Amazon.co.uk Review
Charles Crichton is fondly remembered for his Ealing comedies,
The Lavender Hill Mob and
The Titfield Thunderbolt as well as for his later swansong,
A Fish Called Wanda, but long before those he directed this little-known Ealing drama in 1944.
For Those in Peril belongs to that peculiar genre of wartime features that are part-fiction, part-documentary, part-propaganda (
Coastal Command in 1942 was another in similar vein). In this case, the flimsy story is designed to raise awareness of a little-known branch of the RAF, the Sea Rescue Boats. Pilot Officer Rawlings (Ralph Michael) reluctantly joins the crew of a rescue boat and is introduced to nautical life by skipper Murray (David Farrar). After experiencing the mundane day-to-day routine, Rawlings learns how important their task is when they are called in to rescue the crew of a bomber shot-down in mid-channel. Not only is there thick fog and a minefield to deal with, but a German gunboat is looking for the airmen, too. And just when they seem to have accomplished the rescue, they are shelled by long-range guns from the French coast and strafed by the Luftwaffe. All in a day's work.
Crichton injects some melodrama into proceedings--one of the principal characters dies at the end--but his close ups of nervous faces and effects shots of exploding ships and planes exist simply to enhance the documentary aspect of the story. Actors and dialogue take second place to the depiction of what was, at the time of filming, an important part of the war effort. "Of course, the RMLs have got that pom-pom on the foc'sle," comments Murray matter-of-factly amid a barrage of similar naval jargon. Looking back on it now, For Those in Peril should not be considered a movie as such, more a fascinating historical account of the dark days of war in the English Channel. --Mark Walker
Synopsis
The story of a member of a World War II Air Sea Rescue who saves the lives of many downed RAF pilots.
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