User reviews

Facile dramatics about four disparate characters--three men and one woman (Joan Collins)--shipwrecked off the coast of Singapore in 1942. One of the men grows very fond of the lady, who is secretly a nun. The nun's curious reluctance to divulge her vocation unnecessarily drags out these proceedings (and makes Sister Collins out to be something of a tease, which is touched upon fleetingly). Film verges on camp but is saved from silliness by an adept, surface-pretty production, also by Richard Burton's fiery emoting (predictably, he's colorful and mercurial as ever). Shallow, but certainly entertaining on a minor scale. **1/2 from ****

Joan Collins is a nun (!!) shipwrecked on an island with Burton. This movie is hilarious and sexy. Burton as usual is so serious he's got his tongue in his cheek because the script's morality won't let him use it to plow the ever-gorgeous Collins. I haven't seen it for years, but I still use Burton's growling "I love you, Sea Wife" to make my wife laugh. And a note on Collins: Evidently the eternal self-pitier Russell Crowe was upset to see himself compared to her at an awards show. But she is the one who was shamed; she was, is, and will always be wonderful. Enjoy this flick and "Land of the Pharoahs" as proof!

Enjoyed viewing this classic film from 1957 starring Joan Collins, (Sea Wife) and Richard Burton, (Biscuit). This film opens up with Biscuit running an ad in most of the London papers trying to locate Sea Wife and at first you think this must be some undercover agent trying to locate their partner. However, it turns out to be a love story which occurred during WW II when their ship was sunk by a Japanese Submarine and this couple wound up on a raft together. Biscuit fell in love with Sea Wife, however, she always turned down his sexual advances towards her and refused to give him a civil answer as to why she felt this way towards him. This is a hidden gem of a picture and worth your time to view and enjoy this great classic with great actors.

Still pining for a mysterious woman with whom he and two other gentlemen shared a lifeboat many months earlier, a British army officer recollects the shipwreck that led to their encounter as well as their intimate time together in this early career Richard Burton motion picture. The film plays out primarily in flashback and seeing Burton so young is just as curious as Joan Collins being cast as his love interest - a nun who never revealed her true identity to him during their time together. The story is propelled by a couple of implausible elements -- namely, her extreme reluctance to say that she is a nun, and the fact that the four shipwreck survivors insist on calling each other by nicknames rather than their real names -- however, these improbabilities add unexpected layers of depths. In particular, the film handles Burton's attraction to Collins with delightful ambiguity; we never find out if she truly ever reciprocated his feelings, and is it out of craving for human affection that she chose to never tell him that she was a nun? The naming thing is quite interesting too as we get to know the characters through their traits and idiosyncrasies more than anything else, and as Collins keeps telling Burton, things are different when stuck out at sea. Clocking in at just over an hour and a quarter long, the film feels incredibly short with a lot of unrealised narrative potential, but the ending is so unexpected and packs such an emotional wallop that it is hard not to exit the film a tad shaken. Certainly, 'Sea Wife' is very far removed from the average wartime romantic drama out there.

The author of the story from whence this came (JM Scott, 'Sea-Wyf and Biscuit') evidently did not write with the cinema in mind; but judging by this mile-high venture the Fox production machine was less than fastidious in its choice of material to show off Cinemascope to worry too much about such trivial dramatic considerations.

Four WWII disparates - a nun, a black, a racist, and a slice of ham - are thrown together on a lifeboat and begin to drift aimlessly. The film in which they find themselves marooned quickly decides to follow suit, as they attribute themselves misnomers such as "Biscuit", "Seawife", "Bulldog" and "No. 4", and spend most of the rest of their time posturing at opposite ends of the boat for the Cinemascope frame, and expatiating whilst bearing 'meaningful' fixed stares of interminable solemnity. Yes, we're in the sort of 'external monologue' territory that most of those predisposed to such masochism sensibly choose to do so within the confines of the theatre.

