The Key (1958) User Reviews

The girl in the flat

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 25 August 2005]

Carol Reed's "The Key" is a forgotten film, or so it seems. It was a rare occasion when it showed up the other night on TCM. This film presents a different side of WWII that many of us are not aware of. We are given an account of England's way of rescuing ships that have been attacked at sea and the courageous men that commanded those small vessels to bring the damaged ones to safe haven. The film is based on a novel by the Dutch writer Jan de Hartog, with a screen play by Carl Foreman. The film was photographed in white and white by Oswald Morris and has an interesting music score by Malcom Arnold.

The film capitalizes on the rescue operations, which are reproduced in vivid detail by Mr. Reed and his crew. The ocean settings have a poetic look, at times. The story is set before America's entry into the war and we are introduced to David Ross, who is assigned to the rescuing team. Ross happens to know one of the captains in the operation, Chris Ford, who in turn, takes an interest in him and hands him a duplicate of the key to his flat. Little does Ross knows what awaits him there.

Trevor Howard is excellent as Capt. Ford. This actor showed an inner integrity no matter what role he played. Sophia Loren is Stella, the mysterious girl who lives in the flat and seems to bring out emotions from all the men that share the apartment. At the same time, she seems to be a jinx to all the men that she comes in contact with. Ms. Loren gives a subtle performance. William Holden, is also effective as Capt. Ross. Bernard Lee, Oskar Homolka and Kieron Moore do excellent work under Mr. Reed's direction.

"The Key" is an interesting look at the way the war was fought at sea and Mr. Reed makes a compelling account of those days.

Enlightening chapter on little known WW II operations

[cougarblue · 8/10 · 12 June 2008]

If I were to explain to someone this film's plot in a nutshell, some church lady and maybe others will label this film as some kind of a pinnacle of adultery. In reality any sexual content is needed to add to the hopelessness faced by those who heroically undertook to save the lives of the English, Danish, Swedes, Americans, surviving Nazi attacks on North Sea shipping. You compare the brave men facing extremely high odds of losing their lives in the rescues to the first Marines on the Normandy beaches on June 7, 1944, seen in "The Longest Day", or the B-17 pilots engaged in daylight bombing as portrayed in "12 O' Clock High". This is a war film only slightly just as "Barefoot in the Park" is not a movie about a park. The Key is not listed with all the other WW II movies, because it's less war than a study in how one copes with certain death. Ms Loren is at her best playing the girl who goes with the apartment, Trevor Howard, the British steady in almost every WW II classic is superb. The next holder of the "Key" is Sunset Blvd.'s William Holden, playing the same brooding, sullen, character we are used to. I'm close to adding Mr. Holden to the list of actors playing themselves along with Dean Martin, Burt Reynolds, Gig Young, and many others. However at the end, you are victim of a huge surprise, when a battle battered, nearly drowned, Holden unexpectedly returns to the apartment, to find the next in line already holding court. He breaks with his type casting at that point and you're treated to a great ending. Not wanting to reveal the entire idea behind the key, I'm been very vague, but as I added the characters and the roles they played, I've created more confusion than I intended. Let me try to do a short outline on The Key. A rescue boat captain rents an apartment near the South Hampton docks, which includes the beautiful Sophia Loren. Knowing his life has "the same length as a lit match", he copies the key forcing it on a close friend, so that friend, (also a rescue boat captain) may take over the apartment in the occasion of his death. The process repeats itself three times when Trevor Howard becomes the key holder, and the film picks up here. On the very day the Howard character has set to marry the Ms. Loren character the film becomes a hanky grabber. You may only be able to catch this great movie on TCM, but if you are a fan of Loren, Howard or Holden, DO NOT miss it. You will be touched, saddened, then given a good dose of hope.

Lots of talent but modest results

[dinky-4 · 7/10 · 19 April 2004]

It's both surprising and disappointing that this 1958 film has been virtually forgotten. If for no other reason than the amount of talent involved in its making, it deserves continuing recognition. The script, for example, came from Carl Foreman, (adapted from a Jan de Hartog novel), Sir Carol Reed directed, Malcolm Arnold provided the score and Oswald Morris photographed in black-and-white CinemaScope. Heading the cast are William Holden, just fading from his #1 status, and Sophia Loren, just nearing her #1 status. Trevor Howard provides fine support.

