View source for In Which We Serve

{{short description|1942 film by David Lean, Noël Coward}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = In Which We Serve
| image          = In Which We Serve poster.jpg
| caption        = US [[Film poster|Theatrical release poster]]
| director       = [[Noël Coward]]<br />[[David Lean]]
| producer       = Noël Coward
| writer         = Noël Coward
| narrator       = [[Leslie Howard (actor)|Leslie Howard]]
| starring       = Noël Coward<br />[[John Mills]]<br />[[Bernard Miles]]<br />[[Celia Johnson]]
| music          = Noël Coward<br />[[Clifton Parker]]
| cinematography = [[Ronald Neame]]
| editing        = [[Thelma Connell]]<br />David Lean
| distributor    = [[British Lion Films]]
| released       = {{film date|df=y|1942|09|17|UK}}
| runtime        = 115 minutes
| country        = United Kingdom
| language       = English
| budget         = £240,000<ref name="perth">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49075010 |title=Noteworthy Films Made in U.K. |newspaper=[[The West Australian]] |location=Perth |date=17 January 1953 |access-date=4 August 2012 |page=27 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name="budget">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xtGIAgAAQBAJ&q=%22ted+black%22+producer&pg=PA34|title=Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48|first=Robert|last=Murphy|date=2 September 2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134901500|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="wood">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/mrrankstudyofjar0000alan/page/105/mode/1up?q=budget|title= Mr. Rank a Study of J.Arthur Rank and British Films|first=Alan|last= Wood|year=1952|page=133}}</ref>
| gross          = £300,000 (Commonwealth)<br />$2 million (US rentals)<ref name="perth"/><ref name="tino">{{cite book
 | last = Balio
 | first = Tino
 | title = United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars
 | date = 2009
 | publisher = [[University of Wisconsin Press]]
 | isbn = 978-0-299-23004-3
 }} p220</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/stream/variety153-1944-01#page/n51/mode/2up "Top Grossers of the Season", ''Variety'', 5 January 1944 p 54]</ref>
}}

'''''In Which We Serve''''' is a 1942 British [[Propaganda film|propaganda]] [[war film]] directed by [[Noël Coward]] and [[David Lean]], who made his debut as a director.  It was made during the [[Second World War]] with the assistance of the [[Ministry of Information (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Information]].<ref name="book">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SmxcoPsHdO0C&q=In%20Which%20We%20Serve%20propaganda&pg=PA172|title=War, culture and memory|author=Clive Emsley|date=24 October 2009 | isbn=978-0-7492-9611-7 | publisher=Open University Worldwide Ltd}}</ref>

The screenplay by Coward was inspired by the exploits of Captain [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord Louis Mountbatten]], who was in command of the destroyer {{HMS|Kelly|F01|6}} when it was sunk during the [[Battle of Crete]].

Coward composed the music as well as starring in the film as the ship's captain. The film also starred [[John Mills]], [[Bernard Miles]], [[Celia Johnson]] and [[Richard Attenborough]] in his first screen role.<!---He was born in 1923--->

''In Which We Serve'' received the full backing of the Ministry of Information,<ref name="book"/> which offered advice on what would make good propaganda and facilitated the release of military personnel. The film is a classic example of wartime British cinema through its patriotic imagery of national unity and social cohesion within the context of the war.<ref name="book"/>

==Plot==
The film opens with the narration: "This is the story of a ship". In 1941 HMS ''Torrin'' engages German transports in a night-time action during the [[Battle of Crete]], but at dawn, the destroyer comes under attack from German bombers. A critical hit forces the crew to abandon the ship as it rapidly capsizes. Some of the [[Naval officer|officers]] and [[Naval rating|ratings]] manage to find a [[Carley float|life raft]] while being intermittently [[Strafing|strafed]] by German planes.

The story of the ship is told in flashbacks, using their memories. The first person to reveal his thoughts is Captain Kinross, who recalls the summer of 1939 when the  ''Torrin'' is being rushed into commission as the possibility of war becomes a near certainty.

