La flotta d'argento

Fairly typical early forties wartime movie. The Nazi's are portrayed as vain and stupid but you have to remember that victory was by no means certain in 1943, and a lot of movies from this era are little more than moral boosters. The weak ending leaves you disappointed too.

The first film of Powell & Pressburger's newly-formed company The Archers to see the light of day (shot on a soundstage adjacent to the production of 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp') probably represented the final bow of Ralph Richardson (also billed as 'Associate Producer') as an action hero having previously played Bulldog Drummond and a gentleman spy in a bowler hat in 'Q Planes'.

It bears a striking resemblance to Fritz Lang's 'Hangmen Also Die, currently being shot in Hollywood and also set in a fanciful version of Europe under the heel of a wonderful collection of caricature Nazis. Powell was a huge admirer of Lang so the resemblance of the scene were Richardson marks a Quisling with a big letter 'Q' to one in a certain film by Lang is almost certainly not just fortuitous.

Silver Fleet made in 1943 is a great view.

Set in Holland in a small shipbuilding town now controlled by the Nazis it is a tale of double intrigue and heroism that is surprisingly watchable. The tale of the shipyard owner (Ralph Richardson) who is friendly to the Nazis by day and a hero of another mettle by night is nicely done. What makes this work is the human aspects are not swept to one side but are tackled too.

Ralph Richardson may never had the matinée idol looks of an Oliver but he makes a very good and quite unassuming impact here, there is both suspense, adventure, and wry humour - this film is memorable and the courage is more than propaganda. Richardson always did sneak up on you and here he does so well.

All in heartily recommended.

Dutchman Van Leyden (Richardson) knows his shipyard will be used by the Germans whether he like it or not, so chooses to play a dangerous double game, ostensibly playing along with the Germans -earning the ire of his countrymen who think he is a Quisling- whilst anonymously organising acts of sabotage under the name 'Piet Hein' -a historic Dutch naval hero.

Powell and Pressburger's film was made as war propaganda and it shows; however it is both a good film in its own right and it portrays the Germans in a less bad light than was originally intended.

The script is credited to Sewell and Wellesley, but the first draft was written by Emeric Pressburger, who had been forced out of Germany by the Nazis and had first hand experience of what they were like. He originally wrote it not only with threats of Nazi reprisals, but reprisals on civilians made real. He refused to have his name put to the script once these had been edited out by Sewell.

The story is inspired by real events; Dutch dockyard workers did hijack a Nazi submarine during WWII. Much of the film was shot at Denham studios, with dockyard scenes in Dundee and some street scenes in King's Lynn. Oddly enough parts of King's Lynn were built with Dutch-made bricks and tiles (they were brought back as ballast by ships exporting wool from East Anglia) so the resemblance to Dutch streets is more than coincidental.

It would have been easy to make every part in this film a mere caricature (as many are) but Richardson's role is much more nuanced than that. Nothing of course could do justice to the many selfless acts carried out by partisans during WWII but this does more than make a token gesture in that direction.

Overall this probably isn't one of P&P's best films but that certainly doesn't make it a bad film in absolute terms; it is a lofty canon. For what it was and when it was made it gets eight out of ten from me.

Good ww2 film, seeing it's an oldie, nice and gripping, could easily be a true yarn