Despite all these assets, however, the movie doesn't quite take off. It's consistently interesting but never really engrossing. Scenes alternate between wartime action in the Atlantic and domestic drama inside a small apartment but neither aspect of the movie seems to provide it with a solid core. It all somehow seems a bit tentative and slightly oblique.

Michael Caine is said to play a small part here. William Holden has a brief shirtless scene which indicates, at the time of filming, he was still in his shaved-chest mode.

Good English wartime melodrama

[Zen Bones · 7 March 2004]

Sophia Loren shines in a rather somber role as a woman in England who obstinately attaches herself to British naval officers that are involved in some of the most dangerous assignments in the war. Their job is to try to rescue the crews and cargo of ships that have been destroyed by Nazi ships or submarines. Since the Nazis know exactly where the battle took place, they know where the rescue ships are going to be, so the death rate among the rescue teams is very high. The great Trevor Howard gives a wonderfully understated performance, and William Holden also holds his own very well. The film is rather slow, though I prefer to call it casually paced. The wartime atmosphere of southern England is illustrated with good detail, and the action sequences are well-choreographed and suspenseful. It's not a great film, but I prefer it to most of those 'stiff upper lip' wartime melodramas that England and Hollywood produced in the forties.

Well acted drama

[Panamint · 7/10 · 20 September 2015]

'The Key" is a good movie but I sometimes wonder why so many films are made with wartime psychological themes. Probably it is simply because authors and film makers find wartime a ripe territory for drama. I have two problems with this. First, it is just too blatantly obvious that wars cause intense emotions and psychological issues. Wars always cause heroic but also desperate and aberrant human response. Second problem- war fighting is necessarily a morbid process.

Carl Forman's hard hitting style is applied to the emotional swamp that is wartime psychology in "The Key". Fortunately it is an extremely well acted film with excellent performances, and also features well staged Atlantic ocean battle sequences with real ships on the bleak, menacing North Atlantic. Wide screen black and white filming is excellent for the Atlantic war action and it is a fact that color filming is not necessary here. And black and white suits the downbeat nature of this story which will of course include nothing sunny or upbeat.

"The Key" is a serious, relentlessly grim drama that will probably hold your attention despite being a little slow in spots. Malcolm Arnold contributes one of his masterpiece film scores. Arnold was a genius.

Very Unusual Story

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 13 June 2008]

This film tells the story about Tug Boats being utilized by England during 1941 in order to try and salvage damaged ships which were hit by German U Boats. David Ross, (William Holden) is an American assigned to one of these Tugs which are poorly armed, with guns that do not function when needed. David has not been on a tug in over ten years and meets up with an old chum named Capt. Chris Ford, (Trevor Howard) who shares an apartment with a very attractive gal named Stella, (Sophia Loren) who seems to like Tug Boat Captains as she has had many Captains who have died once she gives them a key to her apartment. The story makes a complete turn when Chris gives David a key to the apartment and that is when the trouble starts to happen. There is plenty of action, drama and romance. Great film with an outstanding story and Sophia Loren looked great at the age of 24 years. WOW

Was Sophia a Jinx?

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 29 July 2004]

This is a curious film. A gritty, tough realistic movie during the action sequences at sea, but when the story shifts to land and Sophia Loren and the men her life, it's dull and lifeless.

Trevor Howard and Bill Holden are men numbers three and four in refugee Sophia Loren's life. The key is the key to her apartment which the guys make duplicates of and pass on to friends. Right after that's done, the giver is killed at sea.

Howard and Holden are tugboat captains assigned to tugs who go out to the open sea and pick up crippled freighters bringing needed war supplies to Great Britain during World War II and tow them in. The tugs are poorly armed and barely sea worthy and are easy marks for the

Germans. It's hard tough work and director Carol Reed does a superb job showing that. This is one of the least glamorized war movies I've ever seen. The men are fatalistic to say the least, but especially around Sophia as if the Nazis weren't enough to worry about.

