Passage Home

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Passage Home
Diane Cilento with Peter Finch.jpg
Diane Cilento with Peter Finch during the making of the film
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
Written by William Fairchild
Story bynovel by Richard Armstrong
Produced by Julian Wintle
Starring Anthony Steel
Peter Finch
Diane Cilento
Cinematography Geoffrey Unsworth
Edited by Sidney Hayers
Music by Clifton Parker
Distributed by General Film Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • April 1955 (1955-04)(UK)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Passage Home is a 1955 British drama film directed by Roy Ward Baker.

Contents

Plot

Captain "Lucky" Ryland (Peter Finch) is about to retire. He has a flashback of several years to a voyage on a merchant ship which he was captaining from South America. He is forced to give passage to a British governess, Ruth Elton (Diane Cilento), who is returning to England.

Both Ryland and his second mate, Vosper (Anthony Steel), fall for Ruth. Ryland proposes to Ruth and when she turns down his offer he tries to rape her in his cabin but she is rescued by Vosper. The ship survives a very severe storm in which Vosper saves Ruth's life outside on deck after which Ruth and Vosper realize that they are in love with each other.

There is a subplot about the dissatisfaction of the ship's crew with being fed rotten potatoes, which Ryland has bought cheaply simply to save money. Ryland says a good cook would still be able to use them productively. The potatoes are dumped overboard and Ryland is determined to find out who is responsible by offering the crew £5 for any information as to who did it. Vosper accuses Shorty (Bryan Forbes), who is acting oddly, and they fight. Ike (Geoffrey Keen) intervenes and fights Vosper. Shorty then confesses to Ike but Ike takes the blame. Probably due to the fight, Ike, who is already known to be ill, takes to his bed and dies. He is buried at sea in a makeshift coffin.

At the allotted time of the funeral Ryland is drunk, drowning his sorrow in whisky due to being rejected by Ruth (whom he had seriously assaulted, ripping her dress). The red ensign is flown at half mast. Ryland struggles to find the right pages in the Book of Common Prayer and loses his place. When the body is slid overboard they recite the Lord's Prayer.

That night Ryland is even more drunk. The steward brings his dinner and he rudely demands that he "do his job" and tidy his room. A violent storm is throwing things around. The ship is in trouble but Ryland musters himself and manages to give logical instructions to get her through the storm. Down below the engineer struggles to keep up the power. In the hold things start sliding and Shorty is crushed by a crate holding a bull while pushing Burns to safety. They head for "The Lizard". Ruth goes on deck and is in danger of being swept away when part of the safety railing is destroyed. Vosper saves her and carries her to her cabin where they kiss.

Coming out of flashback, Ruth and Vosper are now married and are attending Ryland's retirement function. Ryland shakes her hand and calls her "Mrs Vosper". The film ends with Ruth looking at Ryland in tears because she still has feelings for Ryland after all of the years.

Cast

Production

The film was based on a novel by Richard Armstrong that was published in 1953. [1]

It was Roy Ward Baker's first film after working several years in Hollywood. Baker's biographer would later write "although he [Baker] was disappointed in the eventual result Passage Home was the quintessential 1940s and 1950s Baker film - classical in style and melodramatic/generic in its basic structure... it conveys a quiet, pervasive sense of despair in its storyline, involving melancholy and sexual repression." [2]

The script was by William Fairchild who had written Morning Departure , alo directed by Baker. The director called it "a bomb in the bomb locker story... all pretty formula stuff. It's not very good... The whole film should have been set in 1885 on a sailing ship. It was sort of a Victorian film. It just didn't work as a modern day film." [3]

Baker felt the "only interesting thing about" the film was it used a new form of back projection. [3]

Diane Cilento's casting was announced in September 1954. [4] She was cast after producer Julian Wintle had seen 60 people. Cilento had only recently appeared on stage in The Big Knife and signed a five year contract with Alex Korda. [5]

Her co star was Peter Finch, a fellow Australian. [6]

The film was shot at Pinewood Studios in November 1954. [7] [8] It was the first film Finch made under a new five year contract with the Rank Organisation. [8]

It was also the first film Michael Craig made under contract to Rank. He said filming went for over three months and was impressed by the set, saying "the art department, if no one else, had one use proud." [9]

Reception

Filmink argued the film would have been more successful if a war film. [10]

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References

  1. ↑ "REVIEWS IN BRIEF". The Sydney Morning Herald . No. 35, 994. New South Wales, Australia. 2 May 1953. p. 10. Retrieved 26 June 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ Mayer, Geoff (2004). Roy Ward Baker. Manchester University Press. p. 28. ISBN   9780719063541.
  3. 1 2 "Collected Interviews: Voices from Twentieth-century Cinema". SIU Press. 2001. p. 151. ISBN   9780809324170.
  4. ↑ "SHAKESPEARE TONED DOWN". Sunday Times (Perth) . No. 2912. Western Australia. 26 September 1954. p. 9 (MAGAZINE). Retrieved 26 June 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "MARIAN MARCH PAGE". The Advertiser (Adelaide) . Vol. 97, no. 29, 987. South Australia. 23 November 1954. p. 16. Retrieved 26 June 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "Australian Stars Team In New Rank Film". The Newcastle Sun . No. 11, 308. New South Wales, Australia. 1 October 1954. p. 7. Retrieved 26 June 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "Victor Valentine pays a visit to Australian Stars IN LONDON". The Argus . Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 22 January 1955. p. 46. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  8. 1 2 "Peter Finch gets new offer". Sunday Mail . Queensland, Australia. 21 November 1954. p. 4. Retrieved 26 June 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ Craig, Michael (2005). The Smallest Giant: An Actor's Life. Allen and Unwin. p. 66.
  10. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (23 September 2020). "The Emasculation of Anthony Steel: A Cold Streak Saga". Filmink.
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