Atlantic Ferry a.k.a. Sons of the Sea | |
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Directed by | Walter Forde |
Written by | Derek MacIver (story) Wynne MacIver (story) Gordon Wellesley Edward Dryhurst Emeric Pressburger |
Produced by | Max Milder (uncredited) Culley Forde (associate producer) |
Starring | Michael Redgrave Valerie Hobson Griffith Jones |
Cinematography | Basil Emmott [1] |
Edited by | Terence Fisher |
Music by | Jack Beaver |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release dates |
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Countries | United Kingdom United States |
Language | English |
Budget | £97,355 [2] |
Box office | £88,558 [2] |
Atlantic Ferry (alternate U.S. title: Sons of the Sea) is a 1941 British film directed by Walter Forde and starring Michael Redgrave and Valerie Hobson. [3] It was made at Teddington Studios.
In 1837 Liverpool, brothers Charles and David MacIver have great faith in steam-powered ships. Their first attempt, the coastal freighter Gigantic, proves to be an embarrassing and costly failure, sinking immediately after being launched. David becomes discouraged and, to save their failing shipping firm, agrees to a merger proposed by longtime rival George Burns.
Charles, however, is undaunted, despite being turned down by every banker when he seeks new funding. He gives his share of the family firm to David and sets out on his own. He teams up with Nova Scotian Samuel Cunard and engineer Robert Napier, and they build the RMS Britannia. They win a British mail contract and make the first steamship crossing of the Atlantic, from Liverpool to Boston, in record time, despite a storm that threatens to sink the ship.
Romantic complications ensue when both brothers fall in love with Mary Ann Morison, the daughter of an important government shipping official. She agrees to marry David (before she becomes acquainted with his brother), but it is Charles who wins her heart.
The film received neutral-to-negative reviews. [4] [5] [6]
According to Warner Bros. records, it earned $87,000 domestically and $16,000 foreign. [7]
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RMS Britannia was an ocean liner of the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, later known as Cunard Steamship Company. She was launched on Wednesday 5 February 1840, at the yard of Robert Duncan & Company in Greenock, Scotland. The ship and her Britannia-class sisters, Acadia, Caledonia, and Columbia, were the first ocean liners built by the company.
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Put this one on the shelf. It won't suit folks who are accustomed to seeing good films made in America.