Sophia Loren is a lovely thing of beauty and certainly a pleasure to watch, but her scenes with her two male co-stars have absolutely no spark at all.

If you watch this I recommend you fast forward the romance and get to the action.

Needs to be edited down.

[imbluzclooby · 6/10 · 2 March 2023]

The Key (1958) is a pretty good wartime drama with some good acting and enough suspense to keep us interested. The problem is that it needs to be edited down by at least 15 minutes. Especially, the seafaring missions on the tugboats. Some the this seems to drag on a bit too long and made me lethargic. Some effective usage of WW2 battlements, sounds and warfare are done well, but we don't need to drag out these scenes needlessy.

William Holden, Sophia Loren and Trevor Howard each give good performances. Sophia's delivers a rare understated and soft-spoken performance which is perfectly correct since she is the woman in question. Trevor Howard musters up a cantankerous voice for his weather beaten British sailor character. William Holden is himself naturally.

I particularly liked the metaphysical /supernatural element to this story since war movies are often too rehashed and derivative of other war movies. This had an interesting plot device. I must have watched the extended version of 2.5 hours plus. It's just too long. Strangely, the ending is not your typical Hollywood ending with a happy ending.

Unsurpassed

[crr47-1 · 10/10 · 15 February 2008]

As a master (captain) of salvage tugs I can attest to the incredible reality of the shipboard scenes. I have seen no other film that rivals the scenes shot at sea for this film. I found the film riveting for both the action at sea, and the drama ashore.

The plot develops as the characters develop. Will the ship complete her mission? Will the captain return to the apartment? Will the characters overcome the obstacles before them, both emotionally and physically?

Trevor Howard is the perfect old salt, full of bravado, yet terrified.

William Holden, the optimistic American.

Sophia Loren played the role of Stella perfectly! She is the despondent, cynical, war shocked shell in whom we are drawn to share William Holden's hope.

I was mesmerized to the end.

Unusual war story with a romantic slant: Sophia Loren as an 'unglamorous' woman of convenience...

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 27 March 2009]

Jan de Hartog's novel "Stella" becomes interesting, erratic, uneven WWII battle story mixed with romantic melodrama. William Holden, an American sergeant with the Canadian Army, is transferred to England to captain a rescue-tugboat in U-boat-infested Atlantic waters; the job inadvertently comes with a flat and a resident girl (Sophia Loren, an Italian by way of Switzerland!). Carol Reed directs the shipboard battle sequences well, but there's too much intricate detail (bombs going off, waves rocking the ships, crews scrambling the decks) that one loses sight of the main characters. Holden has some wonderful moments early on--fearful of his new position, nervous about his first day on the job--and his gaining respect from his men is one of the highlights of the picture. Loren has much less to work with...and in much less time; every so often she has a frightening premonition, or she's cooking, cleaning, or getting out of the tub. The bit with the apartment key near the end (passing it along before a treacherous assignment) is pure balderdash, and even talented Holden can't make the final scenes work. Very nice cinematography from Oswald Morris, sumptuous scoring by Malcolm Arnold; yet, overall, the picture is a minor one. ** from ****

A Neglected Masterwork

[Garranlahan · 10/10 · 6 June 2006]

An extraordinary movie in every way, from the combat scenes, which are so lifelike as virtually to constitute a documentary, to the superb acting by every single member of the cast, including each of the supporting players. But the very highest praise must go to Sophia Loren's absolutely stunning performance (not to mention her uncanny command of English at so early an age). Her quiet, dignified, and restrained interpretation of her very unusual and extremely demanding role is simply in a class by itself. I have never been able to get her graceful performance out of my mind. This is one of those movies of great merit, bewitched from the start, that simply disappear from public and critical consciousness---never to be recalled or mentioned even when, for example, the careers of Loren, Holden, or Trevor Howard are discussed. It is as if it were never made at all. A great shame.