The ''Torrin'' spends a quiet Christmas in the north of Scotland during the [[Phoney War]], but in 1940 it fights its first engagement during the [[Battle of Narvik]]. During that action, the ship is struck by a [[torpedo]]. The damaged ''Torrin'' is towed back to port, all the time being harried by dive bombers.

Safely back in harbour, Captain Kinross tells the assembled ship's company that during the battle nearly all the crew performed as he would expect, but one man did not. However, he surprises everyone when he says that he let him off with caution as he feels that, as Captain, he failed to make him understand his duty.

Returning to the present, the float survivors watch the capsized ''Torrin'' take on water and slowly sink. The raft is again strafed by German planes and some men are killed or wounded. Shorty Blake recalls in flashback how he met his wife-to-be, Freda, on a train while on leave. She is related to the ''Torrin''{{'}}s affable Chief Petty Officer Hardy. When both men return to sea, Freda moves in with Hardy's wife and mother-in-law.

The ''Torrin'' participates in the [[Dunkirk evacuation]] of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] (portrayed in the film by the 5th Battalion of the [[Coldstream Guards]]). Blake gets a letter to say that Freda has given birth to his son during the [[Plymouth Blitz]], but that Hardy's wife and mother-in-law were killed. He has to tell Hardy, who is writing a letter home, the bitter news.

The survivors on the life raft watch the ''Torrin'' finally sink. Captain Kinross leads a final "three cheers" for the ''Torrin''. A British destroyer soon begins rescuing the men. Captain Kinross talks to the survivors and collects addresses from the dying.

Telegrams are sent to the crew's loved ones. Kinross addresses the ship's survivors in a military depot in [[Alexandria]] in Egypt. He tells them that although they lost their ship and many friends, who now "lie together in fifteen hundred fathoms", he notes that these losses should inspire them to fight even harder in the battles to come. Captain Kinross then shakes hands with all the ratings as they leave the depot. When the last man goes, the emotionally tired captain silently acknowledges his surviving officers before walking away.

An epilogue concludes: Bigger and stronger ships are being launched to avenge the ''Torrin''; Britain is an island nation with a proud, indefatigable people; Captain Kinross is now in command of a [[battleship]]. Its massive main guns fire at the enemy.

==Cast==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Noël Coward]] as Captain E. V. Kinross
* [[Bernard Miles]] as Chief Petty Officer Walter Hardy
* [[John Mills]] as Ordinary Seaman Shorty Blake
* [[Celia Johnson]] as Alix Kinross
* [[Joyce Carey]] as Kath Hardy
* [[Kay Walsh]] as Freda Lewis
* [[Michael Wilding]] as Flags
* [[Derek Elphinstone]] as No 1
* [[Leslie Dwyer]] as Parkinson
* [[James Donald]] as Doc
* [[Philip Friend]] as Torps
* [[Frederick Piper]] as Edgecombe
* [[Richard Attenborough]] as Young Stoker (originally uncredited)
*[[Ballard Berkeley]] as Chiefy (Commander 'E')
* [[Kathleen Harrison]] as Mrs Blake
* [[George Carney]] as Mr Blake
* [[Daniel Massey (actor)|Daniel Massey]] as Bobby Kinross
* [[Ann Stephens]] as Lavinia Kinross
* [[Walter Fitzgerald]] as Colonel Lumsden
* [[Hubert Gregg]] as Pilot
* [[Penelope Dudley-Ward]] as Maureen
* [[Juliet Mills]] as Shorty Blake's baby
}}

==Production==
Shortly after his play ''[[Blithe Spirit (play)|Blithe Spirit]]'' opened in the West End in July 1941, Noël Coward was approached by [[Anthony Havelock-Allan]], who was working with the production company [[Two Cities Films]]. Its founder, [[Filippo Del Giudice]], was interested in making a propaganda film and wanted someone well-known to write the screenplay.

