This takes quite a while to really develop the major storyline, a heroic sailor (Jeffrey Hunter) taking charge to let the British naval ship heading its way to knock the German naval ship out of the ocean by allowing the German ship to use his rocky plateau as a target. The first quarter of the film has a lot of build-up, mainly dealing with officer Michael Rennie whose brief romance with the plain but delightful Wendy Hiller must end when he goes off to a secret mission. Hiller is only on screen for the first 20 minutes or so, and while very good, that plot takes up nearly a quarter of the film's running time.
Once Hunter comes into the picture, there's plenty of action and thrills, and what Hunter does is certainly courageous and worthy of the Victorian medal of honor. Had that storyline been developed from the start, this easily could have gotten a good four more stars from my rating, but even once Rennie is out at sea and Hunter is spotted having conversations with German sailors before making his dive off of the ship, the film moves as slow as the German vessel sailing through the rock filled seas. Some of the interactions between Hunter and the Germans are very well written because they show the Germans as human beings rather than the stereotypical hard-boiled Huns most war movies present them as.
Once Hunter comes into the picture, there's plenty of action and thrills, and what Hunter does is certainly courageous and worthy of the Victorian medal of honor. Had that storyline been developed from the start, this easily could have gotten a good four more stars from my rating, but even once Rennie is out at sea and Hunter is spotted having conversations with German sailors before making his dive off of the ship, the film moves as slow as the German vessel sailing through the rock filled seas. Some of the interactions between Hunter and the Germans are very well written because they show the Germans as human beings rather than the stereotypical hard-boiled Huns most war movies present them as.