Attempts are made to liven things up with the introduction of some men overboard, Japs, sharks and a desert island (in no particular order); however the pervasive verbosity continues unabated, as does its failure to translate into dramatic coherence; and with it the lament that the unjust critics reception of Collins' performance in 'Land Of The Pharoas' two years earlier pretty much killed off her chances of ever getting to do anything remotely credible within the American mainstream cinema.

Connoiseurs of cinematic Wartime seasickness are best advised to stick with Hitchcock's 'Lifeboat'.

"Sea Wife" is a film best enjoyed if you don't have particularly high expectations and accept it as it is. I liked it but could easily see folks complaining about one serious problem with the plot.

When the film begins, 'Biscuit' (Richard Burton) has arrived back in England after a very long absence. The first thing he does is arrange for some odd personal ads to be run in the various newspapers with odd messages from 'Biscuit' to someone called 'Sea Wife'. These messages turn out to be fruitless and eventually an acquaintance named 'Bulldog' contacts him and asks him to come see him about the messages. Then a lengthy flashback occurs. The time in 1942 and the setting is Singapore as the Japanese are invading. Biscuit is on board a ship that is trying to escape--as are many, many others on this overloaded ship. Eventually, the ship is torpedoed with it's out to see and Biscuit and four others end up in a life raft together. Oddly, they don't use their real names and they all assign nicknames to each other--Bulldog (for the nasty and extremely bigoted jerk), #4 because he was the fourth one aboard, Biscuit (this one made little sense) and Sea Wife since she was a lady. Their adventures make up most of the rest of the film and during this time, Biscuit falls for Sea Wife and she NEVER bothers to mention to him that she's a nun and that's why she's rebuffing his advances. WHY NOT JUST TELL THE GUY!?!?! And, if the story is being discussed by Biscuit and Bulldog, how can we see and hear conversations that go on between #4 and Sea Wife if they never told the other two about what they said?!?! Huh?!

On the other hand, the film was excellent in many ways. I particularly loved how the film focused on the horrible aspects of human nature. The ship sinking scene was great--very harrowing and exhibiting all the worst in mankind!! Likewise, Bulldog was a great character simply because he was so awful. Overall, a nice adventure film that occasionally didn't exactly make sense. Worth seeing but certainly not a must-see.

Most of the small number of viewers who have commented on this film to date, seem to find it boring or without much substance. But I think "See Wife," has much more than meets the eye – especially than meets the eye of modern movie-goers who are so used to being bombarded with action after action scenes along with lots of CGI. This is a story first, about civilian victims of war; then about survivors at sea and on an uninhabited island; then about return to life after World War II. But the plot develops around four survivors and includes drama, distrust, prejudice and mystery.

Some reviewers like to see parts of other films in this one, but there is something that sets "Sea Wife" apart from "Life Boat" and others. That is in the forbidden and lost love. And, part of the mystery revolves around another love that is held and given for something higher. The script is very good, the scenes are engaging and the acting is very good. A very good film that movie fans who look for big doses of quality acting will appreciate. It doesn't have a usual Hollywood ending, but one that satisfies the mystery and drama of the story.

In their only time together in a film, Richard Burton and Joan Collins co-star in Sea Wife which is a combination of Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat and John Huston's Heaven Knows Mr. Allison. It was sad to say not a really good blend.

The film is told in flashback with both Richard Burton and Basil Sydney remembering the events of many years ago during World War II. After leaving the besieged Singapore in a crowded cargo ship, Burton, Sydney, Joan Collins and Cy Grant find themselves on a rubber dinghy after the ship is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.

Sydney is your typical John Bull like administrator who spent his life among the various native populations and has a racist superiority attitude concerning them. Cy Grant is a black sailor and the only one who is really capable of helping this disparate bunch survive. He knows something about Collins that the other two don't, that she's a nun who had to leave the ship quickly without habit.

