Wow! Such a good movie.

one of my absolute favorites!

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

I thought it was refreshing to see a WW2 film where the German characters are the protagonists for a change, even though I ended up supporting the British side. But THE SEA CHASE commits a case of epic miscasting in putting John Wayne in the role of the German captain. You know, John Wayne, the all-American western actor. You can't get much MORE American, so he never convinces as a German for a second.Aside from the miscasting, THE SEA CHASE tells an interesting, sea-bound tale that occasionally reminded me of the Jack Higgins novel STORM WARNING, albeit with less tension. And that's the problem with this lengthy film: there's no suspense, even though there are some good set-pieces including the occasional shock here and there. The story just sort of plods along while the Lana Turner characters adds extra cliché and slows things down even more.There's never a sense of pursuit or real menace here, or even survival against the odds. Instead the writers go through the motions, putting all of that effort into setting the scene and location and then not doing much with it. The ensemble cast members are fine but nothing much really happens and I was twiddling my thumbs at times. And the end looks like they ran out of money, it's so cheaply achieved.

"Sea Chase" may often be dismissed as 50s kitsch but a look below the surface will reveal the sub - text of loyalty,patriotism,friendship, courage and responsibility.These are obviously important attributes and a film that explores them deserves to be taken a little more seriously than has previously been the case. Accepting the perhaps questionable premise that there were Nazi - hating officers in the German Merchant Navy at the outbreak of the second world war,it is reasonable to assume that they,like Mr Wayne,would display a "My country - right or wrong" attitude and rather than allow their ship to be captured by the enemy,would attempt a hazardous long voyage back home. Whilst stopping for provisions at Auckland Island,a Nazi crew member murders a group of stranded fishermen,an act that,when it is discovered by the pursuing Royal Navy,is classified as a War Crime and Wayne and his crew War Criminals. Stopping off at Valparaiso,Wayne is forced by the German Ambassador to fudge the truth for the sake of his county's reputation. Shamed by this act and appalled when he discovers the Nazis have betrayed his position to the British to allow ease of movement for Warships and to prevent the truth of the massacre at Auckland Island coming out,he orders his crew into the boats and makes a suicidal attempt to ram the ship pursuing him. As a former officer of the Imperial German Navy he would almost certainly be an aristocrat,certainly an autocrat who runs his ship with by a kind of benign dictatorship. His crew may not like him but they sure as hell respect him. Mr Wayne is about as Un-Germanic as is possible,but his, nationality is in fact irrelevant as he represents the decent man overtaken by events outside his control who does what he thinks best living by his own code. His opponent is a Britsh Naval Lieutenant - perhaps a little elderly for such a rank - a former friend whom Wayne has warned off about a German spy (Miss Lana Turner)to whom the Lieutenant has become engaged to be married.He is played by Mr D.Farrar who had a brief second string career portraying such types,but lacks any sort of substance. Wayne is forced by the German Consul in Sydney to take Miss Turner on board one step ahead of the British Security Service. There is one wonderful scene where she and Mr Lyle Betger(the Nazi responsible for killing the fishermen) listen to Wagner on the ship's phonograph,Miss Turner giving every impression of being transported by the music. The Duke falls for Miss Turner in a rare moment of vulnerability. Eventually Mr Farrar catches up with Duke's ship and blows it,Wayne,Miss Turner and Mr Betger out of the water. Then he reads the ship's log brought aboard by Mr J.Arness one of Wayne's rescued crew and discovers that Duke didn't commit a War crime after all,Betger did,but Wayne bore the responsibility of the act as a good captain should,I would like to think that Mr Farrar then thought "oh bugger!" but this was wartime so he probably didn't. A better movie,then,in my opinion,than it is usually taken for,"Sea Chase" highlights the supposition that good men can still do right even in the worst of times.

After wading through our modern crop of difficult, complicated productions it was refreshing to watch this little number. Not unlike diving into that Pacific ocean.It's not ground breaking. It's not even a work of genius. But isn't that the point and the purpose of a film ? A lesson that many directors seem to have forgotten these days with films that always have to try and out do one another. Be "clever clever", or make some drawn out post modern social commentary. I don't know about you, but I go to see a film to have a break from those things. To relax.The scene where Wayne and Turner talk in a clearing is natural. I could have stumbled in on their conversation out of the trees. There seems to be no effort in what they do. Who's paying these people !? I want to see sweat and tears ! Oh wait, they're acting.The story is obscure in an attractive sort of way .. not unlike another Wayne film "Blood Alley", but is told in that easy way that seems to come to matinees. Dropping off the screen like some dog eared work of fiction that you read on holiday.

What was with John Wayne in the 1950s?! Perhaps it was because he often produced his own films or had great star power, but whatever the reason, he chose some of the weirdest parts to play. Think about it...during this era he played Genghis Khan, a diplomat to Japan, an Air Force pilot (this isn't so weird, but his counterpart was Janet Leigh as a Russian pilot!!) and here he plays a German ship's captain during WWII!! At least here he is a German who dislikes the Nazis....but still...Wayne fighting for Germany during the war?! That's so surreal! The film begins just days before WWII begins. Wayne is having a conversation with an old friend who is a captain in the British Navy. This officer is trying to convince Wayne to leave his boat and come with him, as he knows that Wayne hates Hitler and the Nazis. However, Wayne's sense of duty and loyalty to his country prevent him from doing anything other than command his ship.When the war begins, Wayne is concerned to first evade his friend's warship as well as avoid being captured once they are underway. So, it's a never-ending battle to take this merchant vessel to small ports where they can get food and fuel--and somehow possibly make it back to port at Valparaiso and eventually back to Germany.What Wayne doesn't know is that his over-zealous Nazi of a first officer murders two innocent fishermen when they stop to get provisions. Later, when the British Navy discovers this atrocity, Wayne's old friend is determined to destroy the merchant ship and make Wayne pay.During all this time, there inexplicably is a woman aboard. Apparently, she (Lana Turner) is a spy who needs to get away as soon as possible or she'll be captured. Once on board, she generally is a nuisance as she seems petulant and nasty for no particular reason. Later, naturally, sparks fly between Turner and Wayne--though the reason for this seemed a bit forced and illogical.Let's talk more about Wayne and Turner. Although casting Wayne was odd, he handled the job well provided you were able to believe he was German. He did a good job and his character was particularly written well. As for Turner, she seemed like a giant walking cliché. She was moody and curt but over time she became enamored with Wayne. This turnaround was really too much, as she seemed all emotions and fickleness--a truly shallow and silly character (Turner, by the way, was good at these sort of roles). Late in the film, off the coast of Norway, the dialog (particularly hers) is really, really bad--very sticky and dumb.Overall, a pretty interesting tale that didn't really need Lana Turner's character. She was a diversion in an otherwise engaging tale.