As I said in the Watched Last Night thread back in May last year:

San Demetrio, London (1943)
They showed this under-rated old classic on daytime TV on Channel 4 yesterday. I recorded it and started to watch it and couldn't stop. That's the sign of a good film.

No real high drama, the acting is all quite understated. The shots of ships at sea are all obviously models in the tank although some of the waves crashing across the deck were very well done in the studio.

For those that don't know it, it's a story of the Merchant Navy early in WWII.
The San Demetrio is an oil tanker, sent to Galveston to collect a cargo of oil and bring it back to the UK. The outward journey is uneventful but on the way back their convoy is attacked. They had a single escort, HMS Jervis Bay. But her small guns and depth charges were intended to fight off a U-boat attack. The convoy was attacked by the Admiral Scheer equipped with radar controlled 11" guns.

The order is given for the convoy to scatter and the Jervis Bay steams straight for the Admiral Scheer. Of course she is blown out of the water before she can fire a shot. But that gives the convoy enough time to get some protection as it gets dark and behind the smoke laid by the Jervis Bay. The Captain of the Jervis Bay was awarded a posthumous VC for his action.

The Admiral Scheer manages to land a few shells on the San Demetrio and she starts to burn so the skipper orders that they abandon ship. Most of the crew, including the skipper, are picked up by ships sent to the rescue, but one boat can't be found. We follow the men in that one boat as they battle the Atlantic for a couple of days and then they see a ship in the distance. Hoisting a sail they head for her. But she doesn't show any sign of having seen them. And she appears to be on fire. Yes, it's the San Demetrio, still afloat and still burning.

So they re-board her and manage to put the fires out and get the engines restarted. But she's badly damaged. They have no compass and have to steer from the auxiliary steering position. As there's been so much spillage from the cargo they daren't light the stoves but the manage to keep themselves fed and warm with some ingenuity from the Chief Engineer. Some of them were injured in the attack and evacuation and one of them dies. But steering by the stars they manage to get the old San Demetrio back to Britain. Fortunately they declined the offer of a tow into the Clyde. That meant that they were eligible for the salvage fee which the owners gladly paid them.

This was quite accurately (in general terms) based on a true story.

There aren't many films about the Merchant Navy during the war. This and Western Approaches (1944) are probably the only ones that most people have seen. But the Merchant Navy suffered more casualties than any branch of the armed services and their war was almost continuous from 1939-45. But theirs wasn't a glamorous war face to face with the enemy. It was as much a war against the Atlantic itself (and other seas, especially the Russian convoys) as against the attacks by U-boats and the occasional surface raider.

The film itself is a bit odd. As I said, it's quite understated throughout. It's full of interest rather than high drama. How will they solve each problem? There's an almost obligatory Yank in the crew (Robert Beatty). The others are all stalwart character actors (Wlter Fitzgerald, Mervyn Johns, Gordon Jackson etc.). The Yank (that's what they name him) might be thought to be there to make it interesting for a US audience. But many of the rest of the crew speak with quite strong accents and they use a lot of slang which would probably have made it quite difficult for an American audience to understand in 1943.

But despite those oddities, I think it's a wonderful film.

Steve

[JamesM]

This is about to be released on DVD for the first time by Optimum.

[maturin]

Typical! I just spent 8 quid having my VHS copied onto a DVD.



Good news anyway.
R