===Screenplay development===
Coward agreed to work on the project as long as the subject was the [[Royal Navy]], and he was given complete control.<ref>[[#Hoare|Hoare]], p. 322</ref>

As the sinking of {{HMS|Kelly}} on 23 May 1941 was still on Coward's mind, he decided to use the ship's demise as the basis for his script. Mountbatten, aware that there was some public antipathy to his political ambitions, agreed to support the project as long as it was not a conspicuous biography of his own experiences. In order to do research, Coward visited the [[HMNB Devonport|naval base]] in [[Plymouth]], where [[Michael Redgrave]], with whom he was in a relationship at the time, was stationed. He also visited [[Portsmouth]] and the [[Home Fleet]] at [[Scapa Flow]], where he sailed on {{HMS|Nigeria|60|6}}.<ref>[[#Hoare|Hoare]], pp. 323–24</ref>

Coward spent the final months of 1941 drafting a screenplay. However, when he submitted it to Havelock-Allan, the producer told him the film would run between eight and nine hours if it was made as written because it included lengthy scenes in [[Paris]], [[China]], and the [[West Indies]]. Havelock-Allan told Coward he needed to trim the plot down to the basics by eliminating everything that was not related to the ''Torrin'' or its crew. Heeding the advice, Coward started his story with the laying of the ship's keel in 1939 and concluded it soon after it sank off the coast of Crete.<ref>[[#Hoare|Hoare]], pp. 324–25</ref> For the speech at the end of the film, when Capt. Kinross addresses the survivors from the ''Torrin'' in Alexandria, Coward used the real speech that Mountbatten gave to the surviving crew of HMS ''Kelly'' after they were rescued and taken to Egypt.<ref name="Mountbatten"/><ref>{{cite book|title=The Book of Military Quotations|first=Peter G.|last=Tsouras|publisher=Zenith Imprint|year=2005|isbn=0-7603-2340-2|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BDgnD0omDo0C&q=kelly+survivors+there+isn%27t+one+of+you+mountbatten&pg=PA89 81]}}</ref>

===Pre-production roles===
Coward was determined to portray Captain Kinross in the film despite the studio's concern that his public "dressing gown and cigarette-holder" persona might make it difficult for audiences to accept him in the role of a tough navy man. Havelock-Allan supported him, although he later called his performance "always interesting, if not quite convincing." Coward also needed to convince the censors that the sinking of the ship was a crucial scene and not the threat to public morale they perceived it to be.<ref>[[#Hoare|Hoare]], pp. 325–26</ref>

Coward had experience directing plays, but he was a novice when it came to films, and he knew he needed to surround himself with professionals if the project was to succeed. He had seen and admired [[Ronald Neame]]'s work and he hired him as [[cinematography|cinematographer]] and chief [[lighting technician]].<ref name="Hoare, p. 323">[[#Hoare|Hoare]], p. 323</ref> The Italian film director [[Filippo Del Giudice]] was released from his internment as an enemy alien to work on the film at Coward's insistence. MI5 supplied [[Ann Elwell]] as his secretary. She was translating for him as he took on the role of art director and she also did some scriptwriting.<ref name="odnb">{{Cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-60758|title=Elwell [née Glass], Ann Catherine (1922–1996), intelligence officer and diplomat {{!}} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/60758|access-date=2019-03-04}}</ref> Coward could handle the direction of the actors but would be at a loss with the action scenes, so he asked [[David Lean]] to supervise the filming of those. ''In Which We Serve'' proved to be the first of several films on which the two would collaborate.<ref name="Hoare, p. 323"/>

===Filming===
Shooting began at [[Denham Studios]] on 5 February 1942. From the start, Coward was happy to let production crew members take charge in their areas of expertise while he concentrated on directing the actors and creating his own portrayal of Kinross. However, he soon became bored with the mechanics of filmmaking and after six weeks he came to the studio only when scenes in which he appeared were being filmed.<ref name=h326>[[#Hoare|Hoare]], p.&nbsp;326–31</ref> At one point, he invited the royal family to the set and [[newsreel]] footage of their visit proved to be good publicity for the film.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/PFy_Q-Sg5wY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160324145217/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFy_Q-Sg5wY Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFy_Q-Sg5wY|title=Royal Family at Denham Studios (NO SOUND) |date=21 July 2015 |publisher=[[Movietone News|British Movietone News]]|access-date=30 July 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