Why she doesn't come right out and tell the other two I'm still not figuring out. I mean Deborah Kerr did in Heaven Knows Mr. Allison and it kept Robert Mitchum somewhat at bay. But she keeps it a deep dark secret and let's Richard Burton's hormones go raging.

The real story here is with Sydney and Grant and Grant has the best acted role in Sea Wife. Had this been an American production the part would have gone to Sidney Poitier and he would have been acclaimed for his performance.

Sea Wife is not anything that will be listed among the top ten of either Richard Burton's or Joan Collins's films.

Biscuit, Sea Wife, Bulldog and Number 4 are cast adrift aboard a life boat after their ship was sunk by the Japanese. They were evacuating from Singapore in 1942 and now, here floating on the ocean, they must come together and overcome any feelings they may hold about each other.

A film with essentially only four characters, each very different, should really make for an interesting character piece, that it doesn't is down to the staid script and some immensely bad bacon sandwich acting. Joan Collins is Sea Wife and Richard Burton is Biscuit, both seemingly trying to out camp each other. A little drama wouldn't have gone amiss either, there are some decent scenes put together, and a modicum of interest is raised once the group actually have to do something to survive, but it's false hope that the picture could be saved from a dreary and watery grave. 3/10

To me, the second best part of this movie was the lack of imagination used in the story. It provided me with so much inspiration—for days afterwards, I kept coming up with ways the story could have been better, and that was quite fun! The best part, of course, was watching Richard Burton, scruffy, sweaty, and shipwrecked.

Sea Wife starts out as a mystery. Richard Burton, cleaned up and in a suit, takes out a newspaper advertisement, looking for "Sea Wife" and signing it "Biscuit". The audience has no idea what he's talking about, but he continues to place personal ads, with no response. The movie goes back in time and becomes a shipwreck adventure! Four people are stranded in a lifeboat, each earning a nickname instead of sharing personal details. Richard Burton becomes "Biscuit" because he finds the food in the life raft, and Joan Collins become "Sea Wife" because she looks like a mermaid when she swims in the ocean.

Before the shipwreck, we see all four characters on the boat. Joan Collins is a nun, but her garments are torn off during the disaster, so Richard Burton is unaware of her religious calling when he meets her. Wouldn't it have been an infinitely better story if we didn't see her as a nun in the opening scene? Then, as the romance progresses, we wouldn't understand why she's exercising such willpower. There would be so much more tension if we didn't know her secret. Maybe the only way we'd believe she'd resist Richard Burton in a torn shirt is if we knew she was a nun.

Unless you really don't like shipwreck movies, I'd recommend watching this romantic adventure. There's plenty of eye candy, and parts of the story are really thrilling. Plus, it'll keep you talking afterwards about how you could have written a better story!

I found this a rather light-weight and superficial film. The actress who played the Sea Wife was particularly unconvincing.

The main story is told in a flashback, which I thought far too long and, thanks to the intriguing start, loses much of its interest, since you spend much of the time anticipating events that happen pretty much as you'd expect. It would have been better to put the start of the film near the end.

The ending also seems rather lame (to me, anyway), and the only thing the film really has going for it is the stunning scenery and good camera work.

Going through old 1950's Cinemascope films I realised I had not seen this one. The great Roberto Rossellini was supposed to direct, but wisely withdrew. I cannot imagine he could have been interested in the first place but director's have their whims. Admittedly the bombing of a shop full of escaping people showed clearly the atrocities of war, and seeing children crying in despair gruelling to watch. But then we switch to the unlikely scenario of Richard Burton at his most surly, and Joan Collins had the unfortunate role of being a nun and torn between Burton and holy orders. No spoilers but I think she made the right decision, and the film moves to its climax and finally the film ends. The war scenes tragically relevant, but the rest seemed to me to wallow in the worst of melodrama. There is also the inevitable desert island but it offers no enlightenment on character or situation that take place there. I dread to think it was a popular film in 1957 and that is for others to find out.

