gridoon2024 Review of Sailor of the King

Sailor of the King (1953)

Well-done and rather unusual naval war film

[6/10 · 23 April 2023]

"Sailor Of The King" is a rather unusual war film in the sense that, as the alternate title "Single-Handed" implies, most of the warfare is carried out by one man (a Canadian) versus a German ship. Not very plausible (especially that the Germans, having first captured this man and failed to extract any information from him, would keep him alive for no reason at all - in fact, they let him wander all around their ship), but otherwise well-done. Jeffrey Hunter must set a record for how much time he appears shirtless in this film, revealing a superb physique. Third-billed Wendy Hiller takes part only in a short romantic segment at the start; her character does feature in a big plot twist which eventually becomes clear, although that plot thread is left largely unresolved. **1/2 out of 4.