Odd and eerie

[HotToastyRag · 2/10 · 12 November 2018]

The Key is a combination of two films: a war movie and a creepy romance. Neither one of them is very good, so the end result is an odd black-and-white war movie in the late 1950s with romantic scenes forced in every ten minutes. Amazingly enough, they managed to make Sophia Loren look homely, and the love scenes between her and William Holden are laughable at worst and awkward at best. If you're interested in naval wartime movies, there are hundreds of others you can rent.

William Holden joins a group of rescue ships under the command of Trevor Howard. Trevor has a salty, crusty character that's unlikable and unimaginative-and he also has a mistress who's slightly nuts. Sophia Loren lives in an apartment haunted by the memories of all her dead sailor boyfriends. Every time one of them dies, the key to her apartment gets handed off to another man, who then hands it off to another friend in the off-chance he dies. It doesn't sound like much fun for Sophia, does it? It's no wonder she's not convincing in her love scenes. Bill tries to make up for it by overexaggerating his sighs and moony eyes, but it feels pretty ridiculous at times.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie is not your friend. The boat scenes are filmed with a bobbing camera, and several shots are randomly tilted. It will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!" Seriously, you can skip this one. Chance are, if you're looking for a war movie, you'll fast-forward the love scenes, and if you're looking for a romance, you'll fast-forward the battle scenes. Why not pick something else for tonight?

Under-appreciated Carol Reed does it again

[raskimono · 9/10 · 26 August 2005]

A deceptive war drama which is really a fantastical love story in the vein of Billy Wilder's LOve in the Afternoon. William Holden plays the lead, and what character does he play but a reluctant dogged, selfish seeming individual who resists authority and wears cynicism on his face, mien and posture like a pair of brown well-trodden in sandals. No one did better and he does it excellently yet again. America is yet to enter WWII but Holden is sent to join the Britisn Navy and commandeer tug boats who make rescue missions for other vessels but carry no ammunitions to defend themselves. Thus when called up, the men know they are goners, thus they are known as suicide missions. Sophia who might just be the best foreign actress completely nails her part as the unkempt woman who has lost her will to live when the war took the lives of her family leaving her alone in the world. Therefore, she becomes a kept woman in an apartment, where the key of the title is passed by men who see themselves as goners on a suicide mission to the next fellow who takes up residence till he gets his own suicide call. The scenes are gritty and the ocean scenes realistic in the style of the French new wave. Trevor Howard is fantastic as the man who breaks Holden in and their camaraderie anchors the movie. The score is strange and the way director Reed paces and uses shadows, you think it might turn into a horror movie anytime soon but he is really planting the seeds of love in our heads. Based on a novel by Jan de hartog a Tony winning playwright, the adaptation is fantastic, true and not preachy. As Holden does everything to stay alive and Loren does everything not to, the question of why do we live that everyone asks is tested. The last fifteen minutes and breaks, copies and redounds the rules of this to and ending that is well deserved and earned. Mr. carol Reed , thank you for the effort. Thsi movie which underperformed in the US was a smash hit overseas, a tradition that would become part of Sophia's career. Sophia who at this point had not shown any real proclivity for drama walks like a shining gem and shows why she is one of the few foreign actresses to be nominated more than once for the Oscar in a foreign language performance. Well done!

war story

[Kirpianuscus · 13 June 2017]

a war story. special for the manner to reflect it. for the scenes of confrontation, for the minimalist and impressive performance of Sophia Loren, for grow up of his character of William Holden and for the flavor - mix of cinnamon and ashes - . its great virtue - the inspired equilibrium between slices of docudrama and a love story who escapes to the easy definitions. result - a memorable film, exploring the war theme from provocative angle, giving an inspired portrait of states and emotions, work of a wise director who knows use , with great impact, the story for a delicate and precise , admirable result.

This "Key" Unlocks Nothing *

[edwagreen · 1/10 · 25 August 2008]

Absolutely miserable film despite the wonderful Bill Holden, Sophia Loren and Trevor Howard starring in it.