During the filming, the character of Albert Fosdike, "Shorty" Blake's brother-in-law, was recast after actor [[William Hartnell]] turned up late for his first day of shooting. Coward berated Hartnell in front of cast and crew for his unprofessionalism. He then made him personally apologise to everyone before sacking him. [[Michael Anderson (director)|Michael Anderson]], the film's [[First Assistant Director|first-assistant director]], took over the part (credited as "Mickey Anderson").<ref>{{cite book |last=Hoare |first=Philip |title=Noël Coward: A Biography |url=https://archive.org/details/nolcowardbiogr00hoar |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-684-80937-3 |ref=Hoare}}Page unspecified.</ref>

Coward was anxious that it succeed, not only because it was his first film project, but because he felt it was his contribution to the war effort and he wanted it to be perceived as such by the public. The première was a gala event held as a benefit for several naval charities and Coward was pleased to see a large presence of military personnel.<ref name=h326/>

Richard Attenborough appeared as a sailor deserting his post under fire. His name and character were omitted from the original release-print credits but were subsequently added.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/obituaries--archive/obituaries/obituary-richard-attenborough | title=Obituary: Richard Attenborough }}</ref>

===Locations===
Interiors were filmed at [[Denham Studios]], in [[Denham, Buckinghamshire|Denham]], [[Buckinghamshire]]. 
The destroyer {{HMAS|Nepal|G25|6}} played HMS ''Torrin''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cassells |first=Vic |title=The Destroyers: their battles and their badges |year=2000 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=East Roseville, NSW |isbn=0-7318-0893-2 |oclc=46829686 |page=60}}</ref> The Kinross family picnic scene, set during the [[Battle of Britain]] in 1940, was filmed on location on the [[Dunstable Downs]] in [[Bedfordshire]]. The pennant number of the ship in the exteriors is F12, which is HMS Kashmir, not Nepal. And as the movie was loosely based on the sinking of her sister, this would be appropriate.

Although the filmmakers took great care to conceal locations because of wartime censorship, scenes were shot at [[Plymouth]]'s [[HMNB Devonport|naval dockyard]] in Devon and the naval station on the [[Isle of Portland]]. For example, the departure of Blake and Hardy was filmed in front of Devonport's original main entrance, the Keyham Dock Gate. <!-- It's quite obvious from watching the scene that the location is real (https://www.francisfrith.com/devonport/devonport-keyham-dock-gate-1890_22451) but a painted screen has been erected through the gate – probably a requirement of wartime censorship (although there is some debate as to whether this was an interior studio shot)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reelstreets.com/films/in-which-we-serve/|title=In Which We Serve|website=reelstreets.com|access-date=4 October 2019}}</ref>  -->[[Smeaton's Tower]] on the seafront at [[Plymouth Hoe]] was used for the shore-leave scenes between Shorty Blake (Mills) and his wife Freda ([[Kay Walsh]]).

==Reception==
[[File:"In Which We Serve" Advertisement 1943.jpg|thumb|An advertisement for the film in a 1943 edition of the American magazine ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'']]

===Box office===
The film was the second most popular movie at the British box office in 1943.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xtGIAgAAQBAJ&q=hungry+hill+film+box+office&pg=PA209 Robert Murphy, ''Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939–48'' 2003 p. 206]</ref> (According to ''Kinematograph Weekly'' the film was the most popular.<ref>{{cite book |page=231 |title=Blackout: reinventing women for wartime British cinema |last=Lant |first=Antonia |year=1991 |publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref>)

The film was one of the most successful British films ever released in the US, earning [[USD|$]]1.8 million in rentals (${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|1800000|1947}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}} dollars{{Inflation-fn|US}}).<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/stream/variety165-1947-02#page/n197/mode/1up/search/cleo |title='Cleo' Figures $2,250,000 from U.S. Market |magazine=Variety |date=26 February 1947 |page=20 |access-date=26 March 2017}}</ref>

===Critics===
[[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' observed, "There have been other pictures which have vividly and movingly conveyed in terms of human emotion the cruel realities of this present war. None has yet done it so sharply and so truly as ''In Which We Serve''...&nbsp;For the great thing which Mr. Coward has accomplished in this film is a full and complete expression of national fortitude&nbsp;... Yes, this is truly a picture in which the British may take a wholesome pride and we may regard as an excellent expression of British strength."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E02E2D61E3AE43AA15757C2A9649D946393D6CF|title='In Which We Serve,' Depicting Cruel Realities of This War, Is Presented at Capitol. Noel Coward Heads Cast.|newspaper=The New York Times|date=24 December 1942 |last1=Crowther |first1=Bosley }}</ref>