What a poignant picture that I'd watched in my childhood days, according my files it was in 1976, I stay baffled when saw the paltry rating 5.7, well as I'm a painstaking movie buff always ensue my feelings, therefore whatever be the rate it didn't changes nothing at all, this movie is proposed as non-linear story, Michael Cannon (Burton) just arriving at London put several advertisements on many majors newspapers, searching for a girl called just "Sea wife" signing as "Biscuit" only, after some months no answer from the girl, although he receives a message from a dying man from hospital, "Bulldog" is his nickname, there they remember all story of these four survivors of a shipwreck after their ship has been torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, they meets at life-raft and know themselves just by nicknames, Sea wife is a faithful beauty girl, actually just one knows that he is a Nun (Joan Collins), the mid age men Biscuit (Burton), the harsh and prejudiced Bulldog (Basil Sydney) and a black purser number Four (Cy Grant), they reach a pacific island, there Biscuit falling in love by Sea wife, who told to him which she already gave his hand to someone else (Jesus) in other hand the relationship between the racist Bulldog and the Number Four is getting worst, one of great movies of my tender age, finally l got it on DVD fully restored and color, due in 1976 my grandfather's TV was in black and white!!

Resume:

First watch: 1976 / How many: 5 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 8

The story is pretty straightforward. A ship is sunk by a Japanese torpedo fired from a submarine leading to a lifeboat scenario like the Titanic.

Richard Burton stars as a British seaman in Burma called 'Biscuit' who escapes the ship on a rubber dinghy. All the regular lifeboats are full.

Alongside Biscuit in the dinghy is a young Joan Collins as a mysterious woman, a bigoted old man called Bulldog and a fourth passenger a black man, affectionately called number 4.

After navigating the usual lifeboat tropes of drinking water rationing, sharks and lookout they eventually find a desert island for temporary sanctuary whilst they think of their next move.

It is during these scenes that the Biscuit character falls in love with Collins given the name of Sea Wife. She refuses to reveal her real name.

The stranded four build a life raft to explore further afield. Here the bigot Bulldog reveals his true intentions knocking out Biscuit in the process so he has amnesia about a ship based rescue.

Now rewind to the beginning of the film. Personal adverts placed in national newspapers by Biscuit real name Michael Cannon in the search for the mysterious Sea Wife become clear.

The film has a twist at the end as the real identity of Sea Wife is shown!

A very low budget, by the numbers British romance that is one, if not the lowest ranked film of Burton I have watched.

Richard Burton and Joan Collins in a shipwreck/lifeboat drama was something that I could not resist checking out. Once all has been said and done I'm still happy to have checked it out and spent some time with these characters. The entire cast does a fine job, Grant and Sydney are also both solid and their story is ultimately one of the more interesting elements of Sea Wife. Some reviewers mentioned having trouble with Collins playing a Nun but for me I think those individuals are bringing too much baggage to that analysis because if you are able observe her soley for her performance here she does an excellent and to me believable performance. The main weakness is the story, it just doesn't dig deep enough into any of the four main characters development. That's unfortunate because the setting kinds of lends itself to that type of exploration but it was just not forthcoming. I also feel the direction, while competent, was not particularly interesting. Despite some major shortcomings I did fine Sea Wolf kind of interesting.

How have I missed seeing this film until now? It's an exceptionally well-done tale of four disparate survivors of a ship sinking during early World War 2. The close-up scenes of people fleeing Singapore under attack and then on the passenger ship before it is torpedoed add humanity to these scenes. It's interesting seeing young Joan Collins as a nun and Richard Burton, just starting to age in his face, as the two leads and acting together. For me, the best acting here comes from Basil Sydney, who plays an upper-crust but bigoted Englishman named Bulldog. He gets some nice soliloquies in the life raft and just when you think his character has been reformed, there is a twist near the end that proves otherwise. The quest for Burton to reunite with Collins in post-war London, not knowing the secret she kept from him, adds another layer of pathos to this excellent film.