This picture never takes off. Holden, in the Canadian army, goes over to England to work on a tug only to meet old-time pal Howard. The latter is sharing an apartment with Sophia Loren, who appears to tragically jinx everyone she is involved with.

We have some bombings, mass destruction but what is the basic story line here?

How fortunate Howard was to be a victim of a blast here. In that way, he could get away from this nonsense.

Sir Carol Reed many some many fine pictures during his long, distinguished career including 1968's Oscar winning "Oliver!" This film, "The Key," is a dud in every respect.

Fear is the key.

[brogmiller · 8/10 · 14 May 2020]

This excellent film comes within director Carol Reed's golden period that began with 'Odd Man Out' in 1947 and ended with 'Our Man in Havana' in 1959. Any director, even one in the same class as Reed, requires a good script to interpret and here he has a superlative screenplay by Carl Foreman based upon the novel 'Stella' by Jan de Hartog which deals with the incredible bravery of tug crews whose job it is to rescue damaged ships in a stretch of the Atlantic known as 'U-Boat Alley'.

William Holden and Trevor Howard play tugboat captains and Sophia Loren plays Stella with whom their fates are inextricably linked. She is regarded as a 'jinx' to the ill-fated men who have in their turn been given the key to her apartment. The question is will Holden's character suffer the same fate.....?

Loren gives a beautifully sympathetic and understated performance, one of her finest actually. Holden never disappoints and Howard whose film career owed a great deal to Reed, picked up a BAFTA. Mention must also be made of Oscar Homolka and Bernard Lee. The editing by Bert Bates is exemplary, especially the suspenseful battle sequences, while Malcolm Arnold's score is powerful without being overpowering. Of the two endings that Reed was obliged to shoot the one here is far less happy but far more dramatic.

Where is "The Key" now?

[JohnHowardReid · 10/10 · 8 November 2013]

William Holden's last black and white movie is now rarely shown on TV and is not currently available on DVD. A CinemaScope movie, superbly photographed by Ossie Morris, it didn't sit at all well on our old-fashioned TV receivers and is not likely to be revived now because it is not in color. Yet Reed, Morris and art director Wilfrid Shingleton have lavished all the care of Croesus into creating atmospheric, brilliantly realistic compositions that superlatively capture the bleakness, the horror, the pettiness, the resigned helplessness of war-torn England. Although he has a fondness for close-ups, Reed brilliantly utilizes the full width of the screen so dramatically that cropping not only dissipates interest but leads to confusion because of the loss of essential detail. Admittedly, the original ending with its stark black and white images at the railroad station was restored in TV transmissions, but that was not enough to compensate for the image losses beforehand. Reed was always a director with a keen eye for tightly dramatic compositions. In fact, in my opinion, his visual acumen was second to none in British cinema.

Excellent film..

[dbrando · 10/10 · 17 August 2018]

The latter reviews do not mention Sophia Loren's electrifying performance, partnered by the ever-excellent William Holden. The direction is subtle at first, but as the film gains in intensity the camera starts moving in a 3 D manner, it was shot in CinemaScope, and the action takes you into the relationship, adulterous and complex, as the ships begin to list, dive into the waves as they come at them, spewing salt water as in a Tsunami, without let up, and the love between Holden and Sophia Loren dives along with the oceanic activities, creating a kind of bedlam of emotions and expressed feelings. The world has many weapons to use against this couple, and it can strike from all sides and does. The key is perhaps the worst object and yet the best object either of them can possess. A must from Carol Reed who gave us The Third Man.

The hopelessness of war reflected from a little known back side of it.

[clanciai · 10/10 · 20 September 2017]

This is a very sad story but as deep as the ocean, charting the fates of the unknown limbo victims of war trying to make the best of a bleak life in the shadows just waiting for the dark final curtain to come down.

Everything is excellent in this film. The three main characters Trevor Howard, William Holden and Sophia Loren make this film monumental in its almost shockingly documentary human drama of a struggle for life against hopeless odds, while the carrot making them go on is the illusion of hope after all.