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' called the film "a grim tale sincerely picturized and splendidly acted throughout" and added, "Only one important factor calls for criticism. It is that all the details are too prolonged. The author-producer-scriptwriter-composer and co-director gives a fine performance as the captain of the vessel, but acting honors also go to the entire company. Stark realism is the keynote of the writing and depiction, with no glossing of the sacrifices constantly being made by the sailors."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1941/film/reviews/in-which-we-serve-1200413872/ |title=''Variety'' review|date=January 1942 }}</ref>

===Naval response===
Despite largely positive reviews by audiences and critics alike, the film was not well received by some within the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]] who dubbed it "''In Which We Sink''".<ref name="Mountbatten">{{cite book|title=From Battenberg to Mountbatten|publisher=Barker |first=E. H.|last=Cookridge|year=1966|page=181}}</ref>

===Awards and nominations===
On Christmas Eve 1942 in New York the [[National Board of Review of Motion Pictures]] honoured the film as the [[National Board of Review Awards 1942|Best English Language Film of the Year]], citing [[Bernard Miles]] and [[John Mills]] for their performances.

The film was nominated in the 1943 [[Academy Awards]] for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] and [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] (losing out to ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'' and ''[[Princess O'Rourke]]'' respectively). However, Coward was presented with an [[Academy Honorary Award]] for "his outstanding production achievement."

''In Which We Serve'' also won the [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film]] (beating ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'') and the [[Argentine Film Critics Association Awards|Argentine Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Film]] in 1943.

==Home media==
A [[DVD region code#2|Region 2]] DVD with a running time of 96 minutes was released by [[Carlton Communications|Carlton]] on 11 October 1999. A Region 1 DVD was released as part of the David Lean Collection by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] on 7 September 2004. It features subtitles in English, Spanish, and French and an English audio track in Dolby Digital 1.0. In March 2012 The Criterion Collection released ''In Which We Serve'' on Blu-ray and DVD as part of the 'David Lean Directs Noël Coward' box set, which includes a short documentary on the making of ''In Which We Serve''.<ref>{{cite web |title=In Which We Serve |url=https://www.criterion.com/films/28185-in-which-we-serve |publisher=Criterion Collection}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[BFI Top 100 British films]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Hoare |first=Philip |title=Noël Coward: A Biography |url=https://archive.org/details/nolcowardbiogr00hoar |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1995 |isbn=0-684-80937-0 |ref=Hoare}}
* {{cite book|last=Vermilye|first= Jerry|title=The Great British Films|publisher=Citadel Press|year= 1978| isbn= 0-8065-0661-X}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title}}
* {{TCMDb title}}
* {{Mojo title}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2219-in-which-we-serve-battle-stations "In Which We Serve: Battle Stations"] an essay by [[Terrence Rafferty]] at the [[Criterion Collection]]
* [https://archive.org/download/Lux08/Lux_1943-06-21_InWhichWeServe.mp3 ''In Which We Serve''] on [[Lux Radio Theater]]: 21 June 1943
* [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_which_we_serve In Which We Serve] at Rotten Tomatoes
* {{Screenonline title|477131}}

{{David Lean}}
{{Noël Coward musicals}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Film}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film}}

[[Category:1942 films]]
[[Category:British war drama films]]
[[Category:1940s war drama films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:World War II films made in wartime]]
[[Category:Films about the Royal Navy in World War II]]
[[Category:Films directed by David Lean]]
[[Category:Films directed by Noël Coward]]
[[Category:Films set in 1939]]
[[Category:Films set in 1940]]
[[Category:Films set in 1941]]
[[Category:Films set in Crete]]
[[Category:Films set on ships]]
[[Category:1942 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:Battle of Crete]]
[[Category:Films produced by Noël Coward]]
[[Category:1942 drama films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Clifton Parker]]
[[Category:1942 British films]]
[[Category:Lord Mountbatten]]