For Those in Peril

The majority of it was filmed at Newhaven and some, such as the Walrus flying over the Church at nearby Shoreham by Sea where the plane was based. Although released 1944 said locally to have been filmed in mid 1943. Many useful shots of Royal Air Force Air Sea Rescue craft of No 28 Air Sea Rescue unit as well as Royal Navy Coastal craft (ie Motor Launches and Torpedo boats )from HMS Aggressive which was based in the ferry port of Newhaven. There are also several shots of Royal Navy Patrol Service Armed Trawlers and other Auxillary craft. Acting a little wooden by modern standards but never the less a valuable insight into a Port at War

Shot in the summer of 1943, at 67 minutes this dramatisation of the contribution of the Air Sea Rescue service to the war effort shot with the cooperation of both the Air Ministry and the Admiralty is technically director Charles Crichton's first feature.

The sound is obviously post-synced but it uses professional actors (wartime audiences were probably already familiar with David Farrar, Ralph Michael & John Slater) and builds up to a suspenseful climax that anticipates by a year 'Western Approaches' (whose long and involved gestation meant that although already well into production still wouldn't be hitting cinemas for several more months to come).

Even more interesting is that Richard Hillary, who wrote the original short story, was a Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain who was shot down in 1940, and bailed out with extensive burns and was rescued by the Margate lifeboat.

He is better known for his book The Last Enemy, published in 1942 (filmed 1956), which describes his call up, experience, and recovery. He was killed on active service in 1943.

After three months of skin grafts, he was sent to the US in 1941 on a promotional tour to garner war interest, and did many radio talks, and had an affair with Merle Oberon. In the late 1990s, recordings of those talks (often quoting from the book) surfaced, and were included in a Channel 4 drama/documentary (Oxford Film and Television) in 2000 called Richard Hillary: A Fighter Pilot's Story.

Flyer "P" (Ralph Michael) has been grounded by the RAF and posted to assist a naval rescue squadron tasked with fetching shot-down pilots from the Channel. He's not very happy about this, but his stoic CO "Murray" (David Farrar) is sympathetic to his disgruntlement and gradually hopes that his new charge will begin to appreciate the cruciality of their task. They zip about the water in their high-speed motor launches avoiding enemy fighters and minefields (planted by both sides) and there's a decent sense of peril built up for just about an hour. It's not quite propaganda, but it has a 1944 feel good element to it that is augmented by loads of library footage and a sense of the stiff upper lip. John Slater adds amiably to the cast of familiar British faces and though it's all a bit predictable and the acting/writing nondescript, it raises awareness of the perilous nature of the risks of tracking and rescuing stranded air crews (and the flimsiness of some of their kit) as the conflict neared it's close.

This is a typical understated tribute to the Air Sea rescue service.David Farrer is the Captain who doesn't have to bark out orders.There is a lot of exciting action,notwithstanding the use of unconvincing models.