William and Trevor are both captains of tugs in the war saving "lame ducks", ships hit by submarines but not sinking, so they have to be tugged back to harbour, usually under hard fire from the u-boats. There are mines also, guns that don't work in battle, bad weather and what not.

They are old friends, have been to Panama together, and when William comes to help the tugging from America (before Pearl Harbour) he stays at Trevor's place, but there's also Sophia Loren as a widow from previous casualty captains. She was at her very best in unglamorous roles, and this is one of them. Her acting is delicately understatement-like all the way, she knows too much about the conditions of war and the horrible cruelty of its merciless laws of destiny, but still there is in her very cool playacting a deep warmth like burning coals that never fade. There is a touch of eternal continuity in this extremely fascinating character.

If you know anything about war, this film will touch you profoundly to the core. The black-and-white photography enhances its very human drama. There can never be enough said about rare films like this. There's only one thing to say: it's too good for words. At the same time, it couldn't be more hopelessly devastatingly noir.

Stairway to heaven

[tomsview · 8/10 · 17 June 2022]

This is one of the most unusual British war movies of the 1950s. Directed by Carol Reed it looks authentic with real ships: tugs and subs, but it also has a surprising romantic twist.

American David Ross (William Holden) is seconded to the Royal Navy and put in command of a tugboat tasked with rescuing crippled ships in "U-boat Alley."

When he meets old friend and fellow tug captain Chris Ford (Trevor Howard) he is made aware of an unusual arrangement between tugboat captains where the key to a cosy top floor flat is passed to the next in line as each meets his fate.

The flat is not only comfortable compared to the overcrowded room Ross is forced to share with three other chaps (you can almost smell the body odour), but comes with benefits. The other occupant is a woman, Stella, who remains as the boys replace each other. Trevor Howard's character is the third possessor of the key and eventually William Holden's becomes the fourth.

Casting Sophia Loren as Stella made it believable that the key holder would take the stairs two at a time when it was his turn. This was full-on Sophia, the cheekbones, the almond eyes, the sensuous lips and dimpled chin, often while wearing striped men's pyjamas.

Her appeal extended beyond her character. Bob Thomas in his biography of William Holden, "Golden Boy", reveals how Bill was determined to get her to bed. Apparently so was Carol Reed. Although ardent in their efforts to win her over, they failed.

The ending of "The Key" as Stella disappears on the train leaving David Ross on the platform pathetically vowing to find her was very Carol Reed. Remember the finale of "The Third Man" when Alida Valli walks past Joseph Cotton without so much as a glance? Here Stella pushes the eponymous key down the side of the train seat; Ross was dumped. Forget the alternative Hollywood happy ending.

Thomas also tells how Reed allowed Howard to improvise when he couldn't remember his lines. This threw the more disciplined Holden off his delivery. However the Luftwaffe dispatched Howard's character a third of the way through allowing Holden to get into his stride.

Malcolm Arnold's film scores sometimes felt interchangeable. Nice theme for Stella, but the rest seemed overly familiar and bombastic. It needed something more subtle and flowing to make a good film even better.

What transpires here is under-appreciated by those who have never experienced war

[prepalaw · 10/10 · 26 November 2015]

I just watched this film twice within the past two weeks and find the drama very compelling. Having participated in war, I understand full well how banal and boring life during wartime becomes. You are controlled by events and decisions beyond your control. Both the soldier in war, and the person very close to him, are deeply affected. What is portray here is very gripping and real. Ms. Loren's role is like that of the "furniture girl" in Soylent Green. Both women are not sluts - they have feelings too! They are doing what they have to do to survive in desperate times. When the movie ends, your brief and intimate contact with war itself is over. And then, you return to your normal life. If the movie is not sufficiently dramatic for you, then I suggest an enlistment in the Marine Corps or similar combat unit.

An underrated war drama

[kevin_robbins · 9/10 · 16 November 2023]

I recently viewed The Key (1958) on Tubi. The storyline unfolds during World War II, where a widow resides in an apartment funded by a naval officer. After the officer's passing, he bequeaths the key to the apartment to his best friend, another naval officer. They fall in love, and the naval officer friend vows that their relationship will be different. However, his subsequent actions and decisions cast doubt on the widow's belief in their future together.

