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It's the War of 1812. French citizens have come up with a lot of gold for the United States. However, France is at peace with Great Britain for the moment, and the British have a blockade of the US. The government turns to Mark Stevens, and his fast sloop. He recruits Patrick Knowles, a disgraced captain who stole his ship's money to pay for lovelies for Angela Lansbury, who's in France. They get to France, and bring Miss Lansbury out. She's not interested in a life without luxury. Then she discovers the gold, and persuades Knowles to mutiny.

It's the first movie Edward Dmytryk directed in three years, after tangling with and eventually giving into the HUAC. That's undoubtedly how he came to direct this King Brothers production; they knew how to get talent on the cheap. The script is by Philip Yordan -- he fronted a lot of blacklisted screenwriters in this period. Unfortunately, while the miniature work is good, the dialogue stinks. All in all, it's an unprepossessing effort.

Dmytryk's next movie would be the taut and exciting THE SNIPER. He was on his way back and by the 1960s, would helm some major big budget movies.

Where to begin with this bottom of the barrel adventure? Dmytryk was always an inconsistent director able to produce fine films like "The Caine Mutiny" and "Broken Lance" as well as high gloss trash such as "Walk on the Wild Side" and "Where Love Has Gone" and slug like this. Strictly paying the rent actors give lackluster performances. Angela looks great and gives the film's best performance but why oh why is she wearing a 1950's evening dress on a warship in 1812? Painfully obvious that this was filmed on the cheap in a studio tank with low lighting to cover the sets shortcomings. A shame since there are not a lot a films about this time period so a wasted opportunity like this is doubly disappointing.

The film is based on historic events , the US went to war for the first time as an independent nation in 1812 , against the old enemy , Great Britain . Some have called the war ¨foolish and unnecessary¨. For several years American shipping had seen caught in the crossfire between Britain and France during Napoleonic wars . When the President Madison finally declared war on 18 June 1812 , the US navy was a force to be reckoned with , accustomed to ruling the seas , the British fleet was surprised and shaken by a series of American success . The United States was supported by French navy . The war ended with the American victory at the battle of New Orleans 1815 . In the film the captain James Marshall (Mark Stevens) is assigned a dangerous mission to avoid the British blockade and head his ship toward France for receive war loan , a golden anchor . The ship is one of many frigates built as the US drifted towards war with Britain . Marshall recruits to Ben Waldridge (Patrick Knowles) , bringing his previous crew (Gene Evans , Rhys Williams , Denver Pyle , Claytoon Moore, among others) who start scheming a mutiny as soon as aware the existence gold aboard , but they're carrying a treasure calculate the value of $ 10.000 million . Then , the crew confronting among themselves for a part of France's donation to the war effort . Besides the Waldridge's former lover Leslie (Angela Lansbury) who's wishing a bit of gold herself . Meanwhile the main ship repulses a British attack at high sea and harbor and the protagonists use a primitive underwater for counterattack .

The picture contains historic elements , a maritime intrigue and sea fighting with spectacular taking on between ships well made to scale model . Good performances by trio starring , Mark Stevens, Patrick Knowles and special mention an ambitious Angela Lansbury as a femme fatal . She and Mark Stevens developed a friendship and years later she hired him for an episode of her ¨Murder,she wrote¨ series . Besides , an excellent plethora of secondary actors : Gene Evans, Rhys Williams , Clayton Moore (Lone Ranger) , Morris Ankrum and Denver Pyle . Interesting screenplay , though predictable , by the prestigious Philip Yordan . Evocative and appropriate musical score by the classic Dimitri Tiomkin . Colorful cinematography , although worn-out caused by a bad copy, by Ernest Laszlo . The motion picture was professionally directed by Edward Dmytryck who directed another mutiny film , the famed : ¨Caine mutiny¨ and he was a warlike genre expert : ¨Back to Batan , Battle of Anzio , Young lions¨ and Western: ¨Broken lance , Alvarez Kelly, Warlock¨ among other s. Rating : Passable and entertaining, it's recommended for sea adventures enthusiasts .

All you 3 out of 10s are not looking at the 'big picture' here - the historical background added interest; the presence of a woman on board and a strong one at that; 'mateship' overriding one of the mens' love for that woman, and causing one to go to the assistance of the other and the good acting made this worthwhile for me. I did enjoy Angela Lansbury as the scheming grasping female lead! I could overlook the absence of full sized ships, however I was disappointed it was not in colour. We are so spoilt nowadays. There was a time when all movies were black and white only and when colourised movies were released everyone said people wouldn't like them, audiences would get ill watching them - how wrong they were. I'm surprised a film made in 1952 was B & W - there must have been a tight budget.

This low-budget swashbuckler (albeit filmed in murky color) proved somewhat better than anticipated – given that the Leonard Maltin Film Guide deemed to slap it with a measly *1/2 rating!

To begin with, it's bolstered by such imposing credentials as scriptwriter Philip Yordan, composer Dmitri Tiomkin and, of course, director Dmytryk. Incidentally, this was the latter's first American film after his unfortunate stint as one of "The Hollywood Ten" – which saw him imprisoned and then exiled for non-collaboration in the McCarthy witch-hunts; however, within two years Dmytryk would renounce Communism and turn friendly witness, which is how he got back into Hollywood's A-list and eventually helmed such high-profile titles as THE CAINE MUTINY (1954) and THE YOUNG LIONS (1958). With this in mind, the political subtext regarding the character of Patrick Knowles – aping his frequent co-star Errol Flynn as a disgraced naval captain who's forced to serve as First Mate to a younger officer (an unlikely yet effectively cast Mark Stevens) – can hardly be a coincidence!

Interestingly, the only woman involved (played by Angela Lansbury) is depicted as a femme fatale and Knowles' opportunistic lover – who goads him into usurping Stevens' leadership, and even connives with the crew (led by hook-handed Gene Evans and Rhys Williams) to steal the ship's cargo, a camouflaged 'treasure' intended for the U.S.A.'s 1812 war effort! At only 77 minutes, there's more talk than action – but the latter does come in at the climax, where it's both efficient and versatile: following the mutiny itself, we get the expected sea battle culminating in the deployment of an archaic form of submarine (which, in turn, leads to Knowles' self-sacrifice).

In the end, I would have liked to add MUTINY to my collection – but had to forego any such intention due to the substandard quality (typified by intermittent picture fuzziness) of the print utilized for Platinum's budget DVD release.