Directed by Carol Reed (The Third Man), starring William Holden (Sabrina), Sophia Loren (El Cid), Trevor Howard (The Third Man), and Oscar Homolka (The Seven Year Itch).

The film is meticulously crafted, presenting intricate circumstances, interactions, and conversations. The unconventional pairing of a sailor after sailor and Sophia Loren was interesting as was how they depicted her mindset and desperate fight for survival. Loren's captivating performance enhances well-delivered characters. The model boats, submarines, and action sequences add enjoyable elements. The films twists and turns culminate in a realistic and satisfying conclusion.

In summary, The Key stands as an underrated war drama, a must-see, deserving of a 9/10 score. I would strongly recommended it.

Glamour and wartime

[carvalheiro · 5 November 2007]

"The key" (1958) directed by Carol Reed was a kind of room service for a lady, waiting for an impossible repetition of an unexpected love affair with a marine officer in mission during 1941. There is here of course in backwardness a kind of smooth feeling influenced by the circumstances of a closed spirit for a locked place, bringing together the necessity of putting two characters as inevitable partners of disgrace facing events. This movie is still with glamor, slightly out of date, and however like in the middle of life age, by the vacation of a loved one whom is plenty of souvenirs. When, suddenly, imaginative mind turns it in happy reality for the waiting woman, like Penelope, with other solutions for her flesh ambition. Carol Reed was here in a certain period where given this kind of story, it was considered as a mere episode of other movies from the time, because of that and also as less intimate and delicate for the same era and history than from others of the kind from then.

Notwithstanding, on contrary, it is still a melancholic and extremely interesting symbol of fidelity, honor and willingness in black and white. This is a true love story of an officer and gentleman at the time where television was an adjourned adventure for the post war era and it seems that this kind of story came out in production when television language was still there for the concurrence with cinema and theater play. It's enough for understanding why the most part of daily activity as they were there in the flat, it was boring for nothing than humanizing their own feelings during a time whose main activity between the scale of missions it was talking about themselves and erosion of middle ages respectively.

Carol Reed made a plausible movie about good acquaintance among fellows of the navy, concerning an enjoyable concealed place for sentimental encounters of intimate meaning with an available woman during a short pause of wartime and shows us the common behavior of this kind of warriors, as though they went with their sister's friend. Sharing their feelings as all friends of the same pretty and distinguished young woman with enough maturity for understanding the current problem of isolated souls, coming alive from the last battle and waiting for the next in their adventurous lives. A woman who waits for something more of special than more an adventure of heart among them, so that in such as searching the twin soul without any reason for being hopeful, meanwhile arrives the man of her life at that moment of break, in which she condenses her own hope now in a transitory period, where it is improbable to say if the next day is still possible to repeat the same happiness of the happening with the noise of the key opening the room of both.

Suspenseful, Well Acted, Historical Piece

[phawley-251-115921 · 10/10 · 21 November 2021]

I really loved this film. It brought the realities of the war, the fear, the constant loss of life, right to the fore. The photography was excellent and mission realistic. As an historical piece, it was excellent and riveting.

William Holden's character evolution of fear, to commanding the ship outings with strength and purpose, was a revelation. HIs acting was superb, and showed a man showing up with strength for his men, while battling insecurity (and 10 years not having been on the sea) inside.

The romance/relationship part was riveting in a different way. The trauma of women left behind. The danger of the tug men capable of losing their lives every mission. The hope and hopelessness counterbalancing each other.

There were two endings to the movie, one for America and one for Europe. I saw the Europe one, and I can't find the American one. In either case, you won't be able to get this ending, and it keeps the suspense of the tug mission and the romance/relationship intertwined.

In many ways the movie succeeds with excellent filmography, tremendous performance with Trevor, William Holden and an understated Sophia Loren.

This must be rediscovered - a treasure historically, photography on the sea/war, and in acting performance by all three. Very well done.